Both knees I had to go thru a routine of PT, then cortisone shots, then syn-visc injections, finally the approval for replacement.
1st knee took 10 months for approval then second knee 8 months.
In the UK, they found it politically more popular to give 100 young women pre-natal care than to give one old woman a knee.
So pretty obvious who wins...
In essence, it seems if you already have a bad situation, there are just a few reasons to not immediately go forward with this surgery, if you were already wanting to go forward and timing was an issue.
My wife was in pain 24/7 in need of a hip replacment. Her operation was delayed for close to a year due to Covid impact on our ppo.
Nothing worked and she will not take narcotics more than a couple of doses. She was in pain for months as nothing worked.
A year ago on 1 March, she had her replacement. She took drugs for about 2-3 days and went to ice and heat prn.
A year later, she is better with basically zero pain and gains more mobility each day.
Those with progressively increasing pain and stiffness and decreasing daily function despite attempting all the general non-surgical options should consider total joint replacement.
Any major joint work should be done ASAP.
I had my left foot rebuilt last August 8th. Prior to that I woke up in pain and each thing I did throughout the day made the pain worse. My doctor prescribed exercise and would not refer me to a specialist. I switched doctors and had the operation right away, within a few weeks (which was on Aug 8).
Now with no pain my energy levels are about the same as when I was 60 (I’m 73 now). I put in 8 - 10 hours daily working on equipment or in the forest. Prior to that I could not do 2 or three hours per day.
Now my new doctor wants to have my left knee rebuilt. No shots, no PT - no prerequisites at all. The new doc referred me to a specialist with a surgery date of July 31st.
My advice to anyone with joint issues is DO IT NOW!. Save your self pain and agony!. There’s no reason to ever be in a walker or wheel chair because of joint issues if you take care of it early.