Oh loads! It's a veritable Spanish Inquisition!
It would be very helpful if you would
answer each one individually - numbered as I have done - in as much detail as you can then I'll come back as see where you are ....
1. what are your pain levels right now?
(remember the 1-10 scale: 1 = no pain and 10 = the worst you can imagine. And don't forget to factor in other forms of pain such as soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, swelling and stiffness).
I'm roughly at a 3, unless I'm trying to bend my leg too much. And I have a seriously sore thigh muscle that's not helping things.
2. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?
I was given Percocet 5-325 and I'm down to a half pill every 8-10 hours. I'm also still taking Celebrex 200 mg + a baby aspirin twice a day. I'm going to try to switch to regular Tylenol for part of the day and see how that goes.
3. how swollen is your leg compared to these? (check with this
Swelling/pain comparisons)
My leg is slightly swollen, much better than week 1! I think it's even less swollen than it was pre-surgery. I'm diligent about ice and elevate!
4. what is your ROM - that's flexion (bend) and extension (straightness)
Flexion was at 68 at PT yesterday. I'm not sure what extension is, but not great. It was 22 last week at PT and he didn't tell me this week, so I'm guessing that means it wasn't much better.
5. are you icing your knee at all? If so, how often and for how long?
I have a polar ice machine (and I love it so much) and I'm icing most of the day. I'd say about 8 hours total a day.
6. are you elevating your leg. If so how often and for how long?
Same as icing, It's elevated any time I'm not up and around. I also elevate at night.
7. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc., and
Very limited. I'm feeling a bit stronger this week and practicing with the cane at home. I'm lucky to have my mother here to help out, so I'm able to rest. I can make an easy meal, but I can't carry it anywhere yet. Haha.
8. are you doing any exercises at home? If so what and how often?
This is the most crucial question so please help me by using the format I have left as an example
(
which means please make a list and not an essay!)
All of these are supposed to be 2x a day, 20 reps each time (but i don't always do them twice a day).
Ankle pumps (I do these a lot because it feels good when I stretch my calf muscles)
Heel slides
Straight leg lifts
I don't know what it's called, but putting a ball between my knees and squeezing.
Putting a rolled up towel or pillow under my knee and pushing down on it.
It's the same at PT, but they do soft tissue massage and measure the ROM. They also wanted me to lay on my stomach with my knees just off of the table and "let gravity do work" but I didn't do it.
I hope this helps! Thank you!
Exercises done at home
- how many sessions you do each day
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.
Anything done at PT
- how many times a week
- enter exercise by name then number of repetitions of each
etc., etc.