TKR February surgery

[RubyChops]

Hi
I’m new to this so I do apologise. I had my left knee done on the 23rd February and I’m trying to join that group. I didn’t really know what to expect so any support would be appreciated. I need the other one doing too!
Ruby

 

[FourCats]

Welcome, Ruby! You’ve come to the right place. One of the moderators will be along to share general information with you. Ask any questions, complain, share successes, anything!! We all understand! ❤️

 

[Susie-Q]

Welcome to Bonesmart!

As @FourCats said, you've come to the right place! Here are a list of articles that are short but informative. Remember that each person recovers differently and you need to do what works for you.

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.​

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

the BoneSmart view on exercise​

BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity progression for TKRs​

6. Access these pages on the website

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Care In Hospital​

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.

 

[Layla]

Welcome and thanks for joining us! You’ve come to the right place for support, encouragement and advice when you need it. We look forward to following your progress as you heal.

Below is a link to other February Valentines if you’d like to follow their threads as they’re healing right along with you.

Happy Tuesday Ruby!
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads...ary-valentines-2022-knee-recovery-club.69308/
@RubyChops

 

[benne68]

Hi @RubyChops and welcome.

You will find lots of good information in the articles that @Susie-Q shared. But don't hesitate to ask questions and voice your worries. We've all been where you are now and are happy to share our experiences,
offer suggestions, cheer your accomplishments, and send hugs if you are feeling down.

Keep us posted!

 

[RubyChops]

Hi, thanks everyone- I need to read the articles that you’ve kindly included. I’m on day 21 and so stiff! I just don’t know what to do with myself! I think I just need a good sleep‍

 

[Jockette]

I’m sure you do need a good sleep, but it is very common to have sleep issues for a while early in recovery. There’s an article about it in the recovery guidelines.

Also, Stiffness/Tightness is a normal occurrence after this kind of major surgery. Your surgeon did major carpentry work and disturbed every millimeter of soft tissue in this area. You aren't tight because your muscle is underused and needs to be stretched and rehabbed. You're tight because your tissue is healing...and full healing takes a full year or more.

 

[glidefloss]

Hi @RubyChops , hopefully you'll find a sleep formula that works well. I'm on Day 101 post-op today and still haven't found a way to sleep through the night in one go - even if my knee no longer hurt regardless of how I position/re-position it when I'm in bed. I suspect that the weeks when the knee was sensitive to moving around in bed, I'd be somewhat semi-awake every time I'd move to a new position ... and over the weeks developed that bad habit that continue today.

I’m on day 21 and so stiff!

By "so stiff", are you referring just to your knee or to the rest of your body? My first few weeks I had a lot of aches and pains all over my body, likely due to it having to compensate for the operated on leg. My lower back, shoulders and neck were always tense during those weeks - given that I'd spend a few hours a day icing/elevating, being tethered to the ice machine with less than ideal posture while doing so. Per my logs, on Day 23 post-op I started simple stretching exercises --- for the rest of my body primarily ... and that started making a difference over time.

All the best on your recovery/rehab!

 

[benne68]

Hi @RubyChops

Just checking in to see how you are doing since it's been a few weeks since your last update. Let us know!

 

[RubyChops]

Hi, I’m sorry I’ve just seen this. I find this forum quite difficult to navigate.
No, I’m not doing great. My knee is so stiff, at my 6 week check the surgeon suggested giving it another 6 weeks and then he’ll think about manipulating it which I’m dreading. I can only bend to 80degrees but could only manage 85 beforehand. It’s not really painful. I can’t drink, it’s my left knee and it’s difficult to lift and change gear (yes I’m British )
My other knee needs doing and I have so much pain in that knee I feel that it’s holding me back. I’m just feeling a bit down

 

[FourCats]

Sorry to hear you’re struggling. Are you still elevating and icing the knee? I found that after having my first knee done and while waiting to have the other done, the second one became more painful as I slowly gained movement and stability in the first knee. I reached a point where I sensed no progress as both knees were problematic. Now, after having the second knee done, it finally feels like they are working together. Not that there aren’t issues but I think with patient determination I will be much better off this time next year.

 

[mtnplayva]

I'm sorry to hear you are still having stiffness. Are you going to PT? Doing any home exercises? My surgery was 2/7 and I've found that overdoing it causes swelling with then limits my ROM. I'm still not back to work as my knee gives out all of the time so walking is difficult for me. I ice/elevate after exercise and any time that it feels stiff.

 

[sistersinhim]

I can only bend to 80degrees but could only manage 85 beforehand.

If your knee bent to only 85 degrees before your tkr, you can't expect it to miraculously start to bend more than that in just a few months. All those tendons and muscles take a long time to stretch out to something more than what they were before. Trying to force the bend more than what your knee can comfortably do will cause inflammation. That inflammation causes swelling, which worsens your ROM.

My knee is so stiff

Fluid inside your knee causes that stiffness. It was the last thing to go during my recovery. I complained about it for months out. With all that fluid, the swelling is what is hurting your bend. To get the swelling and stiffness down ice and elevate, your toes above your nose, as often as you can. Cutting back on exercises will also help to get the swelling down because it will lower your inflammation. Quite a few of us never did any exercises during this recovery and let just their daily activities be their PT. This allows a good recovery without the extra pain and swelling of forcing the knee to do more than what it is ready to do.

 

[Jockette]

Another reason for stiffness is the fact that your surgeon did major carpentry work and disturbed every millimeter of soft tissue in this area. You aren't tight because your muscle is underused and needs to be stretched and rehabbed. You're tight because your tissue is healing...and full healing takes a full year or more.