United States
Nine thousand knee patients? That does sound like a bit of an exaggeration. Even assuming that he has 30 years in the business, that would be 300 patients a year with TKRs! Not that it matters really....if you like him that's the important thing. But I do think he's pulling your leg a bit (pun intended
) about that number.I will disagree with his assessment that "lots of patients that never worked on exercises...ended up with a bent permanently stiff knee." A person must do at least gentle bends and stretches on a regular basis, but just because someone doesn't have therapy or do structured exercises does not mean they will have problems with recovery. We see more people here on BoneSmart harmed by pushing exercises than we do by taking an easier approach to activity levels - especially in the early weeks of recovery when your body is healing.
Whatever works with your recovery is what you need to do. But, since you are complaining routinely of "stiffness" which is a form of pain, I would say it is possible that you are doing too much too soon....either in therapy or in your daily activity. The way to find out is to cut way back for a week or so and see if your pain decreases.
Your pain medications are not causing the decreased energy. You are experiencing "energy drain" that happens to everyone after surgery. Please go back and reread that article posted for you at the beginning of your thread and you'll better understand why you are tired.
Elevating and icing are always recommended when you have pain or swelling. Your body doesn't know how many weeks out from surgery you are. There is no timetable here other than what your knee is dictating. Swelling means you are overdoing things. To see improvements, you'll need to reduce your activity/exercise, ice, elevate as much as possible and take something on a regular schedule for the pain and swelling.
