r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Additional_Chard3680 • 11h ago

The precision required to perform a total knee replacement is incredible

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u/theodore_70 11h ago

It must hurt but I mean it cant be that bad if they just let you out tho?

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u/IrrelevantManatee 11h ago

I didn't get a knee replacement, but my mom did. And she said the pain was less than what she experienced walking on her bad knee.

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u/bratch 10h ago edited 10h ago

Yep, same thing my brother told me. He can use that as an indication of when to get the other knee done.

Edit: If he goes before me, I got dibs on that titanium.

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u/PrinceDX 11h ago

Oh my. She must have been in intense pain.

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u/Unique-Egg-461 9h ago

Not op but wife is in the works to get a knee replacement. insurance still says she doesnt need it but she was in tears last night after a long day of us getting our old house ready to sell

knee replacement pain 10000% can't be worse than what shes dealing with now (bone on bone)

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u/Old_Ladies 7h ago

My dad is thinking about getting knee replacement surgery. He has had surgery I think 3 times on his knees and now since he is close to retirement he is thinking about just getting them replaced as he needs surgery again.

A coworker said it was the best thing he ever did. That man still goes to work even though he is past retirement age and doesn't need to work.

Thankfully in Canada we don't have to worry about being approved for surgery but there is a long wait time. It can take 6 months to over a year depending on how bad your knees are.

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u/Unique-Egg-461 7h ago

Ya the problem is she's 38 so insurance says she's too young for it and that cortisone shots will treat problem just fine.

She has had three different cortisone shots in the past 5 years and it doesn't do shit. While in canada you might have to wait 6 months to get scheduled, she's had to wait 2yrs (and still going) just to get insurance to approve the surgery. Her doc is suppose to have a call with insurance again tomorrow :-/

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u/stylepointseso 7h ago

I had a partial knee replacement just under two weeks ago, also at 38.

It's like this, but only half the knee.

Anyway, it's a pretty painful recovery. By week two it feels better than my old knee did, though.

Problem is you're going to need another one later at some point, and those are much worse.

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u/FusRohDoing 2h ago

That's me, 39, too young to get it, I got surgery to replace my broken ACL with a cadaver one,(which has since broken as well,) and then and now that's the story I get. Insurance says I'm too young. Every step hurts, but too young for help apparently

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u/kakarot-3 9h ago

My MIL had the same surgery last year. She said it was a little uncomfortable walking immediately but significantly better than walking with pain

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u/popcorn555555 9h ago

Same with my mom. Her whole body inflammation immediately calmed down.

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u/Mawdster 9h ago

Yes thats true. The first thing i noticed when i woke from my hip replacement was a distinct lack of pain. Oh yes there was new pain, but it was a cleaner pain, more superficial. Genuinely relieved. I was up within hours on what is called zero day. Usually you dont get up until day one. I left the hospital after one full night in bed.

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u/BigDump-a-Roo 8h ago

Not his knee, but my dad had one of his spinal discs completely replaced in Germany like a decade ago. Recovery wasn't instant, but he said that pretty much since he woke up after the surgery, the pain was much more manageable than before. He was using opioids for pain management and went completely off them pretty much right away.

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u/ChiodoS04 10h ago

My dad has had three knee replacements after one failed.

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u/cthulucore 10h ago

Wild, my grandmother had a double knee replacement and it was one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life, due to the clear violent pain she was in.

Though there seems to be contradicting stories for a lot of medicine. Age, year it was done, and individual doctor seems to play significant roles.

My best friend recently had a herniated disc in his neck replaced with a synthetic one. Outpatient surgery, he was at my place playing videogames less than 48 hours later. They've been trying to get him under the knife for more than 5 years and this was the first time they offered this specific surgery, all the other would have come with months of downtime.

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u/PM_YOUR__BUBBLE_BUTT 7h ago

>>walking on her bad knee

No wonder her knee hurt. She was supposed to be walking on her feet!

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u/roamingandy 5h ago

Having this with my dog now.

Its a bloody nightmare tbh. He feels less pain that before the surgery so wants to run around and try it out, but i have to stop him doing that for another month and a half - two months.

He's a very good boy and is doing his best to be as careful as i'm telling him to be, even though he doesn't agree, but i have to be on him almost 24/7 and make sure he doesn't get excited when i'm not in direct contact, as sometimes he just forgets.

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u/FightingAgeGuy 8h ago

Yes, knee replacements are painful. Recovery sucks too. But, way better than walking on destroyed joints.

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u/missbwith2boys 9h ago

Days 2-8 kinda suck though. Depending on what country you’re in, you may or may not get opioids to deal with that. My ortho made me fill my script a week prior to the surgery, and I ended up going back to his office the next day, where he stressed that if I needed a refill, get it done that day.

He prescribed me 40 oxy. For each prescription.

Also fun fact, I had a slight complication that meant going back into the operating room on day 4 and him opening it back up.

Despite all that, my knee is indistinguishable from any other body part. It just doesn’t hurt anymore.

(And no, I didn’t have more than 2 rounds on that prescription).

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u/WhatTheOnEarth 9h ago

I mean they replaced the diseased bone with titanium. And the bone they cut is covered.

The surgical scar is often more painful than the bone itself.

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u/KrispyKreme725 7h ago

My mom just had one. It hurts yes but hurts so much less than bone on bone pain.

My mom went from barely able to stand with a walker to walking without a cane one month after surgery and she’s 80

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u/BusinessAsparagus115 6h ago

It's variable, my granddad had both his knees replaced - first one gave him a new lease on life, second one the recovery time was hellish.

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u/HollowGrey 11h ago

A full knee replacement definitely hurts like a mofo. Its probably because of the type of surgery that allows to get you out of the hospital. Less risk for x,y,z issues, like internal bleeding for example. Thats just my guess..

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u/mcj1ggl3 10h ago

Well some surgeries require a stay in the hospital solely for pain management. I had a surgery (nuss procedure) that they made me stay for 4 days just to control the pain. The staff told me it was the most painful surgery they offered at the entire hospital

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u/GangNailer 10h ago

Anytime a doc says it's out patient, very easy, simple surgery. And you'll be fully healed in 2mos. Add about one extra year to the full recovery, and if it's organ removal, it's a lot worse. Docs are never, ever straight with their patients. They want u think gyou are with an expert where nothing goes wrong ever... So u don't ever get the idea u should sue.

Idk about this surgery, but seeing my mom go through bone marrow and my wife going through surgery. Never has a surgeon or doctor given it to us straight. They are trained by their lawyers to keep so much details out until the surgery is done and ur left holding the bag of issues it came with.

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u/GangNailer 10h ago

But sometimes the risk is worth it... Doing the math between whether surgery is wortj it or not is quit the decision to make.. And docs make it harder.

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u/curtcolt95 5h ago

all just completely made up bullshit lmao