MUA 8 weeks and still not sleeping. ☹️

. I can’t make it go anymore pulling or having my wife push on it too
Stop doing this, it is aggravating a knee that is already upset.

I know it feels like you have been in recovery a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, you are still in early days. This recovery takes an average of a year. You can’t speed that up, but you can slow it down by trying to make your knee do something that it’s not ready for.

Your swelling may be minimal on the outside, but there is inner swelling that takes a long time to reduce. For me, I had that most of my first year, and my ROM was poor all that year. My ROM improved a lot in my second year, as things continued to heal and settle down.
 
Are there any members here that have gone 12 months or longer with a knee that is not functional ( less than 90 ROM) without seeking a revision?
 
Your MUA was less than a month ago. No wonder you can't bend it well yet. That procedure set your recovery back almost to the TKR time. It is way too early to think about a revision. This recovery takes a year for most people. Have patience and quit forcing that bend. You're only keeping your knee inflamed and swollen inside.
 
^Very true. It may not look swollen but that MUA was hard on the soft tissues.
A swollen knee isn't going to bend no matter how you try to force it. All you do is make it more aggravated. Gentle is the way to go.
It is likely that the feeling that the knee is too big comes from the swelling.
The feeling of sensitive/ clicking ligaments behind the knee is also not unusual. I had that for a long time. It is disconcerting--so I asked people here about and guess what they said? It takes time. :wink:

So I iced the back of my knee, didn't try any aggressive moves and gave it time. It took quite a few weeks to totally go away but it did. Again, gentle is the way to go.
 
I had a phone conversation with my OS yesterday afternoon about the Tomograms and the pocket of edema. He said the pocket was small and not effecting the movement in a significant way. His notes on the Tomograms did say that everything looked good and no clear reason for lack of ROM was evident. Again he mentioned removal of scar tissue and possibility of shaving material off the tibia spacer base plate, but the joint might be loose while walking, or he would recommend 2 more months of PT if I opted for that. He did state in the notes that if the ROM didn’t get better soon that revision might be necessary.
Yesterday was my annual check up with my PC dr and we discussed TKR and the difficulties I was experiencing. She agreed that swelling was key to movement and that the warm knee cap could last for months. However she was concerned about ROM not going beyond 90 after 6 months and that a second opinion would be in order about the cause. She was also concerned about my hemoglobin ( 12.7 ) on the 17th of Dec. from the bleeding after the surgery. So I’ve got a CBC Friday. One interesting note during that appointment was that I gave her the office notes from the OS to file in my chart and after reading them she she said “ is he anolder doctor? “ I said yes, 74 now” how did you know? She said the way he wrote the notes. I didn’t know exactly how to take that because she didn’t mention anything else about it. She's a great Doctor and I value her opinion on this even if it’s not her specialty because she knew average weeks/ROM , swelling, infection and reasons for revision as GP.
Question will be when to ask her for the consult for a second opinion?
 
Your knee is far from being healed and nowhere near its end point. You need to just be patient and let it heal. The more it heals the better your ROM will be. Having that MUA less than a month ago on a newborn knee has set your recovery date back to almost the very beginning. It's way too early to think of a revision. All your knee needs is time to heal. We have all been through what you are going through and know it takes time!
 
You are only 3 months out from your TKR and one month out from your MUA. Full healing from a TKR/MUA takes a year+. What your knee needs is time to heal, time for the swelling to go down, and time for the soft tissues to heal.

We have members whose ROM looks months and years to increase, including mine that increased at a year+ after my revision.

Here are the timelines.

Campervan’s ROM history
92 - 8 weeks post op
105 - 10 weeks
107 - 5 months
110 - 6 months
112 - 7 months
116 - 9 months
119 - 11 months
118 - 1 yr
120 - 1yr 2 months
125 - 1 yr 8 months and still this now at 1yr 10 months

Bertschb’s ROM history
1 month
- 60 degrees
2 months - 80 degrees
3 months - 85 degrees
4 months - 90 degrees
5 months - 90 degrees
6 months - 110 degrees
7 months - 120 degrees
8 months - 125 degrees
9 months - 130 degrees
10 months - 135 degrees
11 months - 140 degrees
12 months - 140 degrees



TortiTabby's ROM
3.5 wks: 75
6 wks: 85
7 wks: 90
10.5 wks: 95
14 wks: 100
17 wks: 105
20 weeks: 110
26 weeks (where I am today): 120!!!
It has now been 26 weeks and all I do is ADL.
I did it! My goal of 120! No "pushing through pain", no PT after the first 3 visits, and most importantly to me: No MUA! My surgeon who said I would never get beyond 85 ROM without pushing through pain was wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm excited to see if it gets even better.
 
ROM has increased, when I got up the other day. I don’t have the orthopedic measuring device, but my right knee is moving slightly past the place where the heel slides I had to use a sheet to help move it to, without the sheet. I’m getting dressed easier, sitting down both heels together, and can drive normality again. The draw back is the sudden buckling when walking. That seems to be happening more now and I almost lost my balance after I got up from sitting for about an hour. I’m going to try the stationary bike in the gym today and see if I can make the peddles go all the way around. It must be close to 90 I think 33 days out from MUA. Is there a connection between the buckling and ROM increasing? That’s not a good trade off I’m thinking.
 
Maybe the buckling will improve as your muscles develop for the ROM? I’m aching for 90 degrees, and your story makes me take seriously the need for strengthening, as tolerated. That strength will develop without grunt-worthy training, I think. Just use the knee as you heal.
 
The draw back is the sudden buckling when walking.
As long as this is happening you need to use your cane or some other assistance device. I used a cane when out in public or on uneven ground for at least 4 months. It's better to be safe than to fall. Falling really hurts. I know!
 
Funny, I never had this bad a buckle till after MUA and the ROM got better. I can do a few steps now, so I’m going to work on strengthening my leg before trying that again. Like everyone says, slow and steady will produce the best results.
 
When I got up this morning and went into the bathroom I noticed that both my feet were at the same angle while sitting. That must be at least 90 ROM to sit with my heels together isn’t it? I don’t have a device to measure ROM so I’m guessing. It’s defiantly moving more and this happened overnight. Still stiff and painful when sitting over 20 minutes, but more ROM now. I going to try to ride the bike tomorrow if I can without much discomfort.
 
Oh good news on the gain of ROM! I’m not quite 90 degrees yet, and I haven’t been able to quite get the pedals all the way around, so I’d love to hear how that goes for you. Remember to take it slow.
 
I wasn’t able to peddle the bike very well at the highest setting without shifting my hips way over to my left side to make the complete revolution with my right leg. It was too uncomfortable to keep going so I stopped and went to the elliptical and managed 20 minutes on it. After getting off the elliptical and trying to walk, my knee buckled for first 6 steps and my balance was effected. It finally got better after a few minutes and hasn’t buckled anymore today. I have also noticed some intermittent calf pain that is painful to the touch during the day. I don’t think it’s PT related but I can’t be sure. Still waiting for my PC dr to schedule me for a second opinion. Unfortunately all I was able to get from my OS was one x-ray and his comment that every thing looked alright. I’m concerned at the intensity of my pain 12 weeks out. I meet so many people that claim little or no pain after 8 weeks. I could live with 4-5 pain, but the 6-8 spikes are troubling as I don’t take pain pills because of my IBS issues. Improvement in ROM is great and everyday living is getting easier and will continue I’m sure. But the pain. Here is the x-ray, can anyone read this?
 

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20 minutes on an elliptical is too long when you have pain like you do. If you can’t take pain pills you really should do less things that increase your pain. I think I would have had a lot more pain at 12 weeks if I wasn’t regularly taking the maximum allowed dose of Tylenol.
 
Sounds like you're out of your ROM plateau! I liked doing the exercise bike a little bit each day. I think just doing things that take the knee through its range each day are the most valuable thing, rather than a lot of exercise. I never did do the eliptical--seemed to strenuous for a baby knee to me.
 
Today I went to the gym and after my leg exercisers, t tried the bike to see how far away I am from peddling all the way around on the bike. To my surprise it went easily at the highest seat setting with no pain, down three settings before it felt mild pressure. I went 12 min at that setting. I’m going to bike everyday for 10 to 20 min, or when painful for the next 2 weeks before going any lower on the seat settings. I’m still very concerned about random pain and stiffness in the knee.
 
I lowered the bike seat over a span of several days until I could get a full revolution. The random pain will subside with time. You'll get there...:egypdance:
 
I don't have the mind-set or coordination for an eliptical - too much going on at once...:scaredycat:... Just not for me I have noted after several attempts before TKR. So happy I never purchased one. Recumbent or standard spinner bike does it for me.
I never did do the eliptical--seemed to strenuous for a baby knee to me.
 

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