General Chat

YOU SIGN AGREEMENT THAT YOU
WILL NOT DRIVE FOR 6 WEE
BY LAW,IF YOU DO YOU COULD GET
DONE BY POLICE

my father in law rode his motor bike
with a broken leg for weeks ;-)

I had my knee done in October and I did not have to sign anything to say that I would not drive for 6 weeks

Same when I had mine done, just told it
would be wise not to drive for six weeks.

The law is such that if you do drive against medical advice you are technically deemed to be driving illegally and your insurance would be invalid.

This pamphlet has usefull infomation on the subject.

http://tiny.cc/v0mgyx

To drive when told not to is asking for trouble. We recently had a driver who had a seizure at work hosp. said it was high blood pressure and not to drive till he had seen his own GP and get pills etc. Ok he was off work for 2 wks then started driving... 6 wks later he had another seizure and crashed into another car, believe me the Ins. was on to us to check his story thankfully he passed the ins. enquiries otherwise I don't know what would have happened :-S

I have had 5 lots of hand surgery and i am always told not to drive for between 6-8 weeks. I can drive at 6 weeks but it is left to my discretion as to whether i think it is safe.
Even though i have an automatic car with assisted braking is always nearer 8 weeks than 6 when i start driving again and then only short distances to begin with.

As my RA got worse and two knee replacements
I haven't driven a car as I feel I would be a danger
to myself and everyone else.

Hands, arms, neck etc not worth it....8years since I got behind a wheel

A lot of knee problems can be sorted with exercises from a skilled physiotherapist and keeping weight down to what the bmi calculator says it should be. Rushing to the surgeon won't fix the problem which damaged the knee! NHS artificial knees are not very good compared to the real thing even at 60%.

I drove a mini donkey's years ago for ages with a broken arm. Just fitted a steering wheel spinner and some simple hand controls. Same thing more recently but this time with an automatic which had power steering. Much easier.

There is no hard and fast rule about driving after medical procedures it is down to how you feel and what the doctor advises. He certainly won't advise anybody to drive full of painkillers!

I was more than happy to rush to the surgeon
Rollo, could not weight bare, the pain was horrendous.

As with everything in life common sense helps.

Rollo obviously has not got arthritis.

artificial joints are far better than joints that have been deformed by arthritis and are rubbing bone to bone and causing very painful spurs.

my artificial joints and plates and screws are 100% better than what i had, they have given me a better quality of life and almost pain free.

I'm glad to hear it Stella good luck to you :-)

Like many others I'm living with it best as I can,
am better off than some who have a more serious
illness.

Arthritis is caused either by a virus or the body's immune system getting out of wack and attacking joints somewhere else in the body other than the site of the original infection (reactive). It is this latter form which causes most of the grief and yes it is a terrible thing to be suffering from. There is a strong genetic link for susceptibility to reactive arthritis.

At this time there is not much in the way of effective treatment other than painkillers and invasive procedure such as knee replacements. As the disease becomes better understood hopefully a way in which to push the immune system back under control will be found. A lot of work is going on 'cos an effective drug would be highly profitable.

I did not post especially about arthritis though but rather knee degradation caused in the main by undue pressure on the knee. This can be from sport and plain hard work but the principle cause in the UK is being overweight. It costs the NHS a fortune.

Some NHS Commissioning groups are making decisions limiting or even preventing access to knee surgery where they believe the patient has sufficient mobility for their needs especially where that patient is obese.

It's a hard world so don't expect May 7 to have made it any easier.
:-|

Mine is genetic. ... from my mother.

Exactly the same joints are affected.

No one got a bigger shock than myself Rollo
when diagnosed with RA.

Both my OH and myself were very active hill climbers
and walkers and lived for free time to enjoy our lives.

Both very healthy and we looked forward to our retirement.

It is what it is and we just get on with it.

I look forward to the day when I no longer need to take medication,
not in my life time I think :-)

Emma, my mother had both kinds , RA and Osteo arthritis..

I have osteo Arthritis. I have never known pain like it and I have a very high pain threshold. I have had one knee done, one nearly ready to be done, 2 dodgy hips, a doggy thumb....Shall I go on and bore you all :-D :-D :-D.

BTW Rollo my new knee is wonderful I can get about so much better now.