Welcome to the forum! It is horrible and most unfortunate that your PT's tried to speed up your recovery by overworking your surgical knee at such an early stage! It is important to understand the amount of surgical trauma that has been inflicted on your knee---and your knee is still reeling from it.
It is important to treat the knee or knees gently and keep them happy! Right now, at this place in your recovery, gentle stretches and exercises are all you need to be doing.
THe therapists always pushed the knee to make it flex and seemed happy to cause pain.
Do not let anybody, ever, push you to the point of pain. you should do all exercises and stretching to the point of discomfort and no further. Working the knee to hard---in essence, overworking the knee, is very detrimental and slows down your recovery and causes even more inflammation.
Here is some reading from our forum library---the articles in it are rather short, but contain excellent information about what will be beneficial to you at this place in time in your recovery. I will post them here for you:
First are the mantras ....
-
rest,
elevate,
ice and
take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
Next is a
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thread.
And then the articles in order of importance .
Group A
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Progression of activity for TKRs
Group B
How Long Does Healing Take ......
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Using ice
Group C
Knee Replacement - Where Am I in Recovery?
So What Is It Going to Take? The Five “P’s” of Knee Recovery
Work “Smarter” and not “Harder”
About recovering a knee - from one who knows!
Some suggestions for home physio (PT) and activity progress
Myth busting: The "window of opportunity"
Group D
MUA (manipulation under anaesthetic) and adhesions
It's never too late to get more ROM!
It's Worth the Wait for ROM
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?
How often are you icing, elevating, and resting? What is your activity level and schedule? In order to get that swelling down, you need to ice, elevate, and let that surgical knee rest as much as possible. There is no set schedule for recovery, as the surgical knee or knees set up the schedule, so just keep them "happy" and the swelling and the inflammation will go down.
Remember---ice is your best friend at this time---and elevate for at least 30-45 minutes---four or five times a day---or more.
Please keep coming back and let us know how you are doing and what other issues, concerns. or questions that you have---we will be here to help you throughout the entire recovery!