3 MONTHS POST OP

[seantomtom]

HI all.
i am currently 3 months post op highTibial Osteotomy,i am having a couple of problems and wondering if this is normal.At the moment stairs up or down are a major problem,i was hoping to be able to do this by now also my knee cap is making a rubbing sound when i bend my leg,OS say another 3 months at least before i could return to work,just hope hes right,anyone have similar experiences.
 Thanks 

[WonkeyDonkey]

Hi sean

I am 5 month post op HTO, and am still having problems with getting up the stairs. My knee just won't straighten properly and take the pressure when going up the stairs. I use my walking stick on the stairs, to go up and down, but not much at any other time! To go up, I can get up one stair at a time but put a fair amount of weight through the stick, coming down I put my good leg down first, then touch the bad leg down before moving it down to the next stair. Bit awkward but at least it is not one stair at a time. Sometimes going up, I use my hands on the stairs to help take the weight off my leg, I used this way for months prior to the op, as I do not have hand rails up my stairs. Like you I thought I would be able to do the stairs by now!

I have an appointment with my OS on Monday, and am going to ask if this is normal, and if I can be refered back to physio to have a few intense sessions on the stairs. I was discharged from physio about 6 weeks ago, as I could do all their exercises except the stairs, and was told "it will come", so far it hasn't!! I will let you know what he says.

I returned to work at 13 weeks post op, three weeks part-time and then back full-time at 16 weeks post op. This was my choice, and it has helped to improve the strength as I have walked more along with bending and stretching. It may all depend on the type of job you do, I work with children and needed to be confident lifting etc.

I have some crunching noises in both my knees when bending and using the stairs!!

Hope this helps,

WD

[seantomtom]

Thanks for the reply,are you allowed to use a stick in work? I am an engineer and not ailowed back until i can get by without one.like you i also sometimes go up on all fours.heres hoping it gets better in the future for both of us.   

[shmily]

I had my HTO in December of 2006... It is a surgery I would NOT do again if someone paid me!!!!!  It was the second surgery on my knee .. They told me this was the best surgery for me since I needed a TKR but was too young.... this surgery was supposed to buy me 5 - 7 years before I would have a TKR! I have just had a partial knee replacement... to fix the part that the HTO fixed... and it has been a painful last few years... and this was the 6th surgery!!  And now 6 years and a few surgeries... I am finally doing GREAT!!!!  I don't mean to scare you or say bad things about this surgery since everyone is different ... but my experience with it has been a long road!!! I have bad experiences with surgery to begin with...    Did you have it to extend the need for a total knee replacement??? I never had problems with the stairs that I can remember but I know just walking with barely a limp took me forever!!  Just hang in there

[seantomtom]

Hi shmily,yes like you i need a tkr and this is to buy me more time due to being too young.Yes i agree this is not an easy option,its a brutal and painful operation.but it is worth it if it works.if i had known what a slippery slope you can get on with knee injuries i dont think i would have started playing rugby,should have stuck to flower arranging.
But for people who read this and are possibly thinking about this operation,do not let this put you off,yes its painful,what knee op is not? and if it works its worth it.TKR has to be the absolute last option,and i would make the same decision again given the same options.in three months time i could be much better,and even if i am not i,ve not lost anything.
As the song says,"always look on the bright side of life"

[shmily]

I am still trying to look on the bright side..  lol   and it is getting brighter.. I am having a lot of back trouble since I have walked with a limp with my knee injury.. I got injections today to help calm and deaden the nerves so that I will walk straight so that my partial knee replacement will heal straight.. I hope I am on the final and downhill side of my knee pain and surgeries... GOOD LUCK with all your knee troubles and trials in the future!!

[smartdriver]

I had my HTO in December of 2006... It is a surgery I would NOT do again if someone paid me!!!!! 

I wish I had seen posts like this prior to me deciding to have an HTO done.  As I agree with you, it's a surgery that I would not do again (even though I've had both legs done).  Like you said, an HTO was supposed to "buy me a few years" before a total knee and the hope was that I would never need a total knee.   It's been a frustrating couple years and now my knee pain is worse than it ever was before surgery.  But, everyone is different and will have a different outcome.  For me, I should have waited a few more years and just went with a partial or total knee as I feel that that is where I'm heading - sooner than later    But, I guess you never know what the end result will be. 

Going up stairs is definitely worse than going down. I find myself holding on to the railing and trying not to put any more weight/pressure on my knees than I have to.   Walking "long" distances (more than 5-6 blocks) and walking on an incline also really bothers my knees.  If I do a lot of walking throughout the day, I'm limping pretty good by night time.  I've got a desk job and even sitting during the day is now back to being painful - it's really more of a pressure type sensation where my knees feel as though they are really swollen, even though they don't look it. 

As far as the crunching noises in my knees, I had them before surgery, and still have them.  I was told that the crunching/popping noises will never go away.

Shmily - what type of injections did you get?

[knee2no]

After a HTO,  can one go on to have a TKR or does this complicate things?  What does your doctor say about the continued pain?

[seantomtom]

Yes,after HTO you can have full knee replacement and it will not cause any extra problems.As for the pain,he just says it should get better with time,but i am not sure coming down stairs will ever be pain free,but who knows.

[WonkeyDonkey]

Hi Sean

I am now over 5 month post HTO op, and am still struggling on the stairs, I have booked to see a physio tonight to see if I can get some extra help. I had a check up last week, and also saw the physio at the clinic but am struggling to do the exercise I was given there! I have to stand on a step with my bad leg and then bend to touch the good leg down, keeping foot flexed and straighten up again. I have to do this as much as I can, so far I can only do 4!!!! It kills my leg for the rest of the day. I was told to do this with good leg and bad leg on the step.

As I work for myself, I could use the stick when needed. I was lucky as I had some help when I returned to work. I found that I concentrated less on my leg and it improved more. I have also started cycling, something I haven't done for years and also swimming more. I do not use my stick much now, only when on stairs or going shopping!!!!

Healing takes time, and I know that all is going steady, and every small step is a step in the right direction.

I had my HTO in order to avoid having a TKR for many years to come, being told I was too young for one, this was the best option for me. I feel less pain now than prior to the op, and I still have a way to go to build muscles.

WD

[knee2no]

Sorry I should have been more clear as I was addressing my question about the continued pain to Smartdriver who is now 2 years (?) out from her HTO.  Sean I would expect to have some pain at only 5 months.

[smartdriver]

Sorry I should have been more clear as I was addressing my question about the continued pain to Smartdriver who is now 2 years (?) out from her HTO. 

Knee2no:  The doctor says that there is nothing wrong.  However, my one foot still points outward at about a 45 degree angle when I walk. When I try to walk with my foot pointing straight, then my hip really starts bothering me as it feels as though my hip is being rotated inward.  When I sit with my legs out straight, my foot automatically falls to the outside vs being in a straight line (if that makes sense).  So it's almost like the surgery didn't correct the rotation like I thought it would have.

I went to another OS and they are now saying that I need knee replacements!!!!  I thought that having an HTO was supposed to buy some time before needing a replacement.  I don't understand how my knees could have deteriorated that much in a couple years   

They did of course offer cortisone shots, but I said no and left the office pretty depressed 

I'm at a loss of what to do next. I'm so tired of dealing  with this, and I don't have the time to keep going to doctors all the time.  Plus it's put a huge strain on my marriage such that I couldn't  even talk about my knees and now my husband and I  are in the process of separating 

[knee2no]

The doctor who did the surgery says nothing is wrong.  Does he think you are making your foot turn at 45 angle on purpose?  WHAT A MORON.   

These knee problems can have such negative effect on the entire family-believe me I know.  I am sorry!

[smartdriver]

Knee2no - thanks for the reply. One thing that I forgot to mention to is that on that same leg, when I stand, my knee always feels as though it wants to give out.  And sometimes, it does, but it doesn't give out in a "forward motion" - it will buckle inwards towards the other knee.  No matter what exercises I do, I can't seem to get any more strength in it.  If I try squats (which maybe I shouldn't),  my knee will always point inwards (my whole knee, not just the kneecap)

(I didn't intend to hijack the original thread.....)