TKR 2020 and beyond

Jendoeshair

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Jul 5, 2020
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Hello I had my first TKR on June 17. My left knee was so bad I felt nearly disabled. I am hesitantly going to have my right knee done toward the end of the year.
At my two week post op visit the Dr said I was 90% ahead of where most people are at 2 weeks and that I do not need outside physical thearapy. I certainly have a hard time believing that because I still feel soooooo ???? Immobile?
I’m so happy to have found this group.
 
Welcome! There is a tremendous amount of knowledge among the members here.
As you might have read,this is a long recovery. Think of it as a marathon instead of a sprint.
 
I’m so happy to have found this group.
Hi and Welcome, we’re happy you found us, too!

You are very fortunate that your surgeon told you that you don’t need formal PT. All you need to do for a good recovery is gentle and normal movements for mobility.

As Rick said, this is a long recovery, not much happens fast.

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
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

6. Access to 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 the 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 the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Half the trouble is that we all expect that once surgery is complete we will be healed quickly, ( there are exceptions of course) we are not really given any information from our doctors /surgeons as to what the healing process is like, for me it was trial and error fortunately for me I discovered BoneSmart early on, as so many of my queries were answered quickly, I did not have aggressive PT, I accepted the fact the 1st couple of weeks/months , that Rest, Ice, Elevate and Medicate was paramount to our recovery, just use this time to read, catch up on tv & movies, it's boring, but your knee will be thankful after.. I'm 9 months post surgery and I hardly think about my knee, it looks better than it the pre-surgery no swelling & no pain and it has made a huge difference to my life and I give all credit to the advise given here on BoneSmart. My surgeon did his job, (he's done thousands before and after) but that is where it stopped, BoneSmart did the rest.
We have a good old English saying " Don't run before you learn to walk" :flwrysmile:
 
I am in an I watch study by Zimmer Biomet which is my prosthesis company. It tracks my activity,exercises and my heartbeat and monitors my home self physical thearapy. It started a month before surgery and sent me exercises every day(all day) and education and reminders daily to prepare me for surgery. Everything from reminding me to get my preop bloodwork to prepairing meals ahead of time, to reminding me to lift rugs a few days before surgery, suggesting I find someone to care for my pets.
After surgery it has sent me notifications and education all day long every day. It sends me videos with my physical thearapy exercises 5 times a day and I have to put my reps in. It locks the routines out so you don’t over do them. It has a message box with the ability to send pics and messages that goes to my surgical team and they respond quickly.
I honestly don’t know if I could have done this without this app study and I believe that is why my Dr said I was doing 90% better than most at 2 weeks.
 
You'll notice that I have merged your newest post with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting 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. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.

Many members bookmark their thread in their computer browser, so they can find it when they log on.
 
Last edited:
@Jendoeshair
I would be interested in the exercises they are giving you for early recovery.
Glad you are doing well with your program and all the daily reminders, we sure need them with the brain fog that happens after major surgery.
 
First day it reminded me to get up and walk 5 minutes every hour.
week 1 was gluteal squeezes, ankle pumps and Manuel knee extensions. 10 reps each 5 times a day with ice and elevation after each routine.
A few days later added to those were seated quad sets and seated heel slides.
a few days later added to those were seated heel cord stretch and straight leg raise with stabilization and seated ankle raises.
thats were I’m at so far. I’ll update as new exercises get added.
 
This sounds like an awful lot of exercises for a knee that is less than a month old. You'll find that doing just your daily activities is enough movement. What your knee needs most is healing and time. Time brings on that healing and also recovery of your knee's strength and ROM.
 

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