As people age, sometimes their joints give them issues, especially knees. It could be related to the kind of work they do, or sports related, but in my case, I was struck by a van in the middle of a crosswalk. The grill of the van had broken my front teeth. The guy backed up and hit me again. I went flying and landed hard on the cement. The driver claimed he didn’t see me. I walked with crutches several months non weight bearing on the left side due to a knee fracture and two areas of my pelvis broken. That was many years ago now, but over time my knee started giving out on me and I had problems going down the stairs. The Cartlidge had worn out and my knee joint was down to bone upon bone.
I tried different treatments the doctor recommended and once you reach Medicare age, Medicare insists that you try other treatments before surgery. After exhausting the treatments and going through physical therapy and nothing was working for mobility or pain, I chose to have my knee replaced or arthroplasty.
The one thing that helped a lot after surgery was an ice machine. (Purchase through Amazon) The ice numbs the pain for a while and helps with the swelling. Doctors do not tell you everything. Your knee down to your ankle will be swollen for at least a month. I wore slip free slippers because I couldn’t get my shoe on. Purchase Ibuprofen for pain because the doctors nowadays do not like to prescribe narcotics because of the opiate crisis, and you will be lucky to get a week’s worth of pain medicine at most. Move your foot around and do your bed exercises. It will help when the therapist gets you up to start walking. And you will be using a walker to get about until you can pass walking with a cane. Do not submerge your knee in bath water or a hot tub until the incision is healed to prevent bacteria from getting in. Wait at least two months before riding an exercise bike. It takes that long for the muscles to adjust to doing things you did previous to surgery. Exercise will be your lifelong goal to progress further.
clawingmywayin 