Knee Arthroscopy

I guess you went private Rufus2
Unfortunately, yes! I've regularly considered dropping it, or reducing my level of cover, but now I've reached the naughty 90s I'd be an idiot to do that.

My dear departed Vera wouldn't allow me, partly because she worked as a medical sec. mainly for ortho. surgeons and so was aware of sonsequencies of "old age". No! They didn't offer Senior's discounts; all I learnt is that "bone- men" are called "mister", not "doctor"! Another thing is "The List". Make sure your name is on that I'm told.
Obviously one big advantage of "private"is the service. He'll say" I recommend a TKR" and I say "When?" and he'll say" How about to-morrow?
I'm the biggest procrastinator regarding invasive medical services and I prefer to "think about it." at least for a day or two.
My "private" premiums are about $2,000 pa which covers upper- level hosp, as an in-patient and a collection of ancillary out-patient services such as dental, optical, physio. etc.
Many GPs also offer what's called "bulk billing" whereby the Govt picks up the tab, leaving the patient with no out-of -pocket expenses.
My last visit to the UK a few years ago was when my Brother was dying of pancreatic cancer. He finally moved back home from hospital and I was impressed by the palliative home care provided by Bupa.
I've no idea of costs, premium or any on-going expenses.
I can't squander my hard-earned on the joys of life anymore so now it goes towards my annual subs. to the medical profession.!
Seems like you are treading the same path and I know you won't be sorry afterwards.
So Good Health and Good Luck.
OoRoo

I am being told that there has been a down turn in the number of people with private cover in the UK. That's a mix of prohibitively high premiums and employers no longer offering private cover as part of salary packages. Insurers will excluded cover if there a hint of there being a pre-existing condition.

I had my recent knee arthroscopy as an NHS patient in a private hospital. There were standard rooms for NHS and Premier Rooms for insured and self funding patients. I could see no real difference. The Premier rooms had carpet (odd for hygiene), Sky as opposed to Freeview TV and I suspect the food was better. I counted twelve Premier rooms. All were empty. Everyone I spoke to on my corridor was NHS. A nurse told me NHS patients are keeping the place going. I assume the hospital bills the NHS for services it provides.

I am not convinced it is the best solution. It felt very much like treat 'em and street 'em with no immediate aftercare. I have had some post-operative problems and it's been a bit of a fight to get anyone to help me although after a lot of phone calls I did manage to see someone today. Compare a friend who had similar treatment in an NHS hospital and her aftercare has been excellent.

I am only early 60s and would not be considered for a TKR a) because my symptoms don't warrant it yet and b) there is the probability of needing a second replacement in my lifetime at an age when risks become higher and recovery longer.

I'm 63, 64 next month and the Nhs has been procrastinating for a couple of years. I'm now at the stage of having no cartilage between my bones. I have to have my knees replaced starting in October I'm told. My arthroscopy was also done on the nhs in a private hospital but I was only there half a day, it was fine. Follow up was non existent until I got quite stroppy but eventually ended up seeing a Nhs physio referred by my gp. never heard from the hospital again. My tkr are being done at Guys where I was referred from st Thomas' as my disintegrating joints are caused by an auto immune condition st Thomas' treat me for. I can't have surgery at the drop of a hat because I'm on warfarin for the same condition and need a bridging protocol in place before any surgeon will pick up a scalpel. I doubt I'll need further replacements as my condition limits my life expectancy but my GP tells me you can be referred at any age. I'll worry about old age if I get that far quite honestly.

Dear Lilting Lyrics, I really am beginning to feel you should have it checked out at A&E. I don't like the sound of the lumps in the lower leg and wonder if a clot has formed. It might need a scan.
Or see your doctor or ask for a telephone appt.
Wishing you all the best.

It depends on what you mean by lumps, mine was done a couple of years ago and I still have two lumps /bumps where the instruments went in. They have never gone down or reduced in any way. They don't hurt, I can press on them and they move a bit but they are still inflamed as yours probably are. The inflammation swelling goes wherever there is space, so behind the knee is quite common. At one point my whole lower leg was swollen, but elevation, ice etc help, the more you elevate the better.

I read recently that arthroscopy was one of the operations that were no longer to be done on NHS. The evidence for them being useful is just not there. People usually end up needed TKR.

I would disagree Jane10. I stated up thread that over a 20 year period I've had arthroscopy operations on both knees and the difference it's made to my mobility and quality of life is immeasurable. I was never eligible to have a TKR because I was told that they don't like to do them on under 70 year olds because they don't last very long on relatively young active people. I can voucher for the effectiveness of knee arthroscopies and would far prefer to have light surgical intervention procedures wherever possible.

I'm not the one saying it chewbacca it was NHS England and based on NICE guidelines I suspect. Looks like you've been lucky and at least had the chance. Hard lines on potential new patients.

I've read the findings and that's not my experience
1) I've never had locking and clicking.
2) I did find that after a period of months the leg was able to move better and was a lot less painful. Although two years on I need further treatment.
The problem is they assume all knee issues are down to osteo arthritis and mine isn't. it's taken a very long time to establish that.

Flexible friend, love the probable irony of your name! I’ve had two arthroscopic, took quite a while to recover from both. Not eligible for TKR , too young! (60) My problems also due to auto immune arthritis, it’s misery. Feel free to P M me to chat/moan at any time.

You do know Nanna58 technically there is no such thing as too young that's a load of nonsense put about by GP's to protect their funding. The specialist I saw couldn't believe the state of my knees and said simply they have to be replaced there's no way you can be expected to live like that. So roll on October I'll have one new knee and hopefully be on the first step to recovery.
Actually the rest of me is still very flexible, till the other joints give out anyway.

I was 61 when I had my first TKR. Loads of people have them younger than that these days.
Some of the early replacements gave been found to last 40 years! I suppose manufacturers have to be cautious about how long they say their product will last.
I plan not to put mine under any pressure at all. I never want to have to do this again.

My left knee is wrecked so thanks ladies, I shall challenge my HP with the age issue.

Meant GP, not the brown sauce obvs! ??

I had an accident while on holiday and did much damage to my meniscus as well as other knee damage. Because I was in so much pain and walking at all was very difficult, I paid privately to have the repairs done by arthroscopy as soon as I came home. My recovery was very slow and it was months before I could achieve anything near a 90 deg bend and the pain was chronic. I can remember sitting and crying after 6 weeks because I was just so fed up. I’d been promised full recovery by six weeks and I was struggling to see any improvement whatsoever. I was eventually told that I had developed ‘complex knee’ which seemed to be just another way of saying that they’d no idea what was going on with my knee. I eventually got a course of physio to help with the bending problem but the only thing that helped was time. Almost two years of it. My knee still isn’t too good and kneeling is very trickle but at least the pain has largely gone and my walking stick comes out of the cupboard only rarely.

I’m so sorry that you’re having these problems. I can remember having swelling for a very long time but nothing like bumps. It’s so difficult trying to get back to see the surgeon but I’d suggest finding out the phone number of their secretary and trying to get an appointment that way. It has worked for me but I did have to be persistent. Good luck.

Persevere Nanna58. Your GP is completely out of date. There's a knee pain questionnaire that orthopods use to assess whether or not someone might need a new knee (along with X Rays of course). I think it's called the Oxford knee scale or something. Try completing that and see what it says. Then you could take the result to your GP. Warning though - knee replacement is pretty hellish and seems to take ages to recover from at the time.

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