My elbows have been making me just miserable, more on than off for the last 10 years. I had a moderate overhaul on my left one in Dec 98. It took an awful long time to heal up-my ulnar nerve was damged in the surgery - but it did heal enough so I can lean on it for a short amout of time. I can turn my hand palm up to get change back! It bends just fine . I can straighten it about 7/8 s of the way.
For the last 4 years my right elbow has been acting up . My ulnar nerve is being pinched by something so my little finger aches and tingles most of the time.The chronic never ending pain, as well as locking up is getting on my nerves more and more.
Has anyone had an elbow replaced? How much can you lift? Can you lean on it to at least brush your teeth? Does it bend good enough to touch your face, or comb your hair? If you had to, could you use crutches? Are you still in pain? How bad did you let it get before you had it replaced?
Hey there Marian. I was DXed with JRA at 18 months old, and by the time I got to be about 26, my elbows were horrible. Not pain wise, but I had very little movement. My right elbow was completely locked up at about a 45 degree angle. And my left one had maybe about 10 degrees of motion left in it. I was getting to the point where I was having trouble even feeding myself. At that point, I didn't even know elbows could be replaced, then my RD told me they could do that. So I had both of them done. Had one done, then the other about 6 months later. I am very pleased. Mine were so bad though that they couldn't get that palm up motion, but I can straighten them out almost all the way and bend them enough do do all your basic stuff, like brushing teeth and hair, eating, scratching my face, etc. My surgeon didn't mention anything bad about putting weight on them as far as leaning on them, I don't know about putting ALL your weight on them, like using crutches, but I don't think that is a definite no-no or anything. You do have a weight restriction as far as what you can lift. It's about 10-15 pounds for each arm, or about 20-30 pounds if you lift with both arms at the same time. I have no real pain in them anymore. After the surgery on my left one, they did kind of knick one of the nerves (which is common) and had a little numbness in my little finger and ring finger on that hand, but that lessened over time. Also, there was a little numbness on the actual elbows themselves. But that has lessened too and isn't that bad of a nuisance anyway.
So if your elbows are getting bad and you are considering getting them replaced, then I say go for it. My quality of life has definitely improved since I got mine done.
Take care,
Jesse
Jesse Thanks so Much for Answering!
There is nothing quite like voice of experience. It sounds pretty good - especially the no pain part. 10-15 lbs per arm is good enough.
My knees are bad too - I'll get them done within 5 years (it won't take much to make it happen sooner). Right now crutches are impossible. To my surprise I found a wheel chair is almost as bad - I do not have the elbows to push! Good thing I almost could walk immediately after arthoscopic knee surgery last year.
My biggest fear for the elbow replacement is nerve damage. I need to be able to use a keyboard to make a living, and I like crafts like sewing and beading which just do not go with numb clumsy hands. So far I have tolerated quite a bit of pain for fear of nerve damage (been there from surgery on my left elbow). But it is starting to be a moot point because the ulnar nerve on the right side is being injured/ pinched from a badly damaged joint. I am glad to hear that your nerve problem was not terribly severe.
Hugs
Also, my knees are pretty bad too. I don't have too much pain, not very often anyway. But my range of motion is quite limited. I have considered getting those replaced too, but need to find out if I will get enough range of motion out of the procedure for it to be worth my time and effort. Plan on talking to the same surgeon who replaced my hips about that one.
Glad to answer some of your questions, take care,
Jesse