TKR Cflower's recovery

[bottomshollow]

Cflower, there is no such thing as too much icing! And getting back to your sex life is probably okay when ever you are able to handle it without pain or too much discomfort.

 

[Cflower]

Has anyone heard of red light therapy that can be used on scarring or bruising.

 

[KayeKaye]

I've heard of it for acne and rosecea but I wouldn't think it would help this kind of a scar, don't know though.

 

[Campervan]

I used Trilogy Rosehip Oil on my scar. Scar looks great now at 7 months but I couldn't say whether it was the oil or just passing of time.

For bruising I used Arnica cream and then when bruising gone down changed to Antiflamme Extra for the internal bruising.

Sorry, but I don't know what red light therapy is so can't comment on that.

 

[jerseychick]

I haven't heard about red light therapy for bruising, but I also used the Arnica Cream. Not sure if it helped much, but the best thing that got rid of my bruising was Kinesio taping. My PT taped the areas that were heavily bruised for over a month and such as the back of my knee. It seemed to work.
https://www.kinesiotaping.com/

 

[Pumpkin]

Here is a link to some information about red light therapy, https://www.elixa.com/light/healing.htm
I am not convinced that it helps, some people are sensitive and it can cause tingling or a burn.
Best to let your scar heal with time, soft tissue massage, and an oil or cream you find soothing.

 

[Cflower]

So I'm going into second week after tkr (june27--10 days). Is there any information on this board that tells what I should be doing different. Am I suppose to try and stay on my feet more or walk more etc. I'm trying to post often on my recovery thread but would like to know from others how they were feeling and what they were doing second week of surgery.

 

[Cflower]

Tenth day from surgery. No more pain like I had on Wednesday. That was my only really bad day. I feel like a tiny bit of swelling went down and my nerves in the knee woke up screaming :(((what did you do to me. I am still using the walker. Is that normal. I can walk around kitchen between counters without the walker but would rather have it as my security blanket. Good day at pt yesterday. He pressed my knee over his arm again and pushed. Hurt but felt good at the same time if that makes any sense. On cpm I only get to 70. Pt can almost get it to 90. Is that not good that I haven't gotten beyond 90. The knee and leg are still pretty stiff and hard even though it seems to be softening some. I'm trying very hard not to walk flat footed or swing out my leg which my husband said I use to do.

Went to friends house last night for dinner. These were all golf frieds/wives of my husband's and I didn't want to feel like people had to hang around me perched on couch. Surprising. I found I could stand with walker in kitchen for awhile then sat at a stool then finally sat at kitchen table with leg up on stool. Made it to 9:15 which gave me just enough time to get home and pop two more pills.

Should I quit icing as much now and start trying to get back to normal activites. I really want to get more rom ASAP and don't want to disappoint doctor when I go back Tuesday to have stitches removed. Husband is the best nurse /hand maid anyone could want.

Here's to another good day just want more progress.

 

[kneeper]

What are you doing so far? As I recall, in week 2 I was getting around the house better. Besides getting to the kitchen, bathroom etc. I think I walked around the house periodically (I was using a walker) in between icing, elevating & doing heel slides. and naps.

 

[referee54]

Ditto---you should be icing/elevating/resting----and take a little walk around the house---heel slides and gentle stretches.

Remember the old saying, "Second verse, same as the first"? your second week should be basically the same as the first week---your body is still recovering from a traumatic surgery.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Am I suppose to try and stay on my feet more or walk more etc.

No.

Don't do anything which stresses your knee. Imagine a broken leg -- you wouldn't try to heal that by walking on it. Operated knees are the same.

Rest, Ice, Elevate, take your drugs, sit and watch telly. Repeat.

 

[Janet2012]

Tenth day from surgery. Should I quit icing as much now and start trying to get back to normal activites. I really want to get more rom ASAP and don't want to disappoint doctor when I go back Tuesday to have stoles removed.

NO, you should not be getting back to normal activities! If you want more ROM and don't want to disappoint your doctor, keep your feet up and ice frequently except for what you HAVE to do, like going to the bathroom. Not like doing anything else. Well, you can take those 5 minute walks around the house during the course of the day as part of your home exercise/therapy, but don't be carrying any laundry with you! Following my own advice has paid off big time, and both OS and PT have said they wished their other patients followed the same kind of discipline, because it makes all the difference. Hold off and ask your doctor when you see him.

 

[1ELISEA]

Five weeks out and I continue to ice, in the evening before bed is particularly useful. Helps with the swelling and overall soreness.

If you want to visit folks and resume some of your normal activities outside the home, but don't want to drag ice around with you, pick up some of the instant chemical ice compresses to keep with you.

 

[Josephine]

 

[Pumpkin]

 

[Josephine]

cflower, I gave you all these articles that tells you all this stuff - did you not read them? I guess not because you keep starting new threads instead of going back to the original one and using it like a library resource. Well, I merged 4 different threads together and it would be good idea if you now stuck with this one. And here are all those articles again
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
How Long Does Healing Take ......
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Using ice
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Progression of activity for TKRs

Knee Replacement - Where Am I in Recovery?
So What Is It Going to Take? The Five “P’s” of Knee Recovery
Work “Smarter” and not “Harder”
About recovering a knee - from one who knows!
Some suggestions for home physio (PT) and activity progress
Myth busting: The "window of opportunity"

 

[Cflower]

Laying in bed with CPM up to 75 and I think if I pushed it any higher my one would pop. Kind of messed up on the hydrocodone today. I normally take it 1:30/5:30/9:30 am 1:30/5:30/9:30 pm. For some unknOwn reason I thought I should have take one at 11:30 and it was almost 12 and I thought I missed a dose so I took one pill. Stupid of me. Don't know where my mind was. Was a little dizzy for awhile and then at 1:30 I took my other pill that was due at 1:30. Won't make that mistake again.

I miss cooking for my food blog. My newest hobby since I gave up catering after 22 years. So now I cook, write a story about the food, take pictures of it and then post to my food blog (www.rosemaryandthegoat.com) then of course at it. Luckily I had 8 articles/recipes ready to post before surgery.

 

[Cflower]

Yes I did read everything in the beginning I should have printed all the information so I had it on paper in front of me so I'm not asking stupid questions r things that have already been posted to the board. Sorry for getting everything so spread out. You can delete if needed.

 

[speccybecky]

I had to write down when I took pills as I forget what I'd taken and when. Might be a good idea!

 

[Cflower]

Nancy. I though I had a good system. I had alarms set on my iPhone to alarm at apropriate times so the following morning I just reset timers again. I forgot to do that this morning.