Avoided knee surgery and gained pain-free mobility
His bone-on-bone knee pain began nearly 20 years ago. The knee pain was so bad that when his knee got inflamed, it would sometimes take two to three months before the knee pain would decrease to a manageable level. He had trouble walking up and down stairs, and enjoying one of his favorite pastimes. Playing golf without knee pain was completely out of the question. He was considering a full knee replacement when he visited Functional Medicine Center of MN to look for an alternative treatment for his chronic knee pain. After just three weeks of treatment, his pain greatly decreased, and his mobility increased to the point where he no longer needed handrails to go up and down stairs! Now, he’s looking forward to brushing up his golf game.
Enjoying your favorite activities (even golf) without knee pain is possible!
Does playing golf without knee pain or enjoying many of your other favorite activities seem out of reach? Learn more about how Functional Medicine Center of MN can help you potentially avoid knee surgery, gain mobility, and begin to live pain-free. Please contact us or schedule an assessment.
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John: My name is John. I’m from Saint Cloud. Having some pain in my knee started about 2003 but then has become more obvious the last three or four years and to the point where I was considering surgery. I decided to come to talk to Dr. Robert, and we started the process. This would be my tenth meeting now that I’ve been with him.
Dr. Robert: Yeah. Why did you come in? What kind of things couldn’t you do in your life any longer?
John: Well, I used to be real active in golf. It was the one thing I could do at my age and still participate and be competitive with a handicap. Um. And then I got to the point three years ago where the pain in the knee was so much and inflamed, and I couldn’t even hardly walk upstairs, let alone play golf. So whenever it would get inflamed, it would take about two to three months before the pain would go away. So when it dissipated again this year, after two bad years when my summers were cut short, I could hardly move around at work or at home, I decided to try something. And here I am. And I am here to say I’ve been very impressed with the results. Because it started, like I say, in my left knee is the worst, went to my left thumb and my left shoulder. There’s definitely change in all of them. I could be able to move. I couldn’t do this freely before. I couldn’t put weight on my knee. I couldn’t laterally like my golf. I couldn’t do that without bone on bone. So…
Dr. Robert: So what’s different in the pain that you had before versus now? What helps your knees doing?
John: Well, almost two summers, two years ago or three years ago, the pain was immediately for about five days a nine or a ten. And after the summer, it kept dissipating, but it took a time… it took a while. Now I’d say there is no pain. The first couple of times I take the steps, I know it’s there, but it’s not painful. And then after I take a couple of steps, that’s going up a set of steps because I walk 17 steps at least six times a day up and down. And now I notice I find myself grabbing for the handrail when I don’t really need to. That’s kind of a unique thing.
Dr. Robert: So you don’t feel pain when you’re going up and down the stairs now?
John: No pain anymore?
Dr. Robert: Yeah, that’s amazing right? because that was not possible before
John: I wouldn’t have thought it would be this easy, this painless. And here we are two or three weeks later, and it’s a complete turnaround.
Dr. Robert: Speak about how painless because really what we do here is painless right? And there’s no surgery to go through. There’s no cutting off your kneecaps. There’s… there’s none of that right? And three weeks later, here you are… go up and down stairs.
John: No needles, no pain, great staff to work with um, and I just say that I am so glad I came because I was contemplating a new full-knee replacement
Dr. Robert: Yeah
John: And I have two friends that didn’t work out so well, so I was kind of on a rock and a hard place, and I’m glad I found this environment here at Dr. Robert.
Dr. Robert: Um, What about the thumb? Tell us about…
John: The thumb started also… the knee was first and the thumb then the shoulder. The thumb was where I couldn’t even open a pickle jar or a peanut butter jar. I’d have to… being left-handed, that was my natural trend uh, and now with some things we’ve done here with mud and different things that pain I can open ajar no problem.
Dr. Robert: No problem.
John: No problem.
Dr. Robert: You felt it changed immediately didn’t you?
John: I felt it changed immediately when they were mudding me.
Dr. Robert: Yeah very cool and then the shoulder also now?
John: Shoulder now, I mean two weeks ago it had been like this, and I’ve been turning to help assistance to get up, and now it’s all by itself… it’s a new day pretty good.
Dr. Robert: Just look at that yeah so awesome
Dr. Robert: Well, thank you for sharing awesome anything else you’d like to add, or are you be good?
John: I think that’s about it. I think I covered everything. I’d recommend everybody at least check it out.
Dr. Robert: Very good. Thank you