Farming after knee surgery

Resurrecting this old thread in the hope some of you have had a knee replacement now and can tell me what you can and can’t do on it.
I’m coming up to 54 and my right knee is fecked (no ACL or cartilage in there), I’ve known for 25 plus years that I would have to have a replacement and the last time I saw the specialist, 9 years ago, he said I had to go as long as I could because of my age but it’s getting very close now because this lambing has been absolute agony.
Just wondered how ev has got on.
Dad had both done 20 years ago when he was 62 still going strong but needs his hips done have to lift him into the tractor on the forklift
 

texelburger

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
I'm due to have a total knee replacement in early April.Had gortex ligaments fitted in 1984 after a rugby injury and they have now broken leaving the knee prone to collapsing.Surgeon says he won't know whether to remove the screws,that held the ligaments, until he's doing the operation.
The deterioration of the knee as shown by the x rays over the years is staggering and with no cartilage left the bones are grinding against each other so the time to have the op has arrived.Amazingly I don't suffer much pain and can walk with a slight limp although it becomes very stiff and painful when stood still for a period and takes a while to get it going.The surgeon said I could leave it a little longer until it was unbearable but his opinion was to get it done straight away .
Well I had a total knee replacement in April 2021 along with having my kneecap plated and old,worn out,artifical ligaments removed.The operation went well and I remained conscious throughout.I worked hard after the op doing all the exercises asked of me and more to the extent that I was released from physio early.I still exercise around 5 days a week,except for during lambing,and do around 20 min on a static bike,along with sit ups and a few weights.
My knee is fantastic, I can walk without a limp,I can run reasonably well,I can kneel ok(although it is a funny sensation) and generally all is good.It does,however,feel as though you have a knee bandage on it(a funny feeling) and it won't bend quite as far as the other.
Overall very pleased and no regrets.My advice would be to to all the exercises asked of you and more post op.I have my first year review at Gobowen, Oswestry on Friday.
 
Well I had a total knee replacement in April 2021 along with having my kneecap plated and old,worn out,artifical ligaments removed.The operation went well and I remained conscious throughout.I worked hard after the op doing all the exercises asked of me and more to the extent that I was released from physio early.I still exercise around 5 days a week,except for during lambing,and do around 20 min on a static bike,along with sit ups and a few weights.
My knee is fantastic, I can walk without a limp,I can run reasonably well,I can kneel ok(although it is a funny sensation) and generally all is good.It does,however,feel as though you have a knee bandage on it(a funny feeling) and it won't bend quite as far as the other.
Overall very pleased and no regrets.My advice would be to to all the exercises asked of you and more post op.I have my first year review at Gobowen, Oswestry on Friday.
Very encouraging thanks.
 

Ducati899

Member
Location
north dorset
My father had a new knee in 2018,he’s 66 now and milks 10 milkings a week,walks without a limp.
Yesterday he husvac’d 20 heifers on his own no problem,does all other livestock work with me no problem,you must do exactly what they tell you in the recovery period though that’s the most important part,he was back in the parlour 8 weeks after his op!
 

thorpe

Member
im 66 this year, had my right knee replaced 3 years its BRILL can just manage to kneal on it now. no pain its great! had left one done eight weeks ago , difficult to remember but i think this ones been more painful , its coming good now and over the last week ive been working more or less full days but have to watch wat im doing, get tired easily not helped by not getting good sleep , not down to pain just cant get comfy. grateful for bedding machines , loadlls , power shuttle , hydrostatic combines etc , if we had them 40 years ago id still have the original knees!
 

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
I’ve had issues with a knee for few years now and 12 months ago it gave way and swelled up. Took weeks to be able to walk ok ish and months to get back to some normality. Had physio etc and an x ray. Fast forward to November, did it again. Refered for MRI. Had that a month ago. Two weeks ago, knee clicked rather loudly and locked up. Agony and swelled right up. Then had MRI results, complex cartilage tear. Need surgery. Have been limping now for over two weeks and doing next to sod all so can sympathise with every one on this thread!
 

xmilkr

Member
I had my knee replaced eight years ago when l was seventy one, worked 100% from day one, as others have said gentle exercise, a nice slow walk and sitting on the edge of a table swinging the legs, new knee been no bother and still do as much work as a few of our other employees, hope to have the other one done this year. l have to keep the family going, grand pa + ma, died at 98 + 97, uncle still running round at 97, his sister still here at 95, my mother died at 97, gran parents on fathers side who l believe were printers in the Isle of Weight were wiped out with the Spanish flue in 1920s.
 

GarethT

Member
I never expected to be able to farm thanks to my knees. Never had any injuries but I had alignment issues going on from my teens until it was sorted at 27.
Ended up having 3 keyholes done that didn't do a great deal of help. The surgeon who did #2&3 admitted defeat and handed me over to someone else. He tried sorting it first in a minimally invasive way which worked for a year before giving up in the neonatal unit of all places after my daughter was born. I had it reconstructed 6 months later and it's been good since, it'll be 10 years in November. I've been back working on the farm for 6 years now.

Bloody amazing what they can do these days.
 
from experiance keyhole is a waste of nhs money if your knees are fecked there fecked!

Depends what part is fudged.

knee-joint-anatomy-guide.jpg
 
I had a knee replacement done a few years ago . I went back for "after sales service " . He said that the ligaments at the back of my knee were contracting , and the way to counteract this was "sit on the floor with your back to the wall , stretch your leg out and put a 25 kg bag of potatoes on your knee for 10 minuted daily . " Honest ! Well I did that with a 25 kg bag of calf nuts and the pain was excruciating - actually bringing tears to my eyes at times . I persevered with it though , on the assumption that he knew what he was about . (He was the top banana at the knee clinic , and did literally hundreds of similar ops )
anyway long story cut short , it made a balls-up of the op , and I was left not a lot better than I was before . He went back to Hong Kong very shortly afterwards for a salary about 10 times bigger than he was getting locally . That knee is still slightly better than the other still , but I can't kneel down at all , experiencing really savage pain if I do so . All part of life's rich tapestry I suppose . I just put up with it now .
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
I’ve had issues with a knee for few years now and 12 months ago it gave way and swelled up. Took weeks to be able to walk ok ish and months to get back to some normality. Had physio etc and an x ray. Fast forward to November, did it again. Refered for MRI. Had that a month ago. Two weeks ago, knee clicked rather loudly and locked up. Agony and swelled right up. Then had MRI results, complex cartilage tear. Need surgery. Have been limping now for over two weeks and doing next to sod all so can sympathise with every one on this thread!
Just a cartilage tear? Man up! ;)
Seriously though, hopefully you’re nowhere near the knee replacement stage, as awful as cartilage problems can seem at the time.
 

puppet

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
sw scotland
A joint replacement is to relieve your pain, so don't rush back to work, don't expect the knee to bend as well as before and remember that it is a major operation where 10% will be no better or actually worse afterwards.
But as above, for most the pain will go and you will be more active again.
 

thorpe

Member
A joint replacement is to relieve your pain, so don't rush back to work, don't expect the knee to bend as well as before and remember that it is a major operation where 10% will be no better or actually worse afterwards.
But as above, for most the pain will go and you will be more active again.
i must have had a good surgion full painless movment after 3 years on my right knee , and good movment and pain on my left after 8 weeks, long way to go yet , hope im not doing to much i do get tired. many many thanks to Mr Chattergi and all the staff at the spire leicester🥰
 

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