TKR 60 degrees ROM at 2 weeks. No progress at all :-( <

[sistersinhim]

Those things sound great! I'll keep them in mind for my ltkr!

 

[bertschb]

@bertschb Did you check out the orthopedals?

Yes, I did. It looks like those would work great on the road but I don't ride on the road. They wouldn't give me the "leverage" I would need for climbing hills off road. I'm kind of enjoying hiking right now. If I can't ride my bike by the end of this summer, I'll go to plan C. Not sure what that is yet though...

 

[little red canoe]

IMO the best training I got for bike was a bike. I started on a pedaler, then a stationary bike.. Do you know how much I hate stationary bikes?
Then it was mountain bike on road.. That helped loosen my knee immensely.. Then mountain bike on some flat single track.

Now enroute to mt bike on hills.. I haven't done that in 20 years!

So I suggest you think about road biking to loosen up your knee.. No one wants you to be on the road forever if you don't want to.

I love canoeing.. I have to be able to kneel in my canoe.. But I cant quite yet. I used to be able to kneel for two hours on my bad knee. Now its maybe five minutes that kneeling is tolerable.. So I sit in the canoe. Do I like that? No but I am in the canoe.

Don't cut off your hobby because you need an interim variant.

 

[highlander]

@bertschb Totally agree with @little red canoe

I understand you may not like the road or a stationary bike- but I thought the whole goal was to get rehabbed and get your ROM back?? So I too, hate stationary training on my Lemond revmaster- but Im doing it to get ROM back. These orthopedals have taken me from just over 90 to 102 flex in two weeks. Because I use them- and because as you get comfortable with one setting- you can either drop the seat a 1/2 inch or even go to the next pedal setting on the orthopedal. Hiking is probably great for strength/quad rehab- but nothing I have done so far compares to pedaling for loosening the knee up. Mountain biking will come- but I bet it would come back to you faster if you spun something now- boring or not....

 

[highlander]

Another add- I see no reason what so ever these things would not be bulletproof on a mountainbike crankset- on trails- solid as a rock alloy construction.

 

[Mireille]

@bertschb Hi, I'm almost 3 months out and my ROM is still somewhere around 95-100. OS says not to worry about it, it will get better with time. I've resigned myself to be patient. Going about daily life and walking. Some of us just take longer than others. We'll get there. You'll be back to biking with a good knee! Good luck!

 

[agarrett]

My OS said at 3 months if my range wasn't at 120 he would assist. Mine is between 100 and 110, but in the morning I am probably 95 plus. Not sure what I think about forcing it or not having it in a few more weeks.


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[Jamie]

Just remember that you have the right to tell your surgeon that you prefer to continue working on your ROM yourself without an MUA. Frankly, at less than 3 months your ROM is just fine. Remember that additional flexion can come up to a year or more after your surgery. The key is more about how you are functioning and improving (even slowly) than it is about numbers by a given date. If someone pushes your knee into additional bending, it will set your recovery back a bit with some pain and swelling. Many times this is done when it just isn't necessary and all the knee required was more time and gentle stretching to gain the ROM.

 

[jmdearras]

My OS said at 3 months if my range wasn't at 120 he would assist. Mine is between 100 and 110, but in the morning I am probably 95 plus. Not sure what I think about forcing it or not having it in a few more weeks.

I had the opposite problem, I could not reach 0 extension. Dr. wanted to rush it, I refused. Both knees took 6-8 months crossing the last few degrees to reach 0. But they did.

 

[bertschb]

I'm nowhere near zero on extension either. I can easily pass my hand beneath my knee while sitting on the floor.

 

[sistersinhim]

Don't let your OS bully you. You are doing great ROM wise! It will come naturally.

 

[bertschb]

Five month update. ROM is still at 90-100.

------------ 2 months-------------------3 months----------------------4 months-------------------------5 months

 

[sistersinhim]

It appears you still have a lot of swelling. That will affect your ROM. Are you doing too much?

 

[bertschb]

Are you doing too much?

Well, I sat around doing literally nothing for four months other than ice and elevate. Since nothing changed for several months I decided three weeks ago to get on with life and started hiking each day.

 

[little red canoe]

Well the last post is telling. Either nothing or all..

I suppose you will just have to live with it if moderation is not in the cards.

 

[bertschb]

I suppose you will just have to live with it if moderation is not in the cards.

So if nothing has changed in 4 months (whether I sit or hike), what would you suggest as "moderation". I'm not backpacking - just hiking.

 

[little red canoe]

Hike as in one mile. Hike as in ten miles a day.. Define hike a little better.. It would seem that you are the best judge of what is best for your knee. Your head sees things differently ( believe me I get that!).
I have to say I don't understand why your knee is so lumpy.. If it were swelling I think it would be more symmetrical. I mean no disrespect, I just don't understand your anatomy!

 

[skigirl]

It is frustrating to still be having problemsat 5 months. I would feel frustration myself at this stage. How much is the PT pushing on that knee trying to HELP you get extension? that alone is a cause of swelling.

Your rom is in there, it is being inhibited by swelling. So, how are your quads and hamstrings---before you do too much hiking, you should make sure your muscles are awake and helping you hold up your leg. Otherwise, there is a lot of pressure on the joint, which could cause swelling as well.

After many years on this forum, I know that someone who says they do nothing---often does gardening, cooking, house cleaning, grocery shopping, child care and vacations while they are doing nothing!!!! But, I do see improvement in your knee and I think you are going to have to be patient for another short while. I thought of my knee rehab as being 4 months. I wanted to ski at month 5. So, I was never doing "nothing" I was working on the rehab of my knee so that I could continue in sports. So, for now, try to treat yourself gently.

If you hike, come home and elevate and ice for two hours or so. get your leg up on three pillows. When I did not feel that the swelling was going down fast enough, I went to see a lymphatic massage therapist. She massaged my legs and gave me a "wrap". The wrap looked really silly and I was like oh yeah, sure I will wear it!! Then my husband said===well you paid her, so take her advice. Thinking I was being awfully nice to him, I wore the wrap to bed. In the morning I was stunned---the difference was very visable. So, don't give up just yet, things will get better.

Obviously you have to have some exercise now as you build up your muscles---just be careful. Short hikes, bike rides, don't stress your joint. Ice and rest afterwards. Take care of yourself, you have many years ahead of you, this is just a blip in the road.

 

[bertschb]

I went to PT for weeks 2, 3 and 4. My ROM would increase slightly but then swell until the next visit. I stopped going to PT because it was a vicious circle of increased ROM then swelling and decreased ROM. No net gain. For weeks 5 through 17 I sat in my easy chair with my leg elevated for 97% of the time I was awake. The other 3% was walking to the bathroom and doing a few laps around the family room. No work, no cooking, no chores - no nothing! I also used the ice machine for probably 6 hours a day.

3 weeks ago I decided that ice and elevation wasn't reducing my swelling or gaining me ROM so I stopped doing that and started hiking. Since I started hiking and stopped icing, there again has been no change in swelling or ROM. Other than my daily hike, I do nothing but sit with my leg elevated.

My leg and knee seem strong. Not 100% but plenty strong enough to hike.

I'm not complaining folks. I was just posting an updated photo of my knee. I've done that once a month just for kicks. It gives me something to do while I'm sitting around. In looking at my photos, it seems like month 4 and month 5 look almost identical. And just so folks who haven't read this entire thread know, the weird looking area at my lower thigh but above the knee was caused by surgery 30 years ago to work on hemangioma. And I agree, the swelling looks weird. I don't even understand what would be swollen. Can there be fluid in the artificial joint????? I can walk fine with no pain or discomfort so I don't actually understand what is swollen at this point.

Anyway, I hope I answered some of your questions. Again, I'm not whining - just posting my 5 month photo. I'll do the same each month until my swelling is gone and my ROM returns to something functional.

 

[little red canoe]

Gotcha! My neighbor has a wonky looking knee. He rides bike and winters in Las Vegas (north not the strip). He did that simply for hiking.

Now another perhaps totally useless suggestion.. Hike one day and not the next.. see if there really is swelling.

I admit to being frustrated in my ROM simply because I wanted to return to kneeling in a canoe. I was able to do this until about six months prior to TKR. Going from kneeling to sitting requires about 140 degrees ROM and the ability to twist the knee a little. The twisting is not painful as it is done slowly but the 140 is not quite there as of last month.. What does seem to be helping is kneeling on a pad on the floor and letting my weight squash down on my haunches. When it hurts I stop.
Its just a suggestion. It could be inappropriate. It seems to be working for me. No one told me to do this but then again I haven't found anyone like a PT or OS familiar with freestyle canoeing. I have found some canoeists with TKR exprerience.

Dang you got good looking legs!