I promised to get back to the forum following my steroid injection last Monday in my right knee.: all went well with the injection itself and, by the time I reached my 20 mile journey home, I was already able to walk without the forearm crutch I have been using for some weeks now. It felt like bliss, tbh.
However, although I have continued to enjoy almost a week now of walking relatively easily, I can, unfortunately, feel the pain gradually creeping back. I can't deny it and I know and realise that this is a possibility. I am remaining as positive as possible, though I must admit it doesn't really matter how positive one is, if the pain is there, it's there. If I could get rid of all my aches and pains by remaining positive, I'd be first in the race!
So, will keep fingers crossed that it gets no worse because I can bear what I have now, relatively easily. I'm told by the consultant that if it's not successful, I can't have a knee replacement op until 6 months have elapsed.
🥰Thanks to all those who contributed to my original post. I was most grateful. 🥰
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tempusfugi
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Yes that is correct, having knee surgery after receiving a steroid injection (cortisone shot) in the knee can increase the risk of post-operative infection, so it's generally recommended to wait several months (usually around six months) between the injection and surgery to allow the tissues to fully heal and minimise infection risk.
I know this may sound mad, but I'm kinda thinking I might choose to go privately, if it comes to it. I have a hospital in mind and am wondering if I should dole out for the op. We will see...then I won't have to worry about a waiting list. Perhaps, during the next year, Wes Streeting will have conquered all waiting lists🤣
Yeah right - but a start would be to pay for your hip in a private hospital. Beware though - make sure there is an ICU with 24 hour staffing by an anaesthetist within trolley-pushing distance of your room!!!
Coming from a family with both parents as medics, this is one thing that stuck very strongly in my mind. Never have a private operation in a hospital that does not have an ICU.
Absolutely! ANd fully staffed. There was a case in Dundee - lady went into the local private clinic for a nose job and started bleeding overnight, There was no anaesthetist even on call so they called 999 to take her to the hospital a mile away. Too late. That is the other thing that gets me - it is the NHS that has to bear the costs of private gone wrong, even worse when it is cheap private abroad gone wrong.
So true. I used to flinch when Mum's at my daughter's school took their children to have tonsils out at the local private hospital! Their child!!!! The stuff abroad is really scary. Some of the stories are terrifying.
The things described really do happen! I had private medical insurance, free from the company I worked for. I had an op under spinal block, but things didn’t go well, & within 20 minutes of coming out of the op theatre I was paralysed & the nurse was breathing for me by putting a bag in my mouth & blowing my lungs up…regularly! The NHS hospital was only half a mile up the road but it took 30 minutes to get an ambulance. Then it takes time to do the transfer. Then, & this is the truth, half way up the road the back doors of ambulance flew open& me & my trolley started going for the door! They were in such a rush they hadn’t secured the trolley to the floor or secured the doors!! By next morning I was only paralysed from waist downwards, but that lasted six weeks…At least I could work in the hospital, but the loneliness was phenomenal. Yes, my hubby visited every day, but he had a full time job, as did all my friends!! Think very carefully about what advantages there could be! The surgeon will likely be the same person, & the anaesthetist, just that you will be paying them! A friend has just had his hip done , he got back to the ward in the evening, & the following evening he was home. If you have lots of money, the best thing to spend it on maybe it’s the convalescence I think…physio, people making you meals, etc. Just my thoughts!!
"If you have lots of money, the best thing to spend it on maybe it’s the convalescence I think…physio, people making you meals, etc."
Never mind the food - REHAB, first second and third!! Here you sometimes get sent to a rehab unit for 3 weeks for daily physio - all day, not a sheet to show you what to do, And if you live alone, you may get a week or two in respite care first.
A friend of mine lives 8n France. She just had a new hip…then on day 3 she went to a convalescent unit for 2/3 weeks! Seems to me that that part is neglected in England, where you stay in 48 hours & then home…as you say, with sheet of exercises!! S x
I also have a French friend who was sent to a spa hotel for three weeks after a knee replacement. She had fantastic rehab with exercises both in an out of water. They also put her on a ‘healthy diet’ which she resented bitterly but was probably very good for her.
Yes, we need this sort of rehab in the UK where it is virtually non existent!!
Couldn't agree more. But it saves the NHS quite a bit when the patient doesn't have a crisis - which probably costs more!! Joint replacements seem to work better here!!
I'm entitled to 3 weeks rehab a year in a specialist hospital in Oberammagau. When I was first offered it I wasn't in a fit state to do it with the back problems and then never got round to booking it.
Things are so different now. I had a TKR in 1999 and was not allowed home for ten days. I had to be able to walk, walk up and down their main stairs on my own and generally be fit enough to cope at home, even though I wasn't on my own at home. Physio and exercises everyday. Excellent care from start to finish and physio continued at the hospital for as long as needed.
Don’t hold your breath T,most of these promises amount to nothing.If you have the money,spend it on yourself to make your life more comfortable.Good luck ,xxx💐😜
I had this do this with my hip I was a community nurse at the time but couldn’t walk up stairs to flats, I was in agony and was on the waiting list for over two years with still no sign of an op so had to go private which I couldn’t really afford
Yes unfortunately they dont cure things, just really help to function in between shots. How long it lasts varies so much from person to person. Same for anywhere in the body really, not just the knee. Hopefully it will dull things for a while even.
i understand that steroid injections to the knee are normally only effective in the earlier stages of OA. Also they do not give a long term benefit. I have end stage OA in both knees. The injections did nothing for me apart from less pain at night for three weeks after that back to normal. They never helped with pain whilst walking. My orthopaedic specialist told me they would not work for me but I tried them anyway (private). He was correct.
I don't know where you live, but I have heard excellent reports on Rustington Convalescent Home in West Sussex. If you have knee surgery, this could help. The price is reasonable too.
Just to drag this conversation back to the results of the steroid injection...
While you wait, please do all the stuff you probably already know in order to keep functional for the next few months. These include exercises (see Jim Johnson "Treat Your Own Knees" which is available as an ebook if that's the quickest way to get it). Key is strengthening muscles supporting the knee, the quads. Please don't hesitate to use whatever works for you to offload weight from the afflicted leg. I used "urban poles" which unlike Nordic poles are designed to allow you to take some weight onto the arms. If you aren't already, consider using a lightweight brace (I have a cheap elastic one from the pharmacy) to limit bending the knee. I have found this helps when the OA flares up. And a number of us posting have found Flexiseq helpful. So far all this has helped me delay surgery since 2021!
I've never had a corticosteroid injection. This helps temprroarily but in the long run causes further damage. NSAIDS also impact cartilage regeneration so if possible should be avoided as the pain relief used for OA although I certainly take aspirin for headaches if I need to.
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