So I tore the interior meniscus in my right knee... what are some of the options?

gilded

Senior Member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
3,479
Reaction score
197
Location
texas
I blew out my knee. My newly referred Doc/Surgeon says my knee is too shot to do arthroscopic surgery (I'm too old, plus remaining cartilage level is too thin and, after he 'cleans up the trash it will be bone on bone').

There is another therapy that he tried, something called 'rooster comb'. It's a synthetic viscous injection that lubes things up. That worked pretty well for about two weeks, until I climbed 16 super-tall stairs at a local restaurant.

Doc wants me to have a Stem Cell Procedure, but it's not covered by insurance because it's 'Experimental.' My cost, which I would pay directly to the doctor (his office does all the work, mixing up the stem cells from fat my cells, etc.) is $4200. He said he has an 85% success rate 'as he defines it.'

When asked for an explanation of that success rate, the Doc said,

"85% of my patients who have had the procedure state that they feel 50% better after the surgery than they did before the surgery."

Candidly, that doesn't sound like an 85% success rate, but there is no point in being too snarky about the whole thing.

The Doc did say that losing weight would help a lot and I have lost 31lbs since I blew out the knee. That's 31lbs 'as I define it', by the way. I figure if it works for the Doc to make statements like that, it should work for me.

Anyway, gang, what else is out there in the way of treatment for a 66 year old gentlemen? Canes? Knee braces? Ask my family doctor for another referral? An Enquiring Mind wants to know!!

Thanks, gilded
 
Last edited:

davismanLV

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
19,196
Reaction score
11,812
Location
U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
Guild Total
2
$hit harry I'm sorry.... a tad intoxicated but I have a LOT of info... give me until morning, okay? Eeuflexxa or whatever the different companies call it can help buy you some time my friend. Give me a day.... been there!! Done that!! <3
 

crank

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2009
Messages
1,227
Reaction score
859
I skied with a guy who was 67 and had a recent knee replacement. He is a very good skier and we were skiing some very tough terrain. He was in good overall physical shape as well.

Did you discuss knee replacement with your doctor?
 

Stuball48

Senior Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
4,736
Reaction score
2,534
Location
Dickson, TN
If you decide (sounds as though you plan to choose some type) on a procedure, do the therapy as directed! Have three close friends who had knee replacements and one did rehab, religiously--the other two slacked off when rehab became painful. Those two limp with pain a year later -- and the one feeds 80 plus head of cattle, daily--pain free.
 

dapmdave

Enlightened Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
7,612
Reaction score
24
If you decide (sounds as though you plan to choose some type) on a procedure, do the therapy as directed! Have three close friends who had knee replacements and one did rehab, religiously--the other two slacked off when rehab became painful. Those two limp with pain a year later -- and the one feeds 80 plus head of cattle, daily--pain free.

+1 on that! I have a buddy who had both knees done - a week apart. His wife told him that whatever rehab schedule the Doc gave, he'd have to do it in half the time. She's a physical therapist (owns her own PT company) so she made it stick! As a result he recovered quickly and fully.
 

Guildedagain

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
8,999
Reaction score
7,160
Location
The Evergreen State
Three scopes here, all back in the 90's.

Personally, I like to eat cartilage (chicken, I've always liked it) and I think it rebuilds it, but that's me...

I take Glucosamine Chondrointin MSM every day.

None of this will rebuild your knee right now, but for those of us who ain't quite there yet.

Lots of movement brings blood to cartilage, and what you find out in PT is that when the muscles in the area get weak, they don't support, hold, and the joint greatly suffers.

So walk, climb, ride, hell you can do great knee exercises sitting on the couch watching TV, feet up and down, great for abs too.
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,956
Reaction score
8,019
Location
Massachusetts
No advice, but well wishes and good luck!

walrus
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,789
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
well wishes and good luck!

walrus
Yeah, "second that"!
Re second opinion, didn't somebody once say: "Always get a second opinion", at least for something this important?
Re cartilage/Glucosamine Chondrointin MSM:
For sure you get collagen and lotsa good amino acids from the broth that results from boiling a chicken (or just bones) all day, as in chicken & dumplings.
For balance and because myth-busting's one of my favorite hobbies, here's a Mother Jones article about the "bone broth" craze, and while I believe the valid points it makes( that there are more metabolically efficient and cheaper sources), it does confirm that yes there are benefits to what makes bone broth good for you even if they may be somewhat overblown by its proponents:
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/11/truth-about-bone-broth/
I have gout and besides the dietary regime to stave off attacks, I started using G-C w/MSM myself about 7 or 8 years ago, as a kind of preventive measure against further cartilage degradation.
Yeah, subjectively, I think it helps.
I can also say that about 4 years ago I took a full-on pratfall on a wet floor, landing on my hip because I was able to twist just enough not to land on the tailbone, and got up and walked away from it with no known aftereffects other than a slightly sore neck and mild headache while driving home.
The next day it hit me, that would likely be a bone breaker for most 59-year olds weighing about 160 at 5'8".
Could the supplements have helped, or am I just blessed with unusually flexible bones for my age?
I also drink about a gallon and a half of milk per week(calcium) and my favorite exercise is bike riding: low impact and aerobic.
Like Guilded said I don't think any of that will create new cartilage but I bet helping maintain/rebuild what's left will help with the overall rehab, so hope the input helps!
 

bobouz

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2015
Messages
2,228
Reaction score
1,827
A relative of mine had both knees replaced, but didn't stick with the PT.

It makes all the difference.
 

dapmdave

Enlightened Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
7,612
Reaction score
24
And now I'm being fed an ad for knee replacement in the advertising space between the LTG banner and the thread content. Sheesh...
 

davismanLV

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
19,196
Reaction score
11,812
Location
U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
Guild Total
2
Harry, sorry for the delay. I had a medial meniscus trim job. it sounds like they actually fix stuff but what they really do is trim up raggedy pieces of cartilage on the edges of the joint. DAMN! On my old computer I could show you what they actually do. But it's a trim job on the edges and it does help, for a bit. Best thing is a look at your joint and see what you're working with. That same joint i had the procedure done on is now 5 years later and needs replaced. But I have worse joints so they come first. So you need a second opinion. If your cartilage is nearly gone, then .... reconsider. I'm not one to jump into big procedures but mine worked fine for about 3 years. To stave off the procedures (total knee replacement, I've had ONE so far, the other is on the horizon) I survived on Euflexxa (which is a synthetic synovial fluid type gel that lubricates the joint) and that worked for a couple of years. Then when that doesn't work you go for the steroid injections which just keeps the joint from being inflamed and allows you a little while before you fix stuff. At the end of the line, you decide how much pain you want to put up with, and how much limitation you're willing to deal with. Okay?

So, that's why a second opinion is good. Is this just a minor thing and you'll be okay for a while and then some injections? Or is this a procedure to get you to a total knee replacement? Find out and i wish you had my doc. He's amazing. Total knee replacement and now a total hip replacement. I have one more knee replacement to go and then..... I think I'm gonna get back on a horse again, and let THEM kill me!!! LMAO!! It's tough decisions and take injections and time to decide what's best for you, okay? Specific stuff, PM me. Or put 'em here. We're all friends my friend......
 

txbumper57

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
7,577
Reaction score
58
Location
Texas
Doc wants me to have a Stem Cell Procedure, but it's not covered by insurance because it's 'Experimental.' My cost, which I would pay directly to the doctor (his office does all the work, mixing up the stem cells from fat my cells, etc.) is $4200. He said he has an 85% success rate 'as he defines it.'

When asked for an explanation of that success rate, the Doc said,

"85% of my patients who have had the procedure state that they feel 50% better after the surgery than they did before the surgery."

Candidly, that doesn't sound like an 85% success rate, but there is no point in being too snarky about the whole thing.

Don't you just love some Doctors Reasoning for percentages? 50% of the time it works Everytime!

Best of luck with your knee. My mother had the "synvisq" injections ( I believe that is what they are called) and they did the exact opposite of what they were supposed to making the knee even more painful than before. Whatever you decide make sure you know all of the possible outcomes and make a decision based on what is right for you as an individual. It would really suck to pay $4200 out of pocket for it to not work or even possibly make things worse. I'm pretty sure there are no refunds on that procedure.

Also a cane is a good idea but I found that when my mother relied on her cane it started causing pain in other parts of her body because all of her other muscles were compensating. This led to her having trouble walking straight up and causing pain in other areas. Almost like it pushed the other parts of her body out of a normal alignment. I purchased her a fold up Walker at CVS and within a few weeks of using it she was walking straight again with much less pain. She still hasn't had a Knee replacement but the use of the walker took enough pressure off of the knee to give it relief enough to stabilize. Now she walks fine and doesn't require a cane or the walker. Just some info from past experience of course.

Best of Luck.

TX
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,789
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
And now I'm being fed an ad for knee replacement in the advertising space between the LTG banner and the thread content. Sheesh...

"Buy one get one free?"
:smile:
And I love how they start popping up after you've made a purchase....
:hopelessness:

It would really suck to pay $4200 out of pocket for it to not work or even possibly make things worse.
Or buy that RX-7 he asked me about a while back instead, and move to California where nobody walks anyway, to use it .
:smile:
 
Last edited:

gilded

Senior Member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
3,479
Reaction score
197
Location
texas
Oh guys, thanks so much for the guidance! You are all good folk and I appreciate it. Sorry I didn't get back sooner, I've been having a busy few days.

Here's my Veer on my own Thread!

A friend offered me a real clean '68 Princeton Reverb on Wednesday night, Very nice sound, a few mods, but all reversible. Despite the mods it was 'fully priced.' While I was trying to figure how to buy it (I'm broke), another friend texted me and said he saw a mid-70s Vibrolux Reverb for sale at a small local pawn shop at an attractive price. I drove to the store and saw an even cleaner amp than the Princeton!

Vibrolux Description:

Mint grille cloth, super-clean telex, original RCA rectifier and original GE 6L6GC power tubes. The preamp tubes may have been original, too, but I never got the chance to look at them (see below).

Description Continued:

Every transformer was original, the chassis was shiny without a touch of rust, the speakers were original albeit very heavy with huge magnets.

On the negative side, there were three tiny dings on the bottom edge of silver face plate and the amp didn't have a foot-switch. Gasp!

I bought it (How, you wonder? Credit Card!) and took it home. The amp had been noisy at the store, but at my house (with it's indifferent grounding) it was dead quiet.

I called the Princeton owner up and invited him to the house. He came over with a very nice jazz box, one of the Ibanez-made Gibson L5CES copies. We both played the guitar through the amp. It sounded great through the Vibrolux, a good neck hum-bucker laying into a sweet Fender amp, complete with a very robust reverb sound.

So, I'm torn between the Vibrolux and the Princeton. Both amps are good sounding and clean looking. Both have advantages and disadvantages vis a vis each other.

And then, suddenly, My Knee told me what to do.

It said, 'gilded, you just wrenched Me carrying that super-heavy Vibrolux into the house from the car, plus that '68 Princeton Rev. is the absolute lightest PR you have ever hefted. You already have a boat anchor of a Pro Reverb. What are you thinking?'

Well, I gave in to the pressure. 30 minutes later, I swapped the Vibrolux for the Princeton.

And let me tell you, My Knee is happy. How happy? Why, 85% happy, just like my Doc's success rate.

Thanks again, friends.
 

davismanLV

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
19,196
Reaction score
11,812
Location
U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
Guild Total
2
So you kinda twisted our input and advice and made it some kind of weird reality based show where all we have to worry about is lifting things and getting to the next gig??? OH REALLY???

Thanks, Harry...... you a$$hole.... now my pain is gone and i'm shopping for more gear!!!

This is not what i expected....... jeeze...... :abnormal:
 
Top