health

This week�s question is a follow-up question that came in after the post we did on yoga and knee replacements (see Knee Replacements and Yoga ) and Shari's answer to another reader about pain after a total knee replacement (see Friday Q&A: Pain After a Total Knee Replacement ). It seems that pain isn't uncommon after a knee replacement, but in this case, the pain is coming several years after the replacement: Q: My partial knee replacement was April 2007. I started back to Yoga this past summer-one day a week, but I found child pose with the knees wide uncomfortable, but I did do it for a few weeks this fall. I now have some pain in my knee and I'm hoping that I haven�t loosed the cement in the joint. Any help would be appreciated. A: Thanks for writing in about this new pain in your knee. As always, I am not able to diagnose or prescribe a yoga program for you without first doing a more detailed history and physical exam in person, but I can share some thoughts that co...

Q: I have had a TKR (total knee replacement) in March this year (5 months ago). I still have pain and swelling in the repaired knee, mainly on the outer side and behind the knee. Is there any yoga exercise recommended to stabilize the knee and make it healthy? A: I am sorry to read that your Total Knee Replacement (TKR) has not resolved all the issues you hoped it would have accomplished. Literature review states that 90% of all patients are pain free after six months, but sometimes the recovery period can take a full 12 months. Ten percent of TKR patients are not pain free within this time period. Pain is a symptom of an underlying problem. The cause of the pain needs to be thoroughly addressed by the surgeon who performed your surgery. My advice would be to return to him and have him perform a complete exam, including diagnostic studies (X-ray, CT scan, blood work) to rule out any underlying infection and to ascertain the alignment of the knee prosthesis. The other thing you might co...