Patient Stories

In December 2021, I was hit by a car while riding my bike (high-energy trauma). After months of recovering from this accident, the pain in my left knee and left shoulder persisted. I ended up at an orthopaedic clinic where, fortunately, I was taken very seriously.

I had total knee replacement (TKR) surgery on September 9, 2022, coincidentally on Arthrofibrosis Awareness Day. Unfortunately, my recovery has been a nightmare. I was assigned a pushy, aggressive, and untrained physical therapist, which only made things worse.

In early January 2010, I slipped on ice and injured my right knee, leading to severe pain and locking issues. After extensive physiotherapy, I underwent two arthroscopies in 2010 and 2011 to adjust my meniscus, revealing that my cruciate ligaments were somewhat stretched. In 2012, I suffered another fall, resulting in a small fracture of the tibial plateau. On November 12, 2012, I received a knee prosthesis but was discharged from the hospital with only a 40-degree bend.

I am a 74-year-old woman from Kentucky (USA), and before my total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, I was highly active, maintaining a disciplined exercise routine for over 40 years. When it came time for surgery, I sought out the highest-rated surgeon in my area, encouraged by numerous success stories from former patients.

In January 2024, I had a total knee replacement. Following the surgery, I began physiotherapy, Continuous Passive Motion (CPM), and lymph drainage, all managed within a pain-free range thanks to medication. Ten days after the operation, I was discharged with a 75-degree bend in my knee, which felt like a small victory at the time. However, my optimism began to fade when I started rehabilitation on the 11th day post-op.

My life changed dramatically in February 2019, when I was 44 years old. During a skiing accident, I broke my knee and had surgery three days later. I was given a knee brace and rehab instructions, but when the time came to remove the brace, I discovered that my leg was stuck at a 70-degree angle. I couldn’t bend or straighten it at all.

My journey began with a knee replacement in 2017, when I was 52 years old. I had suffered a fractured femur and tibia, along with a crush injury just below my right knee, back in 1982 when I was only 18. I believe that injury is the reason I needed a knee replacement at such a “young” age.

After suffering from left knee pain for two years, and receiving three monthly steroid injections that became progressively less effective, I underwent a total knee replacement in August 2024. The operation was carried out in Portugal, where I live for most of the year. Following the surgery, my knee was painful and stiff, as expected. My consultant prescribed two months of daily physiotherapy. During the first month, things appeared to improve well, but then progress seemed to stall. My physiotherapist insisted on increasing the exercises, but they became very painful, and the stiffness did not improve.

In May 2017, I was a fit 34-year-old training for a triathlon when everything changed. After a bad bike crash, I later felt something “pop” while running and was overcome by sharp pain. An initial diagnosis showed a small cartilage tear, and I was told that an arthroscopic “clean-up” procedure would have me back to running and biking within six weeks.