About Knees For You

Updated 4/5/09

I started to have knee problems when I was 30 years old.  I spent several weeks on crutches when my left knee swelled up and I could not walk on my leg.  The doctor back in 1974 could not find a problem, but decided to give me an arthroscopic examine of my knee.  For some reason after they pumped the air into my knee for the x-ray, the knee decided it was time to recover.  I was able to return to all the activities I loved including tennis.

About 15 years later in 1989, my knee began to become painful again while I was playing tennis.  I tried shots, a special knee brace and some prescription NSAIDS.  My knee would be fine as long as I was not playing tennis, so I thought the best solution was to give up tennis.

A few years later,  in 1993, my left hip also began hurting.  It seems that hips, knees and backs are all connected together and you never know which is causing the pain that you feel. I eventually had my hip replaced in 2006 and my knee has not bothered me much since then.  Of course, I have not played tennis or really been very active except to walk a lot. I had my left hip resurfaced in March 2006. The operation is similar to a total hip replacement, but it is a modern version that does not cut off your femur bone. There are no restrictions to your activities after surgery. The surgeon told me that getting my hip replaced would lengthen my leg back to where it should be and eventually help my back and knee problems. 

I have a large Patient to Patient website about Hip Resurfacing called Surface Hippy. It is very well used since people are looking for information and options for hip replacement. It is not controlled by any medical manufactures or companies, so the information is not biased.

I thought a similar patient to patient website about knee pain and knee replacement would also be a great resource for people. A place to read about what is new, medical studies, articles and other information.

Patricia Walter

Contact Patricia   pwalter@surfacehippy.info