Thank you, I needed to hear this, too!
TKR Annaf's recovery thread<
- Thread starter AnnaF
- Start date
OP
OP
AnnaF
junior member
This school of thought amazes me; that aggressive bending & exercise will get you back to your normal self...being able to do your regular routine & get your ROM & Extension where they think it should be (125+)
Isn’t there anyone out there that believes that the knee needs to heal? Every person treating me ( surgeon, in Home PT, outside PT) all had the same idea. “No pain, no gain.” Why isn’t there Bonesmart’s school of thought out there so that a patient can decide how they want to proceed after surgery. We aren’t given a choice. Unless the patient can’t take the pain and finally speaks up & tells the PT to stop, the suffering goes on. Please get your message out there because there are a lot of patients going through excruciating pain because they think it’s the only way. I stumbled on your website by chance but there are so many people suffering needlessly. When will the medical profession get with this type of program. When I finally couldn’t take the bending anymore & told the PT to stop & never do it again, I was looked at like I was crazy. Please keep putting your message out there. Hopefully the there will come a change in the near future where the patient won’t feel obligated to do this type of aggressive therapy & the medical profession will change their views about it too.
Isn’t there anyone out there that believes that the knee needs to heal? Every person treating me ( surgeon, in Home PT, outside PT) all had the same idea. “No pain, no gain.” Why isn’t there Bonesmart’s school of thought out there so that a patient can decide how they want to proceed after surgery. We aren’t given a choice. Unless the patient can’t take the pain and finally speaks up & tells the PT to stop, the suffering goes on. Please get your message out there because there are a lot of patients going through excruciating pain because they think it’s the only way. I stumbled on your website by chance but there are so many people suffering needlessly. When will the medical profession get with this type of program. When I finally couldn’t take the bending anymore & told the PT to stop & never do it again, I was looked at like I was crazy. Please keep putting your message out there. Hopefully the there will come a change in the near future where the patient won’t feel obligated to do this type of aggressive therapy & the medical profession will change their views about it too.
robhunt3
member
What's really needed is some formal research to be carried out with conclusive findings that back up the BS way.
It's probably the only way to convince people. I expect also that there are people who have done perfectly well with the 'no pain no gain' approach, but it doesn't make any sense when you think about it.
It will happen eventually I'm sure, and will hopefully change the thinking, teaching and practices of both PTs and OSs for the better.
It's probably the only way to convince people. I expect also that there are people who have done perfectly well with the 'no pain no gain' approach, but it doesn't make any sense when you think about it.
It will happen eventually I'm sure, and will hopefully change the thinking, teaching and practices of both PTs and OSs for the better.
Last edited:
robhunt3
member
Me too for sure!
I totally agree with you!
Before my surgery I had no idea I would be treated this way in recovery. My surgeon is also a fan of pushing my knee to a painful place to measure.
It took me until my 7 month check up to not allow him to do that! When I went into the exam room I stayed seated in a chair. The assistant told me to get up on the table and I told her, no I’m going to stay here. She looked at me like, what? When the surgeon cane in I told him I wanted to bend my knee myself. He was ok with it. Imagine that! I had worried for weeks about this appointment. My bend that day, at 7 months, on my own, was 114 comfortably, and I leaned in a little more and he called it 120 (not sure I believe it really was)
Take charge of your knee. You’re not the newbie you were on December 18. You have more information now, have learned there are indeed different ways to recover, approved by other surgeons, pick the approach YOU want for your knee. They can’t make you do ANYTHING you don’t want to. There is no law requiring you to painfully exercise your knee, and no law requiring you to ALLOW someone to bend it to a painful place.
Yes, of course we want to regain our ROM. And we will, in time. For some of us (especially me) a very long time. But it will happen. Others have proved there is no window to do it in.
Before my surgery I had no idea I would be treated this way in recovery. My surgeon is also a fan of pushing my knee to a painful place to measure.
It took me until my 7 month check up to not allow him to do that! When I went into the exam room I stayed seated in a chair. The assistant told me to get up on the table and I told her, no I’m going to stay here. She looked at me like, what? When the surgeon cane in I told him I wanted to bend my knee myself. He was ok with it. Imagine that! I had worried for weeks about this appointment. My bend that day, at 7 months, on my own, was 114 comfortably, and I leaned in a little more and he called it 120 (not sure I believe it really was)
Take charge of your knee. You’re not the newbie you were on December 18. You have more information now, have learned there are indeed different ways to recover, approved by other surgeons, pick the approach YOU want for your knee. They can’t make you do ANYTHING you don’t want to. There is no law requiring you to painfully exercise your knee, and no law requiring you to ALLOW someone to bend it to a painful place.
Yes, of course we want to regain our ROM. And we will, in time. For some of us (especially me) a very long time. But it will happen. Others have proved there is no window to do it in.
bertschb
member
I think the problem Anna is none of these medical professionals have had their own knee replaced. When people ask me how long it takes to recover from TKR, I tell them a good, solid YEAR. Yeah, you can walk around and drive soon after surgery but to regain full ROM, ride bikes, etc I tell them a year.
If patients were to go back to their surgeons and PT's a year after surgery and tell them their healing experience, perceptions on healing and recovery might change. But, most folks go to PT for a few weeks or months and then they are never seen again. Because of this, the medical folks don't get insight into the second half of the recovery process.
If patients were to go back to their surgeons and PT's a year after surgery and tell them their healing experience, perceptions on healing and recovery might change. But, most folks go to PT for a few weeks or months and then they are never seen again. Because of this, the medical folks don't get insight into the second half of the recovery process.
You are given a choice, but most people don't realise it.
It is your knee and only you have the right to say how it is treated. Others, like your surgeon and your PT, can advise, but you have the right to choose whether or not to accept that advice. I've given you this before but, for the sake of anyone else who hasn't read them, here are a couple of articles about your right to choose:
Saying no to therapy - am I allowed to?
CONSENT: what it means and how it can be used
Some surgeons, such as mine, already prefer the gentle way of recovery.
My surgeon doesn't allow any PT at all for the first month after a knee replacement. He says your knee needs that time, to start on its journey of healing. For that month, we rest, ice and elevate our leg, and walk around the house.
After that month, we just go to PT once every 2 weeks, where we are shown a few new exercises to do at home.
His patients all do well and achieve good ROM, as I did, and he hasn't had to do a manipulation to help with ROM for the past 4 years, because nobody developed adhesions. I think that speaks for itself.
Beckadeez
senior
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2017
- Messages
- 410
- Age
- 52
- Location
- Rogersville, TN
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
I have that feeling too. It will go away
We most certainly are given a choice. I chose to not take PT at all after each of my 11 knee surgeries. My OS didn't fire me. How could he, I was the employer and he was the employee. The same thing with a PT. You are their boss. They get paid because of you and you have the final say so of what happens to your knee.
My OS does not believe in the no pain, no gain recovery either. Even if he did, I wouldn't have taken PT. All he cared about was what I could do with my new knee. He never measured me and he never asked if I was taking PT. I used my knee taking care of myself and followed the Bonessmart activity guidelines the best I could. I did very well, thank you! So would you. Don't be bullied! You are paying them, not the other way around!
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
Yes, it’s normal. Here’s an article about it: https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/tight-band-feeling-across-the-front-of-my-knee.11734/
I don't think you need to do those that often. I did something like those but only a couple of times a day and 1 set at a time.
OP
OP
AnnaF
junior member
My bend doesn’t seem any better but I don’t have much pain on that inside knee muscle/tendon that I was having when I exercised. Now I’m having numbness & tingling in my knee down to my foot. Is it healing feeling?
More than likely these are nerves trying to reattach or reroute. If it gets worse or doesn't go away in a few days, call your OS just to be on the safe side. Your bend numbers don't matter. What counts is what you can do! Function is much more important than numbers!
SusieShoes
Former BoneSmart staff member
What kind of tingling do you mean? Inside the knee? Or on the skin? I had skin tingling here and there for the first few months after surgery.
OP
OP
AnnaF
junior member
I’m in my 12th week post op. Still swelling and ROM only about 90 extension 0/1. I still can’t sleep in bed. So uncomfortable. Any comments. I am doing my everyday routine bathing, making meals, laundry although I tire easily. I feel like I’m not recuperating quickly enough. I cry every morning when I realize I haven’t gotten any improvement.
Josephine
NURSE DIRECTOR EMERITA
Hi and welcome to BoneSmart! You poor thing! Expecting so much and being disappointed.
First you need to read our 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:
3. Do what you want to do BUT
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
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 a 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 history before providing advice.
First you need to read our 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
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
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.
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
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 a 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 history before providing advice.
Josephine
NURSE DIRECTOR EMERITA
Do read them all and carefully. They are very important.
Secondly, I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?
Secondly, I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?
