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

[Celle]

I'm committed to doing PT until the end of this month mainly for the benefit of my surgeon. But I don't have any plans beyond that as I can now clearly see they are all about numbers (my PT measured my ROM multiple times today at our session)

You don't have to do anything for the benefit of your surgeon. You need to do things for the benefit of your knee. I guess you meant that you don't want to anger your surgeon - too bad. He'd survive that.
Your priority must be to do what is best for your knee.

Both my original and fill in PT people have talked about the possibility of an MUA. I told them both it was highly unlikely I would agree to that procedure and wouldn't even consider it until at least MANY months had passed without any real improvement in ROM.

You have a bunch of PTs who are obsessive about the numbers and they're using the threat of an MUA to try and frighten you into working harder, so that they can look good.

All that obsessing and exercising is probably what is preventing you knee from bending better. It won't bend better until more of the swelling has gone down so, instead of more exercising, do more of this:
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock

Why do you let them keep on measuring? Once per session is more than enough. In fact, I believe that once a month is enough.
No one measured the ROM of my last TKR at all. The ROM just increased slowly, at my knee's own pace. The knee bends to an estimated 125+ degrees now.

 

[bertschb]

I have no problem telling the PT folks when enough is enough and what I will and won't let them do. I'm not letting them push beyond what I'm comfortable with so going to PT for two more weeks won't hurt anything. Could it set my recovery back slightly? Maybe. But again, it's only for two more weeks - and a total of three weeks of PT. I can't say it doesn't work unless I try it!

As for measuring my ROM, I don't care how often they measure it. They're measuring it while I'm doing my exercises so it doesn't bother me a bit - other than convincing me that it's a super high priority for them!

I'm doing very little and very light exercising and I'm doing literally nothing around the house. I spend 23 hours a day either in a recliner or in bed sleeping. My knee is iced almost constantly. Trust me, I'm not overdoing it!

 

[Josephine]

I can't say it doesn't work unless I try it!

Well it's entirely up to you, of course, but I CAN say it doesn't work because I've been on this forum for 9 years and spoken to scores of members who have suffered from doing too much exercising. I've also seen them in real life at my work as an occupational health nurse. And I also proved it's unnecessary in both my TKRs. You can access my recovery thread from my signature if you are so inclined.

Oh yes, and I also agree with Celle 100%!

 

[bertschb]

I did read your recovery thread over the weekend Josephine. I appreciate you sharing it with us. Trust me, I'm not advocating for PT. Far from it. In fact, when my doctor told me at my pre-op appointment that he doesn't recommend PT, I was pretty excited about that!

If I would have had at least 70-80 degrees of ROM right off the bat like most folks do, I would never have considered PT. But, I didn't and my doctor recommended PT because of that. Based on what I've seen so far, I doubt if PT will have improved anything as far as ROM goes but I am learning a bit more about the surgery, the anatomy of my knee, what my muscles are doing (or aren't doing), what other TKR patients experience, what exercises I should/shouldn't try, how my wife can massage my knee/leg, etc while I'm at PT so there is a side benefit to going.

I'm headed to Palm Springs for the winter in three weeks where I will continue to sit on my bumm 23 hours a day doing absolutely NOTHING while I wait for the swelling to go down and the ROM to go up. I'm hoping to see improvement by the end of next month. If not, I'll keep waiting.

 

[Celle]

If I would have had at least 70-80 degrees of ROM right off the bat like most folks do, I would never have considered PT. But, I didn't and my doctor recommended PT because of that.

I'll tell you something: I didn't have 70-80 degrees right off the bat. I'm not sure that many people do. I think you were perhaps a victim of unrealistic expectations.
In fact, my last TKR would not bend at all, not even one degree, for 5 days. It gradually started to bend as the swelling went down and it reached about 90 degrees by 6 weeks.

ROM continued to increase slowly, in its own sweet time, and my knee now bends to over 125 degrees.

 

[bertschb]

I absolutely had unrealistic expectations. I knew the recovery would take months, not weeks but I thought I would at least be able to bend my knee after surgery. I figured it would hurt but it would bend. Wrong! I also thought I would be in severe pain. Wrong! Finally, I thought I'd recover a bit faster than most folks because of my age and fitness level. Wrong again! I'll throw a party when I hit 90 degrees ROM, even if it that happens next March

 

[Celle]

Finally, I thought I'd recover a bit faster than most folks because of my age and fitness level.

I can empathise with this.
I wasn't young and fit, and I knew in theory that the recovery was going to be long. But in my heart I thought "Not me! I'm going to be quicker. I know what I'm doing."
Ha! I soon discovered that I wasn't any different and I had to accept the slow recovery speed that my knee needed.

 

[bertschb]

Well, being the competitive person that I am, maybe I'll set a record for the slowest recovery ever. I need to find something positive in this experience

 

[referee54]

I think that one thing we learn through this is that recovery is simply something that happens---it is not something that we need to work on to get done.

There were aspects for me that I needed to enhance or develop---my gait, my balance,eventually muscles strength and balanced strength---and my IT-Band issues, but there is really nothing that I could have done to speed things up. I did learn that the harder I worked, the slower things became.

 

[Want2hike]

I had a bilateral TKR 4 weeks ago. My left leg can bend about 60 degrees (on my own, without pushing or holding). My right knee has been very tight and stuck in the 30-40 degree range. I will admit that this has been very frustrating for me.

This morning when I woke up, the right knee felt less tight. When I did my heel slides, it bent about the same as the left. They were both at 60 today when I went to PT. your knee will bend when it is ready, and you might get small incremental changes or you might get big jumps.

 

[bertschb]

I'm 3.5 weeks post op now. I had a PT session on Monday where she measured ROM multiple times and said she would start getting more aggressive because ROM hasn't improved. At that session she was starting to poke, prod and push my knee to the point that I decided if she was going to get even more aggressive, I didn't want to be part of that so I cancelled my Wed and Fri PT sessions this week.

As I've mentioned before, I spend all day with my leg elevated and on ice. My swelling and ROM hasn't changed much in the past ten days although I can now lift my leg off the bed easily and it's easier for me to walk around the house.

How long should I sit in my recliner with my leg elevated and on ice? Two months? Three months? Just curious what others are doing.

 

[Celle]

I'm glad you decided not to go tot eh other two PT sessions this week. Well done!
You don't need a therapist with an attitude like that.
If you go back there, I suggest you set a firm rule - "Keep your hands off my knee. Don't touch it."

Don't allow the PTs to get more aggressive with the exercises, either. It's not the exercises that increase ROM. Too much exercise can increase inflammation and swelling, thus setting your recovery back.

You need to keep resting, icing and elevating you leg until the swelling has gone. That can take months for some people. It is a long recovery and nothing happens fast.

 

[bertschb]

My swelling has gone down since surgery but it's still pretty swollen. I have a feeling I'll be sitting around with my leg up on ice for at least a couple more months based on how slowly the swelling is going down. I was bored three weeks ago. I'll be a fruitcake in 3 months.

 

[Celle]

Try not to think of resting, elevating and icing you leg as sitting around, doing nothing. You're working hard at giving your knee the bests possible chance of having a good recovery.
I know it's boring, but it really is an investment of your time that will pay off well in the long term.

Are there any sedentary hobbies you could take up - things you might have thought about doing, but never had the time?

 

[bertschb]

I'm one of the least sedentary people out there. My hobbies are skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, scuba diving, fishing, golf, hunting, tennis, backpacking, etc. I don't like doing anything that involves sitting so that rules out most indoor hobbies. I'm soooooooo glad I'm retired and have the time to sit here. I'm also soooooo glad my amazing wife is making it easy for me to just sit here doing nothing week after week.

I've got almost a month under my belt now. I can do a couple more. I was just curious how long most people sit with their leg elevated and on ice. I wonder if anybody has done it for six months?

 

[newlybionic]

I've just read through your thread and I have one question. Are you elevating your leg correctly to get the most value from it?

If not give it a try with ice in it too.

 

[bertschb]

Yes, I'm using a stack of pillows with an ice machine. The only time my knee isn't elevated and on ice is when I'm sleeping and when I get up to walk around which is about 5-10 minutes out of every 90-120 minutes.

 

[little red canoe]

It is possible to kayak. I suggest you do that in Palm Springs.
I can do that now six weeks post op but my Lake is freezing up
Work out at a gym on the rest of you
I did hit a plateau but like you don't like to sit around. Because of that my ROM isn't increasing . Walking a mile a day isn't good just yet.

Work on the things you can do. Buy yourself a SOT. That way getting on and off is easier and they are wonderful in FL. Right now you probably don't want to deal with a SINK

 

[bertschb]

We tow our 5th wheel to Palm Springs so I won't be able to bring our kayaks down there. I had to look up SOT. Ours are SINKS.

 

[little red canoe]

. Your mental health wants you to be outside.. I think entry and exiting SINKs right now might be tough.. I have to admit I wasn't thinking California.. was thinking Florida. Palm Springs is desert right?