👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️ Hips and knees part 6 👯‍♀️ 👯‍♀️

We are often only fleetingly on the Active list so scan down for the dancing girls. If they aren’t there look under Health on the forums. That all for now.

silverlining thank you for opening part 6 for us! I always look for the dancing girls, if you’re not on the Active list I go onto the Health section and do a search!

Same here, Redcar. You don’t get rid of me that quick!

Sorry silverlining, forgot to say thank you, too!

Thanks also. We can rest again for a few months.

Bea The taller crutches have not been used for a few years. From memory, if used incorrectly, they could cause nerve problems down the arms/hands.

I personally prefer the elbow crutches, and you will soon get used to them.

Scrub the bit above, It is under the armpit which can be uncomfortable if not fitted properly. It is more difficult to negotiate stairs.

After more than a year of being told that my left sided leg pain was down to my spinal stenosis I’ve just been told that I need both my knee and my hip replacing. I feel that my knee is causing the worst pain and I’m wondering if a knee support would help? Does anyone have any experience to share?

I became quite fond of my elbow crutches and didn’t want to stop using them!

I have never used a knee support, so I went on the list to have my knee replaced. If you cannot decide which knee to replace first, may I suggest you choose the one that is most painful in bed at night?

I would leave the hip until the last to be operated on.

Hello teabagwoman that must have been a shock. Both knee and hip. As fir knee support I used one last week, one of those elastic pull on tight elastic bandage type. The back rolled up at the back of my knee causing discomfort and redness all round my leg which lasted for 12 hours. The top rolled down. V uncomfortable and won’t repeat.

Will be getting results of my knee x Ray this week so will report back then. Hoping I don’t need a new knee.

Personally I found a knee support increased the pain pre TKR teabagwoman but then we’re all different. Chatting to my surgeon about it he agreed they can be unhelpful. His other comment was if one reduces pain remember it’s temporary relief and not a fix.

I agree cornergran it is fine when waiting for surgery to try and relieve the pain, but it is not a permanent fix.

teabagwoman

After more than a year of being told that my left sided leg pain was down to my spinal stenosis I’ve just been told that I need both my knee and my hip replacing. I feel that my knee is causing the worst pain and I’m wondering if a knee support would help? Does anyone have any experience to share?

I had a lot of pain/discomfort in my knee as my hip got worse and worse. I never had it Xrayed, only the hip, so I’ve no idea if there was any physical problem with the knee. However, all the knee pain completely disappeared once I’d had the hip replacement.

I did use a cheap Boots knee support a lot of the time, I found it helpful. But, I suspect that the hip was the cause of the knee pain. This might not apply to your situation.

Charleygirl5

Bea The taller crutches have not been used for a few years. From memory, if used incorrectly, they could cause nerve problems down the arms/hands.

I personally prefer the elbow crutches, and you will soon get used to them.

The taller crutches assisted with my posture and my reusable Lidl/Aldi/Tesco/ you name it as would put it thru the upper part of crutch and then put my arm in....

Suppose I will get used to the smaller ones but consultant has warned me because of my lumbar spine condition and right side neuropathy, I possibly will always need a crutch for balance ....

teabagwoman, stay on this forum long enough and you’ll soon realise I can never resist putting in my two penn’orth! I twisted my knee badly some months before my hip op & nothing seemed to ease it as the weeks went on. However, my consultant (whose real expertise lay in knees) said that after my op, I could well find my knee greatly improved. I can only say that after a few weeks where there was no improvement at all, four months later he was right and I hardly notice it. BUT, as has been pointed out many times, everyone is different.

Thank you all for your comments, it’s good to have such a supportive community to link in with. At the moment I can’t walk the 10 minute round trip to the local shop, with a rollator, without triggering real pain so I’m feeling rather down. I keep seeing advice to keep exercising but am then told to rest if pain flares up. Worried I’ll lose muscle strength if I don’t exercise but GP says to just keep moving gently. Don’t know what to do.

teabagwoman, have a look at some of the Chair Yoga and Chair Pilates for Seniors videos on YouTube. They’re very good for stretching those muscles you’re worried about and some of them are only about 10-15 minutes duration. They will help keep some of the stiffness at bay if you’re not walking as much.

A 1/4 mile walk to the local bus stop nearly finishes me off, so when I remember, I try and do gentle exercises when sitting in my chair watching TV.

If you can get to "official" chair classes, that would be good for your morale. You would also meet other folk who are in the same position.

Bea I use a stick because of my pinned and plated l) ankle. I would not normally need it for my knees as they are fine.

Every now and again, this old age malarkey seems to take over.

Grammargran, thank you for suggesting chair yoga, I’ve had a look at a couple on Utube and they look very doable. I’ll see if there are any local classes Charleygirl but taxi fares have to be taken into consideration. Getting old is an expensive mlarky.

Charleygirl A quarter mile is a very long way if you are in pain.

Teabagwoman hope you find classes not too far away.
You might meet someone there who drives and lives near you so you could car share 🚙

So pleased part 6 has opened, a GN, who I can't find now mentioned the nights prior to her THR thinking about the 'what if's' etc. I'm waiting for the pre op on May 7th, have deliberately not re read all the info from the hospital until last week. Completely freaked out, began to think about the alternatives ie steroid injections. Probably only short lived. Am wearing myself out with worry, today the pain has been bad, the spurs growing from my hip pressing on nerves. Being such a wimp, sorry, but it does help to write it down and send it to the cosmos!

Hello sealover, sorry to hear your pain is bad. Well we understand as we have all had intense pain which is why we go through this surgery.
I think we all think about the what ifs , that’s normal. All we can say is that surgery has taken away the pain and given us our lives back.
Steroids injections are temporary, in my case very temporary, it only lasted. 6 days.
Try not to overthink , you will be fine, it will go well and the pain you feel now will be gone.

Ps you are not a wimp