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MUA 10 weeks after TKRS and not yet happy

Lilli215,yes I had a MUA on January 19 3 months after TKR at which time my extension was about 10 and flexion 95. I was happy with the results of the MUA. It was not too long after that I was able to achieve o extension and over 120 flexion.
 
Glad to hear that you're going to continue evaluating how your knee is doing before making that final decision to play softball. Good luck.
 
I will be playing softball, as well in May, and understand the anticipation. I have been lucky with my recovery and already started playing some sports. I took it very easy at the start, then worked on building up the muscles. My knee now operates well and I just played beach soccer, last week on vacation. I don't think I would recommend the brace idea as that could lead to overconfidence and further injury, or a setback. Build up your muscles and then your knee will have the support it needs...
 
A fellow Canadian and a ball player as well. I see that you used an ice machine also.You may have done this yourself,but instead of having to add ice at regular intervals I used water bottles with frozen water in them. Kept 3 in the freezer at all times.
I am becoming increasingly less confident of being able to play softball starting in May because I am still experiencing a fair degree of pain and stiffness.I am used to playing with a brace so am not concerned about being over confident. I feel the extra support should help to prevent a possible injury. However,I am having trouble with the expensive brace that I bought recently from an ortho place. It is causing me significant pain,stiffness and numbness for about 24-48 hours after I take it off. Going back to get it adjusted. It will be a sad day for me if I am unable to play ball. I expected the TKR to enhance my ability to play.
 
BARBRI said:
I expected the TKR to enhance my ability to play.
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It may well do that yet, but maybe next year, rather than this year. Good things take time and it really does take a full year before your knee will be completely recovered.
 
I agree with Celle. The thing is that, as you say you have realized, the knee is still healing. You can gradually increase your activities but like you are sensing, softball season has just come too soon in your recovery. Definitely any twisty motions will aggravate the knee & surrounding tissues for several more months. I would bet that next season you will play just fine. :tennis: (closest smiley to baseball) ;)

I'm visualizing a hard knee brace when you say knee brace. I'm wondering if something like a soft knee sleeve just to remind you to be cautious with the knee as you start to do more sporty activity would be better than a brace. Not my area of expertise, though.
 
I am slowly coming to realize that I may not be able to answer the softball bell in May,but I still hope to play by June or July.
The brace that i purchased is not hard. It is a soft knee sleeve with flexible metal supports running down both sides.I believe they need some adjustment though. You know more that you give yourself credit for kneeper.
 
It was 8 months when I began lap swimming. My OS said I could at month 7, but the weather was not good. Even 8 months my muscles etc needed to get used to this activity even though I'm a regular lap swimmer. I had to build up my laps from 3-4 a day to 15-20 a day over a month. So you know where I'm going here, I think expecting that new knee to jump into softball may be too much. What if you attend practice (if there is any) and just take at bats to see how you feel. I'm not sure if that would torque your knee as much as golf, but rounding bases would be particularly hard on a new knee. But definitely get in the dugout with your friends, keep score, and cheer your pals on.
 
I am a soccer player first and just took up softball five years ago. I was asked to play third base and said "sure" obviously I didn't realise what that would be like but I love it!
One thing I found last year when playing, with my bad knee, was that I couldn't use my back leg when hitting and I was super slow running the bases (I turned doubles and even a few triples into singles...). So be careful that you don't go back too soon or you will end up like me last year-lol.
 
Thank you all for your words of wisdom. As well as a player I am also the team Field Manager so in addition to these duties my plan at the moment is to take pre-game batting,fielding and throwing practice and see how that goes and hopefully as my knee feels better and stronger slowly work myself into the regular line up. This may take several months. I would let others run for me when I get on base. When it comes to batting I am a big swinger and I too am concerned about the amount of torque that I can put on the knee.
 
Saw the ortho person today about the knee brace. The brace hinge was putting some pressure on a bone and nerve on the outside of the knee that was the likely cause of increased pain and numbness. She adjusted the brace so hopefully it will be okay going forward. Regardless almost 6 months post surgery I am still experiencing a fair bit of ongoing pain [at about a 5 level] and stiffness. I would have thought I would have been a lot better by now. And I do not believe that I am over working it. In fact by my standards at least I am doing very little. I am still not happy that I had TKR. Sorry to sound so negative.
 
I feel for you. I had a very good recovery but a couple of times pushed myself a little bit too hard at the gym. I squatted too heavy and did some running on the treadmill on two separate occasions. I then just dialed it back and just swam for a week and did light biking. That seemed to work and my recovery got back on track. So maybe less is more, right now?
 
@BARBRI - Hello fellow Canadian! Please don't apologize for sounding negative. This forum is the place to come to vent and get real sympathy. I had LTKR on Jan. 3 (14 weeks ago!) and I am extremely frustrated and disappointed by the slow and painful recovery I'm still having. Everything I heard before surgery led me to expect I'd be back to normal in about six weeks. I heard "in no time" quite a bit. After 18 two-hour sessions of physiotherapy, my extension is zero but my flexion is only about 106 - more with "assistance", which doesn't count. My surgeon thinks I'm doing okay and said my expectations were too high! She wants me to work on improving my ROM and have another follow-up in a month. She took me off prescription painkillers, but I still have a fair (unfair?!) amount of pain, including at night. I wonder if I'll ever walk or go up and down stairs normally again. I,m not even driving again yet. I try not to get depressed, but I was down in the dumps today. Some of us aren't as lucky as others who have a faster, easier recovery. Everyone says don't compare, but it's hard not to wonder why it's taking us so long. Hang in there and keep plugging away! Not that we have much choice! I can't imagine having my right knee replaced after this ordeal! I'm not yet happy that I had this surgery either.
 
Knees4Me said:
Everything I heard before surgery led me to expect I'd be back to normal in about six weeks. I heard "in no time" quite a bit.
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Knees4Me said:
I wonder if I'll ever walk or go up and down stairs normally again. I,m not even driving again yet. I try not to get depressed, but I was down in the dumps today. Some of us aren't as lucky as others who have a faster, easier recovery.
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To both of you, @Knees4Me and BARBRI - try not to get discouraged. It is going to get better.

It's a great pity that more people aren't informed before their surgery that this is not a quick recovery.
To allow people to expect to be back to normal within about 6 weeks is just unkind, because it sets you up for disappointment. There really are no fast and easy recoveries.

Unfortunately, recovery from this surgery is more like a marathon than a sprint. It probably demands more patience than you have ever needed before, and progress can seem achingly slow. It does take a full year for complete recovery, but you will feel heaps better long before that.

Yes, Knees4Me, you will be able to go up and down the stairs normally one day and you will be able to drive again. Hang in there . Little by little, you're going to get better.
 
Wow!!
I thought that a lot of what you said Kneesforme could have been me speaking especially the part about expecting based on what I had been told prior to TKR,that I would have been in a much better place than I am right now.Thanks again Celle for your words of wisdom. I too think that I was set up or at least set myself up for disappointment with my expectations.
 
I joined this site 6 months before my replacement and visited it almost daily and read hundreds of posts and many articles in the library. The one thing that stood out was that aggressive therapy slows down recovery, increases pain and decreases ROM. Many therapists, for some reason, are still using the old way to rehab a replacement. They treat it like a sports injury. The is not a sport injury. Far from it! We have had extreme damage done to our knees to get these replacements in there. Watch a total knee replacement on YouTube in real time. You will see why the knee should be treated very gently for months, and why it would take a year or more to become totally healed.

Even before my tkr, I never took therapy after my 10 previous knee surgeries and did great. So, I knew I wouldn't take PT after my replacement. I haven't taken any and am doing wonderfully! Much, much better than I was before the replacement! But, I didn't lay around and do nothing, I used my knee in taking care of myself, my house, my yard and 13 cats. Using your knee as it is intended to be used is all the therapy you need. If and when you do take therapy, don't let them ever hurt you. Don't let them touch your leg or knee at all. If you are in pain after taking PT, then your knee isn't ready for it and is telling you to back off of the exercises. All you need to do is gentle movements and walking. Walking is an excellent way to rehab knees without all the terrible pain of PT! Happy healing!
 
Well tomorrow will be my 6 month anniversary since my TKR and 3 months from the MUA and I am still not happy that I had it done. Although it is getting somewhat better I still have ongoing pain and stiffness even though I have backed off my exercising. I saw a new PT today. She thinks much of my knee pain could be related to my lower back which she said was like a block and could be affecting a nerve causing knee pain as well as the lower back pain that I have experienced for years to varying degrees off and on,on right now. She has given me some activities for my back with ice,pillows and stretching. No exercising or sitting that would put a strain on my back which is contrary to the stuff I have been doing for the knee. What do you think my TKR friends??
 
@BARBRI I am not as far along as you but am a tad frustrated by ongoing stiffness and pain particularly in one of my BTKR. I don't do heavy pt and push my knees.
Discussing it with my very experienced and knowledgable pt yesterday he explained that as opposed to muscle bruising which can last up to 3-6 months, bone bruising can last up to 12 months. GIven we have had our bones sawn off (which is quite some trauma!) it's make sense they would ache and pain for months.
 
Well I am coming up on 7 months since my TKR and I am sad to say that my pain level has not subsided. It is still greater than pre-TKR and still keeps me awake at night sometimes. I take a couple of tylenol and a couple of obuprofen at night,but it is not seem to help much if at all. This does not seem normal compared to others that I have talked to. I understand that the healing process can take up to a year,but I think the pain should be gone for the most part by now. I am at a loss as to what to do.
 
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