Knee surgery or ablation while on biologics

Before committing to anything definitely find out out the costs and what is covered by insurance. I've never heard of this procedure. Please let us know what you find out. I am very interested to hear. I agree with your doc that you need to do something, Your knees are in really bad shape. If you have to pay a couple thousand out of pocket it would be worth it (if you can afford it). Maybe they have some sort of payment plan.

So far, I do ok with getting steroid injections in my knees every 3-4 months and using Diclofenac Gel (presription generic voltaren) as a topical for pain as needed, but I am afraid eventually this will stop working for me and I don't know how I could ever manage surgery. I live alone and have stairs to even get in my house. If I had known I would have knee issues when I had my house built I would have made it a ranch instead of 2 floors plus the basement.

btw the prescription generic voltaren works better for me than the OTC voltaren gel. No idea why, but I did try the OTC when it became available and it's not the same as the generic prescription. A case of the generic being better than the brand name. Go figure.

The ablation is called RadioFrequency ablation, this is a procedure used to treat pain & is done by a pain mgt dr. You can search it on the net to see what it entails. I know for necks & backs you do a trial procedure first to see if there is some relief, before doing the actual procedure. I did the trial on both my neck & back & went for the actual procedure on both. I got minimal relief with my neck & zero relief with my back. I was desperate enough to try anything at that point. Be sure that your insurance will authorize this if you decide to do it.

Stem cell therapy for knees has not been approved by the FDA. Yes, there are plenty of drs out there touting "stem cell therapy", just keep in mind they are selling a product not approved by the FDA. Insurance will not cover anything not approved by the FDA.

A few years back a couple of new members posted in the OA forum about stem cell therapy. Both needed knee replacements & they were terrified. They fell for the stem cell therapy, both fleeced out of $10,000 cash because insurance wouldn't pay, it did not work. The one lady ended up having her knees replaced & did fine but was terribly upset that she wasted money she really couldn't afford to lose. I felt bad reading their stories.

I have bad knees, I put up with the pain & swelling, done with having knee scopes, not interested in replacements. No way I could ride in a car for 2 hours, my husband has learned with me we have to stop so I can get out & move around, lol.

I scored an appointment with my "knee Surgeon" for next week. He didn't even address ablation in the times I've seen him. The Last time I saw him... he jumped straight to surgery if the shots failed.

So going in to discuss this with him to see what he thinks .... Although I sorta wonder. His profession is as a surgeon... I think that might make him alittle biased.... Lol...

Clo

Well Im on Xeljanz and have had both my knees replaced.
Im in Canada and my lady surgeon on both occasions took me off my medication for two weeks prior to my operations.
Everything worked out fine for me.