Golfing is a favorite pastime of many individuals nearing or after retirement. It’s a sport for all ages that doesn’t require teammates and can be played at your own pace. We’ve talked to a lot of people that say they can’t wait to retire and play golf a few times a week, but the sad reality is that many people find that their knee pain is too great for them to play comfortably or at all. A number of our patients bring up that their knee pain is affecting their golf game, and they want to know if they’ll be able to regain some of their golf form if they pursue a knee replacement procedure. Below, we explain how a total knee replacement procedure can help you get back to golfing without pain.
Can I Golf After Knee Replacement Surgery?
Golfing may not seem like all that physical of an activity, especially when you compare it to other sports like football or soccer, but make no mistake, golfing is extremely physically challenging for your body. You have significant trunk rotation and immense stress handled by the knees as you power through your swing. All this repeated stress is why professional golfers like Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka have needed to undergo knee surgeries to help keep them at the top of their game.
And while their knee joints were not replaced during the operation, it speaks to how much stress is regularly placed on your knees as you swing. This can be problematic for two reasons. This repeated stress can speed up arthritic degeneration, or it can lead to more pain and inflammation in a knee that is already suffering from arthritis.
But can a knee replacement operation get you back to a place where you’re comfortable playing a round of golf? In our experience, yes, and the same results were found in a recent study. For that study, 54 patients who identified as golfers underwent knee replacement surgery. These patients were asked to complete a survey that evaluated their overall performance, their pain levels and their knee stability both before and after knee replacement surgery.
Returning to Activity Post-Op
After analyzing the results, researchers found that 81.5 percent of patients were able to successfully return to the golf course within five months after surgery. Moreover, following surgery patients reported:
- Lower overall pain scores
- The decreased need for anti-inflammatory medications while golfing
- Little or no pain while golfing
And perhaps most importantly for those that take the game very seriously, more than 84 percent of patients reported that their golf game either improved or stayed the same after surgery, suggesting that knee replacement surgery could help take a few strokes off your game.
So if knee pain is keeping you from doing all the activities you love, consider setting up an appointment with a specialist like Dr. Botero. He can take a closer look at one or both of your knees, see how they respond to conservative treatments or walk you through the expectations that go along with a replacement operation. He’ll be by your side throughout the entire process to ensure you get the care you need and all your questions are answered. For more information, or to set up an appointment with his office, give them a call today at (865) 558-4444.
