Become an Insider

PKR Clunky Knee

Ginger1210 said:
I can do most things now but it does come with a price. My Wife thinks i am being to hard on myself, at the moment i am at a crossroads i think i was a little more mobile pre-op than i am now but as you good people say i am only a quarter healed.
Click to expand...
^This. Most of us are still pacing ourselves at 4 months. But much improved from 2-3 months. But month by month you'll be able to more with less "paying for it." Continue listening to the knee and modulating your activity.
 
Heading into 4 and a half months post op. I had a appointment with my physio nurse this week. We spoke a lot and I explained I was still experiencing pain and stiffness when walking. She asked if I was doing any physio work at home which I replied no due to working 8-9 hours a day and walking around 2 miles during work. She explained I was walking to much and to concentrate more on leg stretching and strength training at home. She gave me a full set of exercises to do at least 3 times a day and did explain I would still get swelling well up to 9 months post op. But she was happy with my knee and did not have any concerns. I have been doing the exercises for a few days now I they do seem to have helped. I managed to stand for a few hours on Saturday watching my 2 sons compete and was relatively pain free. After reading a post on this forum I have bought some Magnesium gel which I apply to my knee just before bedtime we shall see if this has any effect
 
Well another week down in this long road to recovery. I am doing more strength work at home as my physio advised. Still finding it tough going at work. By around 2:00 pm my knee begins to complain and the afternoons can be pretty hard going. Ice is still my best friend its strange most of my pain just below my knee cap on the inside of my knee it feels like a hot tight band that progressively get worse. At home I can work fine with a ice pack strapped to my knee with zero pain I guess this is still just inflammation .
I am booked to see my physio again this Thursday i am going to write some questions down this time so I don`t forget them.
 
@Ginger1210 you said you have a desk job and walk around 2,000 steps at work which is a good workout in itself. I really struggled going back to work at 5 weeks after my first TKR. even working reduced hours. So how lucky am I to have retired between surgeries? This time around I don’t have to cope with the recovery and working. I too had a desk job so thought it should have been OK; but just sitting with the knee bent caused so much pain and inflammation I was worn out by 3pm and could do nothing but ice and elevate when I got home. The remedy was to set the vibrate on my phone for every 30 minutes (to start with) and get up and walk for 7-10 minutes. I gradually increased the sitting times over a month or more. I thought because I was sitting with some standing at work that the knee would be fine - most would think this but sitting with a bent leg is also something to do gradually like walking more. Just a thought.
 
Thanks Patriciad i will try to change my routines to be honest the sitting is ok its the walking that causes the pain and swelling. It is something I am going to take up with my Physio tomorrow. What is concerning is before the op I had a lot of crunching in the inside of my knee. This crunching feeling has now returned but I cannot explain why I have no bone left to crunch together on my medial PKR ?
 
Ginger1210 said:
Thanks Patriciad i will try to change my routines to be honest the sitting is ok its the walking that causes the pain and swelling. It is something I am going to take up with my Physio tomorrow. What is concerning is before the op I had a lot of crunching in the inside of my knee. This crunching feeling has now returned but I cannot explain why I have no bone left to crunch together on my medial PKR ?
Click to expand...

The clunking I get, the more I do the more clunking I get but to be honest I hardly notice it anymore. On occasion I will get a "pop" but I smile because I don't feel a thing anymore =). I've never had and crunching post surgery though. I don't even have any crunching when I kneel and while I don't do that often, I think kneeling irritates the soft tissue because it hasn't quite fully adjusted to that position. I could be wrong, but that's my working theory =).

I've taken the advice from people in this forum that what I do all day is enough PT and I have been doing that for about 2 months now. I am going to get back to stretching because I don't think I've progressed as much as I could have. I really hit it hard after surgery to get back into fighting condition and while I wouldn't have changed that - I wouldn't recommend that for everyone. Apparently I have a very high pain tolerance and didn't know it. Makes me wonder what other injuries I worked through over the course of my life when I probably should have had them looked at. Maybe my knees wouldn't have needed to have been replaced at all had I recognized there was a bigger problem - who knows - just things that make me go hrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :chinstroke:.
 
Thanks Merlin Wizard the crunching feeling may just be a soft tissue thing as I have only just experienced it may subside again in time. I know what you mean regarding injuries after 20 years of kickboxing and jiu-jitsu injuries have been part of my life. I often think maybe when I turned 40 I should have retired and taken it easy I would not be in this situation hindsight is great.:loll:
 
@Ginger1210 Hope you are improving and that changing your working routine has helped a bit. I too had painful crunching in the joint before my surgery. What I have now is much less and only when doing a cycling type motion. I had a 9 week check earlier today and OS explained the click crunch is from the ceramic disc between the metal and this will disappear as healing progresses. It’s not painful more irritating. My scar sensitivity and swelling after walking are all part of the healing process-I knew this but it is nice to get official confirmation. I am thankful to be doing great with no Physio the Bonesmart Way and don’t have to go back until my 1 year anniversary.
 
Coming up to 5 months post op now. I am getting a little better each month but slow progress. I still have around one bad day a week. To be honest I really think going back to work after only six weeks has delayed my recovery. My wife is my saviour and my rock on my bad days she just gives me a hug and reassures me everything will get better in time
 
Your wife is right! It does get old though dealing with the new knee joint - clicks, clunks and all. My progress is not super fast either but it’s mainly in the right direction unless I do something stupid. I realized this morning that I hadn’t taken my usual Tylenol pm plus 1 Advil to help with overnight discomfort. It’s sore now after a morning working at my desk but definitely not as bad as a week ago. Keep up your good work!
 
Spent this week on holiday in Cornwall just my wife and my self. Beautiful part of the country. We spent the day in Looe yesterday a small fishing village. Managed 4275 Steps and did some crab fishing. I was sore and stiff after but it was worth it. I’ll take that as a improvement. Last year we were here and no way would I have walked that far. Ice is still my best friend but slow and steady it is.
 
So wonderful to hear of your trip and especially that you know your new knee works so much better than the old one on those steep and uneven streets! It’s a real breakthrough to get to the point that you realise you are doing things that you couldn’t prior to the replacement. I’m not quite there yet but encouraged that you are !
 
Thanks patrician. I am will not say that I was without pain and stiffness yesterday and today but last year I attempted to walk around Newquay and ended up back at the car in agony and so depressed the grinding and pain in my knee was terrible. These little gains do help.
 
Back to work next week after Holiday. I have a question regarding my knee that some of the great members on here may help.
After walking of cycling. The front of my knee just below my kneecap around my Patella tendon gets tight and feels really worm and hot especially on the medial side. Is this something others members have experienced during there recovery? Ice helps to cool it down.
 
Better week this week managed to have only one bad day at work this week Wednesday was purgatory all day came home form work and iced all night. But Thursday and Friday were fine. I managed 3 miles in short walks with minimal pain on Friday. I do think my gentle quad strength exercises are helping.
 
Wow. Very well done you got back to work and managed well. Now for a weekend of well deserved rest. I get that tightness after exercise but nowhere near 3 mile walk. More like 3,000 steps. It’s exactly as you describe and is eased by the icing.
 
Another week down. Probably had the best week at work so far. Only had one bad afternoon with pain and stiffness. I will take that as a positive. Worked Saturday morning as well. Slowly getting back to normal. Not out of the woods yet but I keep going I did 4300 steps on Saturday morning alone and back to what I love doing working on the spanners again.
 
Glad to hear that you’re doing well. I’m in awe of people that have to go back to work along with coping with the surgery.
Things do seem to move along better from 5 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Corganics CBD

Staff online

Members online

Total: 657 (members: 1, guests: 656)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom