A conversation with an Orthopedic Surgeon.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The problem, as was explained to me by two surgeons (do with that info what you will), is that the problem is that after two knee replacements there was a significant amount of bone that had to be removed that a third was never viable. After that comes fusion. Of the knee. A significantly active lifestyle cut down the life expectancy to as little as five years for replacement joints. One surgeon refused to consider doing any joint replacements not absolutely necessary due to things like trauma or cancer in the bone or cartilaginous tissues if the patient was under the age of 65.

How many people do you know with a fused knee?

[David A. Rowe]

How many people do you know with a fused knee?

That's a fair point, and I've known a good two dozen who waited too long.

Rip, I'm not trying to be shitty. It's a tough call, and being told that you have less than a third of the cartilage left in both knees at 23 is soberingly scary. I'm also a catastrophist, and I've lost a good bit of faith the last several years in the institutions of medicine and science... BEFORE 2020. As I said, I'll take what you and others have said into my own consideration. I just wanted to share what little I knew and had been told. As with other things... sometimes it's refreshing to be wrong.

[Dr. Manhattan]

I plan to get my shoulder done as soon as I finish building my house. I got 17 years out of the repair that the Army did for me, before it failed. If i get that much out of the next one I will be early 70’s. It would be nice to sleep thru the night again.

PizzaDad (and or anybody else),
I have a gym friend (asking for a friend, no joke...) with osteoporosis facing full shoulder replacement if/when pain becomes an issue. His surgeon states that heavy lifting days would be over - risk of shoulder dislocation and/or other reasons.

Any and all comments and experiences are welcome. I've advised him to check this board to get multiple input points but I thought I would ask.

[PizzaDad]

If your knee or hip needs replacement and an orthopedic surgeon who told you that you need a total joint replacement, also said to wait because the repair he says you need right now is not going to last long enough to justify the surgery, then you need a new Dr. If the argument is that making your life better now is a bad idea. Living in pain with limited ability for 20 years is better? Wait until you are older and fatter and weaker and more decrepit?

[Mark Rippetoe]

PizzaDad (and or anybody else),
I have a gym friend (asking for a friend, no joke...) with osteoporosis facing full shoulder replacement if/when pain becomes an issue. His surgeon states that heavy lifting days would be over - risk of shoulder dislocation and/or other reasons.

A guy you know who trains heavy developed osteoporosis?

[Brian Harlin]

being told that you have less than a third of the cartilage left in both knees at 23 is soberingly scary. I'm also a catastrophist.

Knowing how much cartilage is showing up on a scan is not useful info for these decisions (from the patient perspective anyway). What is your quality of life? If you can move fine and sleep fine, it doesn’t matter what a scan says. Contrarily, if you have limited ROM, are in constant pain and can’t sleep worth a shit... it also doesn’t really matter what the scan says. If you can’t sleep now, it’s not going to get better, trust me.

[PizzaDad]

I did not have a total replacement. I thought I had a “full mumford “ procedure. My ortho surgeon says that is BS. He from looking at the scans he doesn't know what they did but he does know there are 3 steel screws in my shoulder that have chewed up every bit of soft tissue in the joint and torn apart the head of the humerus. His advice to me on lifting was don’t stop. Maybe reduce the intensity just to bide time but if I stop, he said, I’d probably never get back to it. This indicates that he knows I intend to keep lifting (over head press) and sounded like it wouldn't be out of the question. I was doing sets of 5 at 135 and a few doubles at 155 and 160 at the time. Lately my sets are 115 but I hardly train. I have spent almost all my time building my house.

[Dr. Manhattan]

A guy you know who trains heavy developed osteoporosis?

Pardon and/all of my misunderstanding; I was interrogating him but with noble intentions: to NOT simply assume what the doc says about lifting applies. Essentially, the ball/head is a wreck (cause may be a big misunderstanding). My question, which I didn't specify, was regarding the ability/restrictions to lift with a shoulder replacement: squat, pull, bench.

Thanks in advance to everyone's time and apologies for any miscommunication.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Perhaps you meant Osteoarthritis. His capacities post-surgery will be determined by the fine details of the case. He can probably train.

[David A. Rowe]

Knowing how much cartilage is showing up on a scan is not useful info for these decisions (from the patient perspective anyway). What is your quality of life? If you can move fine and sleep fine, it doesn’t matter what a scan says. Contrarily, if you have limited ROM, are in constant pain and can’t sleep worth a shit... it also doesn’t really matter what the scan says. If you can’t sleep now, it’s not going to get better, trust me.

Switched to low impact running minimalist to maximize the impact force dampening and trying to shift the spectrum more to impulse. If I do everything just right and only run when arbitrary standards demand... I only occasionally get severe acute arthritic inflammation. I'm not yet 40, so I'm really hoping that they do make robot legs soon. Or that arbitrary running standards die in a fire.

In all seriousness, I'm trying to stretch phases because my family history and prognosis are not pointing in a good direction for my mid fifties to early sixties. Others may not have to. Maybe our new Chinese overlords can help.