HikeArizona.COM

Last month (7-18) I hiked the South Kiabib trail into the Grand Canyon. About a mile before the river I started getting some pain along the outside of my left knee. I was not so bad that it stopped me but I did baby it the last mile.

The next day I hiked out and going uphill I did not feel that pain at all. I kind of forgot about it but 3 days ago I did Camelback and about halfway down it returned.

I did some research on the web and my best guess is it's a strained legimate called a LTL which is what holds your knee togather. This is commenally damaged in football injuries but I also read running down hill can also stress it. The suggestion is to lay off stressing it for 2-4 weeks.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and if so what did you do to heal it? Or any support suggestions such as a knee support?

Thanks,

Bill

My knees are OK but I've had reports from quite a few friends/relatives with knee replacements. I'd estimate ~80% worked out fine. But one (my mother-in-law) had a persistent infection that never went away...bad result that lasted her lifetime. About two years ago a friend who uses HAZ (maybe he'll comment) had persistent lower leg pain that his surgeon's office blew off. Eventually a blood clot was blamed and his foot was nearly dead...resulting foot problem probably worse than initial knee pain.

@Hansenaz
It’s a know issue among the representatives of the joint companies, that there are some surgeons to avoid due to high infection rates according to a friend that is in the industry. Additionally, some OR’s too. Do your research and choose carefully.

Hey Shawn! I had my right knee replaced in August of 2021. It was considered the better of the two knees until I suffered 3 meniscus tears. The MRI showed even more damage than was initially thought. I thought my pain was just good old arthritis. There was delamination and cysts and it was pretty ugly, lol So the right knee went under the knife first. I sailed through the rehab and was just starting to get back on the trails when the left knee said enough. Apparently, it deteriorated even further from having to carry the full load for a few months. To this date, the right knee is perfect. I would have no qualms about hitting a trail tomorrow.

But...yeah, the left knee. Had it replaced in October 2022. To be fair, the surgeon told me that this knee would take much longer to rehab and it would be harder. I had a ACL Reconstruction in 1993, so there was a lot of scar tissue and then the surgeon was also going to have to remove one of the screws. Well, it's living up to his word, plus I've been having trouble with my Peroneal Nerve which was apparently irritated during the surgery. So in addition to knee pain, I also have shin, ankle and even some foot pain. Thankfully, the nerve is not damaged and there is no foot drop. 10 months later and my knee and leg are still not great. Surgeon says it's just going to take more time. Looking to restart PT again next month to see if I can finally get it where I need it.

So, mixed results for me, but based on my medical history I guess it's to be expected.

If you're looking for a surgeon, find one that does Robotic Assisted Surgery. It's a more precise surgery with a faster recovery time and many times you can go home the same day. There are two types of hardware. Cemented In and Hammered In. Talk to your surgeon about both. The manufacturers also have certain models for active, more hardcore athletes. Both seem to have good success rates, but I know one friend had the hammered in and although she said it was really rough, she's back to canyoneering and mountain biking in 5 months.

If you decide to do this, give me a shout. After having been thru it twice, I have a lot of tips and tricks I can share.

@outdoor_lover

You've certainly had a rough go with those knees. I hope further improvement is on the way.

@outdoor_lover
thanks!!

@RedRoxx44
Thanks Letty

AZLumberjack wrote: ↑Aug 12 2023 7:11 am

Sredfield wrote:Has anyone had knee replacement surgery? Would you do it again? Any tips as I consider this?
Thanks

My only complaint, at the time, was that I couldn't get full bending of the knee. The Surgeon used a large protractor and measured the flex at 151 degrees and the normal was around 125, so I was doing exceptional. What do you want? was his reply. I told him that I wanted my heel to, once again, touch my butt when fully bent (about 180 degrees). He politely told me that that wouldn't happen.

Artificial Knees are medical devices. They are manufactured. And they are manufactured to where the top end of Flexion is 150. If you force it beyond that, you can actually risk "breaking the knee". This was thoroughly explained to me by both my surgeon and my physical therapist. 130 was my magic number. Achieved it with the right, but only 128 so far with the left. Just.can't.seem.to.get.that.last.2.degrees.... Both surgeon and therapist were happy. Would I have liked to have gotten more? Most certainly, but in my case, I think I can settle for good enough. I still work on it, not only to maintain it, but also in the hopes or maybe gaining a few more degrees over time. I know it can be done.

@outdoor_lover
Can you kneel down on it?

I see the orthopedics people on the first.

@Sredfield
You can eventually, but it takes a long time, like at least 6 months, sometimes up to a year, for you to be able to kneel on a hard surface. The incision goes right down the middle of your knee and it screws with your nerves for awhile and makes it painful to put your weight directly on the front of the knee. I had the same thing happen when I had my ACL reconstruction all those years ago. They took the middle of my patella tendon to make the new ACL, so I had an incision right down the middle of the knee. It's probably the last thing to heal and completely resolve. Padding helps a lot in the meantime. I could kneel on the PT's table within a couple of months because their tables were designed with a type of padding that surgical knees could handle. But again, like Jack said and with the Flexion limits of the device, you'll never be able to sit back on your heels again.