TKR Annaf's recovery thread<

[katchmo]

@katchmo how are you progressing? I don’t seem to be getting anymore range. Will my ROM improve over time or is there a time frame that it will no longer be able to increase?

@AnnaF we posted at the same time! Read my post above. I was at 90 at one week but I hurt my knee to get there and regressed immediately. Now finally at 5weeks I am there again painlessly and am confident I will progress.

 

[Beckadeez]

Mine has increased and I’m doing nothing but hanging around the house. Not going to PT and no exercises at all. Just living my life and resting a lot. It’s getting better all by itself.

 

[Celle]

@katchmo how are you progressing? I don’t seem to be getting anymore range. Will my ROM improve over time or is there a time frame that it will no longer be able to increase?

@AnnaF - did you realise that the writing in blue provides links to articles?
There's no time frame within which you have to get to get ROM (Range of Motion) because it can continue to improve for a year, or even much longer, after a knee replacement. There isn't any deadline you have to meet:
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Read the above article and believe it!
And stop worrying about ROM - it will come as your knee heals, as long as you don't prevent it by over-exercising and keeping your knee upset and swollen.

 

[AnnaF]

@katchmo im sorry I’m totally obsessed with this knee. I’ve been told over & over that I have to bend, that there is only so much time, that there will be scar tissue etc etc I slowed down on the chair exercises & it seems I have less bend now. My pain is concentrated on the left inside portion of my knee. Almost like a strain in a muscle. That’s what keeps me from bending & also am still swollen. It’s been 10 weeks & im still at about 90/92. Extension 0/1. Now what. I’m so afraid I’ll never be better. I want to be able to sit bending my knee normally to do it instead of pushing it forward. I’m at my wits end. I know I have to be patient but it’s hard when I don’t see improvement.

 

[mimi1550]

I really feel for you - it's so hard dealing with all the conflicting information. I had both hips replaced in 2003, LTKR in October of 2012 and RTKR January 10th 2018. I have been doing PT - fortunately I now have enough experience to know how to listen to my body. I started doing some exercises with my left knee because we found that I had more ROM on my right more recently operated on knee. 118 left knee - 125 right knee. Guess what - I just gained 8 degrees more bend! That's after 6 years. So please try and relax - as people here have been saying - patience pays off in the long run.

 

[SusieShoes]

Anna, you will continue to gain ROM for up to and maybe over a year. What's impeding your bend is swelling inside the knee capsule. As that swelling goes away, the bend will improve. By resting, icing, and elevating, you can help that swelling go down. All the exercise you need to do is move around normally; do your daily activities. Walk a little. At this point of recovery, you can be doing short errands (not too many in a day, maybe one) and easy housework (again, not too much, just a little). Just the activities of daily living are good exercise.

It can take some time for swelling to settle down and go away. Give yourself a few weeks of resting and not doing harsh exercises. A day or two isn't a good test. And notice what @mimi1550 said: you can get more ROM even in a five year old TKR. Patience pays off not just in more ROM but in less pain and less stress.

 

[Beckadeez]

Please try not to worry, Anna. So many people on here can’t be wrong. I don’t do anything but watch tv, daily living, and very occasionally go to the store, but I ride an electric cart. I do no exercises at all. None. It takes a while. Patience is the key, no matter how hard it is to wait.

 

[sistersinhim]

Please listen to all of us that have been through a knee replacement. You are receiving the experience of thousands of us that have had this surgery. We know what works and how long this recovery takes. It takes at least a year and sometimes even 2 years. There is nothing you can do to speed it up. But, you can sure slow it down by worrying and working your knee all the time. Lay back and rest and chill out!

 

[Celle]

im sorry I’m totally obsessed with this knee. I’ve been told over & over that I have to bend, that there is only so much time, that there will be scar tissue etc etc I slowed down on the chair exercises & it seems I have less bend now. My pain is concentrated on the left inside portion of my knee. Almost like a strain in a muscle. That’s what keeps me from bending & also am still swollen. It’s been 10 weeks & im still at about 90/92. Extension 0/1. Now what. I’m so afraid I’ll never be better.

Anna, what you've been told so often is wrong. Your PT and surgeon tell you it because that's what they've been taught - and they've never had a knee replacement themselves. They were taught an unsubstantiated myth. It just isn't true.

Take it from us - we've been through this. Some of us did no formal exercises at all, but just let our activities of daily living be our therapy and exercise. We gained good ROM.
There absolutely is no time frame in which you have to get good ROM. And you won't develop "scar tissue". These people don't even credit you with enough intelligence to use the correct term. They mean adhesions, but they keep calling it scar tissue.
You need scar tissue - that's what holds your wound together and stops it from opening up again. But you don't need adhesions and you're not likely to get them either, because they are rare.

It's swelling that stops your knee from bending more. Stop all the exercises, just use your knee in your daily living, and concentrate on doing lots of rest, ice and elevation, to try an reduce that swelling.
The swelling won't go away with just a few days' rest. It will take at least 3 weeks to a month of treatment before you see an improvement.

What you're doing so far hasn't worked, has it? So you have nothing to lose by trying something different. Take a complete break from PT and all exercises for a month. Just use your knee in your normal activities of daily living, and spend the rest of your time icing and elevating your leg.
If you see no improvement at the end of a month, you can always go back to PT and try again. By that time, your knee will have healed more and it may be ready for exercises again.

And stop obsessing about ROM. The numbers don't matter. The PTs make a big fuss about them because they are one tangible way in which they can prove to the insurance companies that what they are doing is effective - and so they get paid.
But really, what you can do with your knee is far more important than what ROM numbers you have. Function is more important than ROM numbers.

 

[AnnaF]

@AnnaF - Please stop quoting long messages. Just go down to the bottom of the page and start typing in the box there.
I've already given you instructions about how to post. If you want to reply to someone, just tag them:
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

If you want to respond to part of a post, just quote that part:
How to use the quote feature

Follow the links in the blue writing and please read the articles.

Maybe I’m just stupid. I’ve never seen anything like this. I am going to the bottom of the page. I thought I had to type @———to reply to the person. Hopefully this goes to you.

 

[Beckadeez]

I think you’re clicking on the reply button in between the “like” and “report” buttons that are at the end of someone’s post. At the very bottom of the page is a rectangular box that you can type in. Then hit the Reply button beside of it.

 

[AnnaF]

Drove my car for the first time today although I had to push the seat back in order to get in. Felt great. Maybe now I’ll be able to get my mind off my ROM.

 

[Jockette]

Driving is a great accomplishment! My surgery was a year ago and I still put the seat all the way back to get in and out. However, I no longer need the door open all the way to get in and out!

 

[Jockette]

And when you post, go alllll the way down to the bottom of the page where you see the words “write your reply...”

You’ll get it. This is a great forum. We’re glad you joined us! We who have had replacements need to stick together because people who haven’t had replacements just don’t get it.

 

[sistersinhim]

What you can do is always more important than what the numbers say! Driving is a wonderful big step in your recovery.

 

[DebM]

Can I tell you @AnnaF i worried about every tweak and pain and swelling. I worried if I was doing too much, not enough, the wrong way. In the end (with support of BoneSmart posters) just got on with my usual life doing what I could and not overdoing it. Stopped Physio too - don’t believe the window of opportunity’ spiel!
I am 13months out and can see I am still improving and have more to go. My OS supports this as he believes 18 months even 2 years til it is fully recovered.
My life is pretty normal, I have little pain or swelling except for after the 2 days that I work which are 8.5 hours of manual car driving and in and out - but my knees settle after a day and I need to take only a dose or 2 of paracetamol.

 

[Beckadeez]

Great to hear that you’re driving! Freedom is wonderful.

 

[AnnaF]

Thank you so much. I feel a lot better emotionally & I’m sure physically too very soon. Btw if I want to reply to a certain person, how would I do that?

 

[Jockette]

If you want to reply to someone, you can write it like this: @AnnaF or, just mention their name in your post. If someone has written on your thread they will be watching for new posts and will see when you write something new.

I’m glad you are feeling better. This is a really rough recovery and we need others who understand what we are going through. We don’t always get that from the people we see each day. They often give us the wrong advice because they don’t know better.

 

[bertschb]

Hi Anna

I had my knee replaced 16 months ago. You had 90 degrees of ROM at ten weeks? Compared to me, that's awesome! My ROM was still at 90 degrees at 5 MONTHS! I'm an avid mountain biker and I wasn't able to make a full rotation on my bike until around month 6. I didn't see much progress with my ROM until month 6 and then it slowly starting improving every month after that. It was pretty much "normal" at about 1 year. You have a VERY long way to go!

I stopped PT after about 3 weeks because it just caused more swelling and ROM wasn't improving as a result. My PT told me early on that if ROM didn't improve I'd get adhesions and need an MUA. I did enough reading here to learn that was a bunch of hooey.

I ended up just sitting around for months with my knee elevated and on ice and it did finally heal all by itself. I can now snow ski, mountain bike, hike, golf - whatever I want!

I'll give you the same advice I've given others here-
- Stop PT and exercises
- Ice and elevate as often as you can
- Plan on being able to ride a bike about four months from now
- Forget about adhesions and MUA's. Not gonna happen!
- Plan on getting your full ROM by Christmas
- There is nothing you can do to speed this up
- Forget about your knee and get on with life
- STOP WORRYING!