Knee Replacement Surgery

[tiburon72157]

Have severe osteo-arthritis in my knees which causes me great discomfort. The only med that has really worked in the past to help me deal with the pain, was Vioxx. And now that is gone. I have been on Celebrex for a week now, and pain levels have increased. Spoke to my ortho yesterday, and discussed knee replacement surgery. Doc says after surgery my scuba, dirt, atv and sport bike riding are completely out. Anyone out there had knee replacement surgery and still diving, or very active? If so what were your experiences from the beginning to now? Thanks in advance...
:06:

 

[Wendy]

I am in the first stages of osteo-arthritis (they call it chondramalasia patella in my case as well). I had been given samples of vioxx to take, in the past, but I threw them out last week. I have taken motrin now for inflamation, which is pretty much what vioxx is for too right, anti-inflamatory? I was told cortisone is not good. So for now to deal with pain I take the motrin and wear my knee braces when I dive (both knees now, although the left knee is much worse).

someone sent me a link to this woman's website and it helped me understand what was going on in my knees and this lady has tried everything, maybe you will find it helpful as well.

as far as not diving after surgery, you can e-mail DAN (diver's alert network) and they should be able to give you a diving answer to your question.

http://www.lanchester.net/chondro/knee.html

 

[Rick Murchison]

I'm curious as to the reasoning your doc gave you for ending SCUBA after knee replacement surgery. If there's something legit I'd like to hear it - but I suspect what you have is a non-diving Doc who's covering what he doesn't know with "don't."
As for pain relief, I find Nitrogen works wonders on my arthritis; virtually painless at 100'
Rick

 

[fgray1]

There are Handi capped divers out there. I'm sure if someone that has lost the use of their legs can dive. You should be able to find a way as well. I was on a boat once were a guy in a wheel chair was a diver and he did fine. Needed help getting into and out of the water but he dove with no problem.

 

[DocVikingo]

Have severe osteo-arthritis in my knees which causes me great discomfort. The only med that has really worked in the past to help me deal with the pain, was Vioxx. And now that is gone. I have been on Celebrex for a week now, and pain levels have increased. Spoke to my ortho yesterday, and discussed knee replacement surgery. Doc says after surgery my scuba, dirt, atv and sport bike riding are completely out. Anyone out there had knee replacement surgery and still diving, or very active? If so what were your experiences from the beginning to now? Thanks in advance...
:06:

As others have suggested, a non-diving physician may not have a proper understanding of the nature and demands of scuba. It is true that knee replacement surgery may in some cases impose certain activity limitations and one should ask their surgeon to go over these in detail. However, for those limitations that may appear to interfere with scuba it is worth exploring the possibility of accommodating them.

A diver or his physician can pose questions to DAN by calling (919) 684-2948 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm EST) or by emailing http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/contact/email.asp?RE=Medicine.

One also could contact Handicapped Scuba Association International and inquire about their experience with this type of prosthesis. They can be reached at http://www.hsascuba.com/contactus.htm.

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I had knee replacement surgery about 9 years ago. My surgeon was a diver and encouraged me to go back to diving , which I did 6 weeks after surgery. Since then I have made over 500 dives in cold and warm water without any restrictions.
If there are no complications post-op, there should be no reason to stop diving.
(Maybe you need to find another surgeon?).

 

[scubacoz22]

Have severe osteo-arthritis in my knees which causes me great discomfort. The only med that has really worked in the past to help me deal with the pain, was Vioxx. And now that is gone. I have been on Celebrex for a week now, and pain levels have increased. Spoke to my ortho yesterday, and discussed knee replacement surgery. Doc says after surgery my scuba, dirt, atv and sport bike riding are completely out. Anyone out there had knee replacement surgery and still diving, or very active? If so what were your experiences from the beginning to now? Thanks in advance...
:06:

Why in the heck did he say scuba diving was out. Heck i had my knee replacement over a year ago and have been diving. My orthopedic said that if i could kick with my fins i could dive. We went to the British Virgin Islands and i did 12 dives with no problem at all and in november we are going to Cozumel for 10 dives. I had my surgery in June of 2003. I dont think i needed to wait a year but we did because i had the surgery in June and waited until the next summer to dive. Any other questions I wil be happy to reply my personal e mail is scubacoz@direcway.com kathy

 

[Kaos]

I have met many divers over the years with arthritis or who required orthopedic surgery and are still diving actively. Vast majority of them you can't tell unless they tell you.

I myself am an avid downhill skier and know that one of these days my passion will pre-maturely ruin my knees (it's already starting a bit). I will most likely have to adjust my diving to less strenous conditions (ie. current) when I grow older, but that's fine, there's a fine line between reducing and stopping.

I second the Ancient Mariner and say get a second opinion, you have nothing to lose.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Have severe osteo-arthritis in my knees which causes me great discomfort. The only med that has really worked in the past to help me deal with the pain, was Vioxx. And now that is gone. I have been on Celebrex for a week now, and pain levels have increased. Spoke to my ortho yesterday, and discussed knee replacement surgery. Doc says after surgery my scuba, dirt, atv and sport bike riding are completely out. Anyone out there had knee replacement surgery and still diving, or very active? If so what were your experiences from the beginning to now? Thanks in advance...
:06:

The only issue I can think of with regards to knee replacement surgery deal with DCS. DCS affects the joints because of the bend the nitrogen bubbles have to go around. If you dive conservatively, this shouldn't be a problem. I also have osteoarthritis. I can't take NSAIDS because I am too sensitive to them (ulcers). Although knee replacement surgery is lasting longer these days. You will probably still be looking at having it redone within 10-15 years. So think about this! Have you ever tried Bextra. This is another NSAID, similar to Vioxx, but without the nasty side effects.

 

[LChan]

it is very important after knee replacement surgery like other surgeries to make sure the wound has healed. Give it at least a month or two to heal.

after that, I can't think of any reason not to scuba dive.