TKR LTKR Recovery!!

Emelbee21

junior member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
59
Age
52
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Surgery went fine yesterday. Thank you Jesus! My surgeon did say mine was a hard operation. With the bad arthritis and the bowing of my legs, he said it was difficult to align the knee. But he did it!! I give all the Glory to God. I pray my recovery goes smoothly, pain isn’t that bad right now, mainly on the inner side and the back of the knee. I have walked 3 times!!! And already had 1 PT session. Hope I get to go home today!!!!

Emelbee
 
Welcome to the other side! Sounds like you are off to a good start. Safe journey home!

Here are your recovery guidelines:
Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
We are all different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for YOU.“ Your doctor(s), physiotherapist(s) and BoneSmart are here to help. But you have the final decision as to what approach you use.

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this Activity progression for TKRs

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Yay, praise God for a successful surgery! I pray that your recovery will be even better than what you had in surgery!
 
Awesome Emelbee21!
Congrats! So happy for you and wish it were I haven't gone in for the surgery yesterday... Are you going home today or will they keep you another day? Perhaps Inpatient Rehab?
 
I am back home. It has been challenging. But not too bad. I am trying to stay ahead of the pain. I go tomorrow for my first PT session. I have been trying to get up and walk every hour or 2 and I have been doing my exercises and icing. The medicine makes me so sleepy tho. Hopefully I can decrease that sooner than later.
 
Be careful with the exercises, they should never cause pain. If they do, it means your knee is not healed enough to do that particular exercise.

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 
Thanks. I am still having aches and pains from surgery itself I guess. My upper legs hurt, my butt hurts, and my back hurts. the medicine they have me on makes me feel tired and out of it most of the day. And I really hate to take it but that’s the only thing that has taken the pain down to bearable. Swelling is another issue I have. I am icing and doing what I was told about that, I just wonder how long my leg is going to be swollen and tight. I guess I just want to feel better, and I’m trying to rush things. But I know it takes time and patience is the key. I’m glad I have this place to share my concerns.
 
@Emelbee21
You are right in the middle of the very angry knee stage, lasts 1 to 3 weeks. Your knee will settle down as it heals.
Focus on Resting, Icing, Elevating, and Medicating on time as prescribed is these early days.
Full healing takes about a year, with most feeling much better around 3-4 months.

But I know it takes time and patience is the key
This is the the key, slow but sure, your knee needs time to heal.
 
Today I got my staples removed from my left knee. The pain was so intense I cried like a baby and I am still shaken up. My knee hurts and is sore. Has anyone else had painful staple removal, or am I just a whimpy whiney baby?? :cry:
 
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, you have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you start new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here.

Staple removal can be painful, you are not alone.
 
Today I got my staples removed from my left knee. The pain was so intense I cried like a baby and I am still shaken up. My knee hurts and is sore. Has anyone else had painful staple removal, or am I just a whimpy whiney baby?? :cry:
Apparently your medical person could have used more care when taking out your staples. I’m sorry it was so painful for you. :console2:

You are not a whiney baby, you have just been through a very traumatic major surgery. Tears, and some times lots of them, are par for the course! It does get better.
 
Yeh I thought it was odd that she went through it so fast even when I asked her to stop for a breather. I was crying so hard and it definitely was the most intense pain felt since I had my surgery.
 
I had 35 staples and 34 hurt. She was late taking them out and most of them had skin growing over them. I even had some bleeding and had to have a bandage put on. I think the key is to get the staples out before the skin grows over them but to make sure the incision is all the way closed. It is a fine timeline there.
 
Ouch! My doctor told me for my right knee they would do mesh instead of staples. Has anyone had that??
 
No, I've not heard of that. Maybe someone else has. Could your doctor mean glue? That's an alternative to staples and stitches.
 
I had zip surgical wound closure. They are under a mesh, and when they did the removal, the nurse gently pulled it off, like a bandage. It was completely pain free!
 
I had 41 staples removed on Tuesday. Some burned, some pinched, but all in all it was tolerable. The nurse took her time and kept checking if I was okay. Sounds like they were not as careful with yours. So sorry, but at least it’s done!
 
Wow, I feel pretty lucky. I don't have staples and the stitches are all internal - either designed to dissolve or just remain in place forever. I'm sorry getting the staples out wasn't fun. Hope that pain passes quickly and you are back to healing soon.
 
Yeh I thought it was odd that she went through it so fast even when I asked her to stop for a breather. I was crying so hard and it definitely was the most intense pain felt since I had my surgery.

I'm sorry you had to go through that, @Emelbee21 . It shouldn't have happened like that. Staple removal shouldn't be so painful. I used to pride myself on removing staples without causing pain.

That nurse either had the wrong technique or the wrong tools.
Do make sure you tell your surgeon about it - and that the nurse wouldn't stop when you asked for a break.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,180
Messages
1,597,060
BoneSmarties
39,364
Latest member
All2Gd88
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom