Beware of spending lot of money for something for which they will not give you a written guaranty of 95% success.
After a walk on the beach, next morning I had a much swollen and painful knee. The doc ordered knee x-rays, which showed worn out cartilage and bone on bone knee joint.
Instead of going the route of knee replacements, I am trying the route of more walking. After resting my knee for 7-8 days, the pain was diminished and after that I started walking. I try to get in 10 miles of walking at a fairly rapid pace every week. And it has helped a lot to take away knee pain. In my opinion exercise tends to strengthen muscles and and tendon around the knee, thus taking some load off the bones. I use Dr Scholl’s well padded shoes and walk on sidewalks which are flat.
My doctor recommended the cheap knee sleeves you can buy at Walmart. They have really helped me. My knee is doing great, but unfortunately the hip on the same leg is going now. I did check with a clinic that does the stem cell therapy, and they take the cells from you,Then treat them, and re-inject them into your joints.
About 10K to do three joints. Their success rate for hips is 83%, or so they claim. Cost is more around 30K for the spine. I have finally decided just to go with a hip replacement. I just don’t trust the stem cell thing ... maybe it will get better in the future.
I’ve heard a million times about exercise saving people from knee surgery. I believe it.
And the stem cell tissue injection I’ve seen has been to assist skin regeneration after skin grafting. It really seems to work. It is pricy and might not last forever.
Bone on bone, get your knees replaced. It will only get worse.
The exercise you are doing will greatly help recovery.
Get the surgery by a specialist and in a hospital that has a dedicated floor for joint replacement.
I had both my knees done at the same time. Best thing I ever did for my knees. I can go up three steps at a time.
(Used to be 4 but that was way long ago)
I tore ligaments and a meniscus in each knee a long time ago (Army initial and National Guard training) and was crippled off and on quite a bit for a long time afterwards (bone on bone and much unsightly swelling).
Kind of proud that I didn’t cost you all anything for surgery, rehab or disability since then. I give myself credit for that, because no one else will. :-)
Very regular exercise works well with plenty of calcium in the diet *and plenty of sleep,* but it also took a few years of often painful walking in my fifties (at least a mile a day, often further, at least five days per week whenever possible). Calcium does grow (as do bones), but it takes a long time. Keeping the weight down is very important, too. In my sixties now and okay.
An Army hospital surgeon told me in the late 1980s, that I would be in a wheel chair from my mid-forties, on. That didn’t happen, but I haven’t done as most middle aged and older men do since then, either.
To clarify, here are my own crazy directions that I made for myself and followed.
* If a leg goes suddenly numb, get to a hospital. You might lose that leg. It’s a chance that I took. Told you that these directions are crazy.
* Get plenty of sleep.
* Get skinny. Keep the weight down.
* Get plenty of regular calcium in the diet.
* Walk whenever possible. It’s going to hurt quite a bit at times. It might hurt and swell off and on for about ten years at least. If there’s a hill, walk up that hill for more knee movement. With or without a hill, be sure to do some leg extensions while laying on your back or sitting at least every other day. Swimming is good.
* Don’t do this without a doctor’s advice, if you are over 65. If there’s no allergy to aspirin (salicylic acid) and if okay with the doctor, consider taking one baby aspirin each day. If the swelling is bad on a particular day, take an adult aspirin or Advil with a glass of water after eating something on that day after exercising. I did this without a doctor’s advice, but that’s the way I am.
Remember that it’s risky in some ways. I am not qualified to do any medical work or to give any medical advice. I’ve done many physical activities that most people wouldn’t consider doing and have had many serious physical injuries.
Do whatever a specialist says instead, if you can or will.
Oh...
* And don’t do any very heavy lifting except for proper structured weight training. Carrying a heavy load while walking can make a knee fail. Avoid uneven ground that is not level. A sideways movement in a knee without ligaments or with a weak spot in a meniscus can be the end of it in an instant.