Should I have knee joint replacement at 70 or physical therapy?!
Question:
Should I have knee joint replacement at 70 or physical therapy?
Additional Details
1 week ago
My doctor won't do the surgery until I am 70 which is a long time in the future unless I have tremendous pain.
Answers:
Most definitely PT first. And I would only do the surgery after trying PT for 2-3 months if walking was really difficult and painful. I have seen several cases of patients your age and older going in for joint replacement surgery and never making it out of the hospital b/c of contracting pheumonia, or a DVT, etc. That does not mean it will happen to you but understand than any surgery is a serious thing and should only be considered if you are having real difficulty with daily necessary activities. The rehab is long and much harder than PT is wthout a surgery. Granted there are many more cases where patients do quite well after surgery.