TKR Day 7 post TKR

Futurekicker

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Hello all, my surgery was the 21st of March . Successful everyone is saying yeah! Pain level is tolerable. Only taking OXY at night. Usually one time. pt is giving me lots of exercises. Pt took off bandage today, didn’t realize there were that many staples, yikes . Not looking forward to those coming out! Eating well and all my functions are working properly a pea. . Seem to be a lot of emphasis on both those after surgery. lol my pt says I’m 0% with straight leg and 85% on bending knee. She said Drs like it to be min 90% when they see me the first time post surgery. I need to work on that. It really hasn’t been as bad as I’ve read. I’m lucky I guess. I had the robot assisted surgery and it may have made a difference with pain they said. I guess that’s all for now! Good luck to anyone who’s waiting for surgery!!
 
Welcome to Recovery!

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

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
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
If you want to use something to help heal the incision,
BoneSmart recommends hypochlorous solution. Members in the US can purchase ACTIVE Antimicrobial Hydrogel through BoneSmart at a discount. Similar products should be available in the UK and other countries.​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
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.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

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 the 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 the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Don’t worry too much about those “lots of exercises” at this early stage of healing, less is more.

Also, don’t worry about being at 90 by the time you see him. If you’re already 81, you’re doing very well, and many surgeons don’t “expect” 90 until 6 weeks post op.
 
I agree with @Jockette - you're way ahead of expectations, and the greatest risk now is overdoing it - including if your PT wants to stretch or flex your new knee into the pain zone.
That's an immediate danger signal from your knee. Ignoring it will interfere with healing and lead to an increase in inflammation and swelling that by nighttime will erase any short term increase in the numbers.
 
Happy One Month Anniversary, Futurekicker!
Please let us know how your recovery is going, we'd love to read all about it. Hope you're enjoying steady progress. Have a great week!
@Futurekicker
 

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