Double Partial Knee Replacement (patellafemoral replacement)

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Muscleflex79
Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone here have a partial knee replacement (patellafemoral replacement)? I'm getting them both done later this year after years of failed treatments. I've been reading up on the recovery, but a lot of the experiences I'm reading are from less-than-active people. I'm very active and curious about time frames in terms of returning to workouts, sports, etc.

Obviously I will ask the doctor the same, but I'd like to hear from others who have been through this firsthand - especially anyone that had both done at once (either partial or full replacements). Thanks in advance!

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  • OutsideIsMyInside
    OutsideIsMyInside Posts: 9 Member
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    Sent you a message.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    OutsideIsMyInside wrote: »
    Sent you a message.

    I didn't receive anything?
  • OutsideIsMyInside
    OutsideIsMyInside Posts: 9 Member
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    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    OutsideIsMyInside wrote: »
    Sent you a message.

    I didn't receive anything?

    Maybe I have to add you as a friend? I’ll try, and resend then. You can delete me later.
  • OutsideIsMyInside
    OutsideIsMyInside Posts: 9 Member
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    Sent again, hopefully it went through!
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    surgery in two weeks - bumping this in case anyone else has experiences to share?
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I think you might have better luck on a fb group geared towards that particular surgery I had a hip replacement and I had to find a group on fb since not anyone on here was having that
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I am part of a couple message boards for knee replacements, but let's just say that most of the members there are less-than-active - I was hoping to hear from people who are into fitness and have a joint replacement.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
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    I think how active you can be greatly depends on how active you've been. I'm an avid indoor rower. Very niche' sport. But because I've competed at fairly high levels in the past, I know a ton of other indoor rowers -- most that I can't hold a candle to in competition. And on top of that, I gravitate toward the older ones, because, well, there aren't many of us that punish our bodies at our age left. I know several that have had either partial or full knee replacements. Many are back on the rower or back on the bike within months and tearing it up.

    I was told 14 years ago I needed a full right knee replacement. Still going on the same knee, but it's weak as anything. I actually can't wait until the structural part is equal to the muscular part of my right knee. I'll actually be more competitive. But not planning on it for around 10 years from now, closer in to retirement.

    If you go to You Tube, you will find it filled with stories of those that had total knee replacements and used rowing before and after to quickly get back to full mobility and strength. My guess is you're looking at places where inactive people talk about pain. Athletic people just get back to doing.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    I think how active you can be greatly depends on how active you've been. I'm an avid indoor rower. Very niche' sport. But because I've competed at fairly high levels in the past, I know a ton of other indoor rowers -- most that I can't hold a candle to in competition. And on top of that, I gravitate toward the older ones, because, well, there aren't many of us that punish our bodies at our age left. I know several that have had either partial or full knee replacements. Many are back on the rower or back on the bike within months and tearing it up.

    I was told 14 years ago I needed a full right knee replacement. Still going on the same knee, but it's weak as anything. I actually can't wait until the structural part is equal to the muscular part of my right knee. I'll actually be more competitive. But not planning on it for around 10 years from now, closer in to retirement.

    If you go to You Tube, you will find it filled with stories of those that had total knee replacements and used rowing before and after to quickly get back to full mobility and strength. My guess is you're looking at places where inactive people talk about pain. Athletic people just get back to doing.

    thanks for that - I fortunately did find a group on Facebook of younger people with TKR and it is a whole different experience compared to the other website forum that I went on. will check youtube out for the rower stories too. thanks!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,090 Member
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    I know my rowing double partner had a knee replacement, though I'm not sure whether it was this specific type. Recovery took a while, but she's been back rowing (with seemingly unimpaired performance in the boat) 4x a week with us, and carrying boats (including her share of a quad). (She's 73, but if you're imagining someone puttering around in a boat with the oars fluttering gently in the water . . . no. Real rowing.)

    She has more difficulty getting in & out of the boat than she used to (the classic method requires something like a one-legged squat down to just above heel level), but she's able to get in & out with some machinations . . . and I'm not sure the limitation has anything to do with the knee that's replaced, because the other knee is bad, too, and not replaced. She walks and bikes freely, not sure what her limits are, but I've been on recreational 4 mile brisk walks and around 20 mile bike rides with her fairly recently, and she wasn't challenged by it.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I know my rowing double partner had a knee replacement, though I'm not sure whether it was this specific type. Recovery took a while, but she's been back rowing (with seemingly unimpaired performance in the boat) 4x a week with us, and carrying boats (including her share of a quad). (She's 73, but if you're imagining someone puttering around in a boat with the oars fluttering gently in the water . . . no. Real rowing.)

    She has more difficulty getting in & out of the boat than she used to (the classic method requires something like a one-legged squat down to just above heel level), but she's able to get in & out with some machinations . . . and I'm not sure the limitation has anything to do with the knee that's replaced, because the other knee is bad, too, and not replaced. She walks and bikes freely, not sure what her limits are, but I've been on recreational 4 mile brisk walks and around 20 mile bike rides with her fairly recently, and she wasn't challenged by it.

    thanks for that! when you say recovery took awhile, do you remember approximately how long? I mean, was she out of commission 4 months? 6 months? a year?

    thanks!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,090 Member
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    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I know my rowing double partner had a knee replacement, though I'm not sure whether it was this specific type. Recovery took a while, but she's been back rowing (with seemingly unimpaired performance in the boat) 4x a week with us, and carrying boats (including her share of a quad). (She's 73, but if you're imagining someone puttering around in a boat with the oars fluttering gently in the water . . . no. Real rowing.)

    She has more difficulty getting in & out of the boat than she used to (the classic method requires something like a one-legged squat down to just above heel level), but she's able to get in & out with some machinations . . . and I'm not sure the limitation has anything to do with the knee that's replaced, because the other knee is bad, too, and not replaced. She walks and bikes freely, not sure what her limits are, but I've been on recreational 4 mile brisk walks and around 20 mile bike rides with her fairly recently, and she wasn't challenged by it.

    thanks for that! when you say recovery took awhile, do you remember approximately how long? I mean, was she out of commission 4 months? 6 months? a year?

    thanks!

    I don't think I can answer in a helpful way here. Not all that long after the surgery, she broke her foot and had a number of follow on issues with that.

    I think she was back to a decent level of activity after the knee replacement not long after completing PT (couple months after surgery, maybe?), but mostly multi-mile brisk walking, because it wasn't rowing season yet. Then she broke the foot while walking - completely unrelated

    Sorry
  • dawnkwiatek
    dawnkwiatek Posts: 324 Member
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    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    Anyone here have a partial knee replacement (patellafemoral replacement)? I'm getting them both done later this year after years of failed treatments. I've been reading up on the recovery, but a lot of the experiences I'm reading are from less-than-active people. I'm very active and curious about time frames in terms of returning to workouts, sports, etc.

    Obviously I will ask the doctor the same, but I'd like to hear from others who have been through this firsthand - especially anyone that had both done at once (either partial or full replacements). Thanks in advance!

    Hello!
    Did a quick search of the forum for patellofemoral replacement and came across this thread.

    I had my right knee done on 2/1/22, almost 5 weeks later I am a bit saddened by my recovery time. I am 42 and while overweight, I was fairly active prior to surgery. I rode the bike 5-6 days week. I can ride it without much resistance but I am still swelling quite a bit and walking for periods of time is not comfortable.

    Was wondering if you could share any insight you have, having been through this.

    Thanks!
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    It was a tough and long recovery - especially having them both done at once. I'm now about 15 months out and while my right knee is good, my left never got better. I was actually scheduled to have a revision done this past January, but it got delayed due to covid (and now delayed again due to other health issues I'm experiencing) - so I can't say mine was a success, but I had no way of knowing that going into it.

    Five weeks is still super early - the first couple months of my recovery were awful and then it slowly started getting better after that. Let me know if you have any other specific questions!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
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    Recovery takes a while, though a lot depends on what kind of knee replacement you have and how well you respond to physical therapy. My husband had a TKR where they didn't glue the joint but let his bone grow over the new one. That took some time to heal. He was on a walker for a month before he could start doing real walks. Six months later, though, he was backpacking on the PCT. Then things went bad and two years later he was in so much pain he basically had to stop hiking. A friend had a different TKR and was running 6 months later. She still does half marathons every couple of months. It has been 3+ years since her surgery. OTOH, my brother had it and has had to have 4 surgeries to 'fix' it. YMMV

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