Knee replacement - should I do it? Will I be able to run again? Can't decide. If you've had it done in your 40s/50s can you come and talk to me?

[HelenHywater]

I have osteoarthritis in both knees and the doctors have been trying to persuade me to have knee replacement surgery for a few years.

The main reason for me doing it is that I want to run and ski again - I really miss running. I'd like to be able ski with my children.

But on a daily basis, I'm in no pain at all. I can walk for hours and do most yoga moves. Pilates has hugely improved the range of movements I can do - I've been doing it for 6 months and have seen massive improvements. My knees really don't place many limitations on my life. The only thing I can't do is sit on my heels or deep squats (would love to be an amazing yogi too!).

I have a vanity reason for doing it in that I've become increasing knock-kneed as my cartilage has disappeared but I'm in a dilemma - if you've had it done, has it hugely improved your quality of life. Were you in daily pain before?(I'm not!). Were you able to kneel, run, ski, afterwards?

I was told I needed a new knee in my mid 40s. I took up exercise, focused on good form, and over a long period of a few years, built up strength and range of movement. I can now do lunges with 10kg weights. I still get twinges, and occasionally wed to rest my knees for a day or two, but like a previous poster, I am evangelical about how exercise, particularly functional fitness, is a game changer for chronic conditions.

I don’t know anyone in real life who had knee surgery and was better afterwards.

I’ve had both knees done, in October last year and January this year. I’ve had a fair few surgeries in my life, I also have four children, knee replacement is without a doubt the most painful thing I’ve ever been through.

You are absolutely on the right track with strengthening exercises! Motion is lotion! Many people can and do get along quite well, bone on bone for many years.

I asked my surgeon about skiing before surgery, he said gentle skiing was fine, maybe give the black diamond runs a miss, but he wasn’t keen on anyone running (but pickleball and tennis are okay).

I’m in Australia, but between the two surgeries, I found a brilliant physio group who specialises in knees. Strengthening my muscles around the knees and my quads between the two surgeries, meant that my second recovery was a lot better than my first. See if you can Google and find someone near you and absolutely join that Facebook group. I’m in a similar one here.

As for waiting longer, do it if you can, but just don’t wait until you’re eighty! I’m 60 and it was hard, watching some people in their 80s trying to recover is hard just to watch. But don’t wait until you are immobile, those people have a rough recovery too.

It’s hard finding that balance. My knees done still have pain and a lot of tightness through the scar area. But the pain is different now, not in the joint itself, it’s in the tissues around the new joint. That said, I no longer take any pain relief and I do find that movement helps.

Am I glad I did it? On balance, yes. Give it another six months and I’m hoping I’ll feel even better about it. Mine was the robotic surgery, so it’s precision stuff, but it won’t ever be the same as a real knee.

But that's going to happen anyway and if you do it now you'll be younger the second time which will make things easier.

Yes I can see that. But I could still have it done in 3 years when or if my quality of life becomes unbearable. At the moment it isn't anywhere near that. I'm also intending to be very fit in my dotage. A lot of the people on that facebook group do appear to be overweight and unfit (but I can see that having such disabling pain will cause or contribute to that) and I'm not there (yet).

Yea having anaesthetisedfor them for yrs I wouldn't (hips are different as most are in less pain than before post op). Its a rough recovery (my mums just had and regretted it for a few months) but now it's great.

If they offer you a nerve block with the spinal I'd definitely take it

I think you should only post if you have direct experience of this operation not hearsay. You need personal experience to give an honest opinion.
Ok. So there are 2 kinds of knee replacement Total knee replacement and partial knee replacement where only one compartment of the knee is affected so part of your own knee is retained. It is a last resort operation not a vanity op for knock knees ! In both cases its a fairly brutal operation with a long recovery time. Younger people are often dissuaded from getting them done because the joint life for both is around 25 years so more conservative and less invasive treatments are tried first. So if you are 40 yrs old and get this job done, the chances are that the artificial joint may fail in uour lifetime and need a revision or your partial knee replacement is replaced with a total knee replacement. Partial replacement can be cemented or press fitted and the bone grows into the implant..these are often preferred for younger people as they give a stronger knee joint and older people dont make enough bone quickly enough. The recovery is long , to recover fully about a year. Usually both knees need doing, most surgeons will kot do both together because its a severe operation znd bilateral replacements leave you with very limited mobility initially.The early days can be brutal painwise and you will be given strong drugs to counteract it. You also undergo intensive physiotherapy. The main reason for the operations is usually osteoarthritis, either through age degenerative disease or injuries, sometimes congenital problems relating to other conditions. The success rate is high The op is done under spinal block or general anaesthetic.

On the subject of sport. In general high impact sports are not recommended after a knee replacement although many people ignore this...and may find themselves with complications or revisions. These sports..include running, high impact athletics, skiing, rugby, gymnastics and ballet and horse riding can present risks and are not recommended. Most patients are over 60 in the UK, but in the States many more younger people get this op done. My advice...and most surgeons would be that surgery could be offered electively but if you are still able to maintain high levels of relatively pain free mobility you delay having this done until you have to and try injections and other treatments. It is a major operation. The problems are that you can wait a long time for this operation the lists are long on the NHS. The private cost is about £17,000. I hope this gives you the info you are seeking.

I had a total knee replacement 7 months ago, aged 50. I was referred, and told the only thing which would help was a TKR, when I was 45. They refused to do it until I was 50, though. In that time, I put on about 2 stones in weight, and for the last 14 months, I was on crutches all of the time.

The surgery is brutal, I won't lie. The first couple of days are hideous; I cried for morphine the first night. As one of the nurses said, you basically have a double leg break, and then gotten up to weight bear, as soon as the anaesthetic wears off! The first couple of weeks are bad, but after that, it was a bit rubbish on and off for a bit, but overall, doable. I'd do it again, if I had to. (Luckily my other knee isn't bad - this one was knackered from an old rugby injury.)

I would say that, don't do it until you really need it. If I hadn't been in pain, and my knee worked not badly, I wouldn't have done it so soon. I've got good bend, and all that jazz - and that's because I still do all my exercises each day, but kneeling is still tough (partially because they had to give me a fake kneecap), and I can't squat like I used to. I was back at work at 9 weeks post op. I can walk way further, and I do Pilates, and swim a lot. I'm enjoying being back on my bike too.
Overall, I'd see it as almost a last resort. I'm hoping I can eke this one out to the maximum 20/25 years.

I had a TKR in my 40s but it was getting so that I was struggling to walk so more necessary than yours. It was the most painful thing I had ever had done. The op itself and the recovery were pretty horrific and I’d definitely not do it if it wasn’t impacting my life massively.

that said, I was nervous about it for years and I think used it as an excuse not to do stuff. I’ve stopped that now, built up the muscles in my knee and can now do most things I want to. Including a lot of yoga (albeit a deep squat and sitting on my heels isn’t possible)

Hmmmm I had mine done 14 months ago. Also have osteoarthritis.
I have followed all the rules for recovery - still doing (very expensive) physio and honestly it’s a long way from being good. Running is definitely off the cards for now at least! I’ve only just started to do that running trot when you go downstairs.
I had a lot of pain, bone on bone and swelling. I had to wait years for surgery after going through NHS pain killers, physio and 3 lots of cortisone injections.
My muscles were absolutely buggered after not walking properly for 3 ish years. Recovery has been pretty brutal and I’m still going. Still progress to be made but it’s been tough. I’ve also now got issues with my IT band and plantar that I never had before.
I hope my other knee stays ok because I will be incredibly reluctant to do it again.

Edit to say I’m mid 50s

An x colleague had it done and he’s gone from hobbling to skiing now! He was in his 50s when he had it.