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TKR Flutter1’s BoneSmart Success

@Sisterpat I will check out One Step. My PT worked a lot with me on my gait and said it look very even. I am hoping it is just an adjustment issue. Thank you.
 
@Flutter1, I'll send you a Personal Message (PM) with the details of our special promotion we have going with OneStep right now. There is no cost to you to take advantage of this great program.
 
Two more days until my one month anniversary. I have been walking every day outside without my cane, increasing my distance a little bit every day or so. Today, I logged in a total of 4,000 steps between my daily activities and walking. I was able to move the seat on my stationary bike up a notch and peddle all the way around. I went for about 4 minutes -- stopped when I felt I might be crossing over from discomfort to pain. Yesterday, I got down and up off the floor so that I could do some ab work on my mat. Had no problem bending my leg up and even raise them off the floor a bit to do some Russian Twists. No knee pain. I am very careful to avoid pain!

One thing is still bothering me. The outer part of my upper thigh (near the hip flexor) of my opposite leg (with the older partial) still starts to hurt when I walk for more than about 10 minutes. I did not have this problem prior to my May 19 LTKR. I will be working with a new PT team on this soon. I practiced my gait a lot with my home PT and she thought I was walking evenly. I hope my leg can adjust. Tomorrow, I hope to resume some light weight lifting with my adjustable dumbbells while sitting on a bench or sturdy chair. I worked very hard for about 2 years before my surgery to build muscle, even though my arthritic knee kept me from many standard cardio workouts.
I feel as if my bend is improving, but I am not too worried about the numbers. I see improvement in things such as being able to bend my knee more when I sit and get up from sitting. After every 20 minutes of activity, I lay back down and elevate for 40 minutes. I still have swelling, but it is decreasing little by little.
Thanks for listening. I just hope this hip problem is temporary. Ugghh....
 
Flutter1 said:
After every 20 minutes of activity, I lay back down and elevate for 40 minutes. I still have swelling, but it is decreasing little by little.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are doing everything right and you are seeing the benefits!
 
So I am very happy with my new knee at one month. But discouraged that my opposite hip is so painful that I can barely walk around the block. It was a bit swollen and I had some hip and back pain prior to my knee replacement— but I wasn’t walking much so it wasn’t as obvious. I did notice how I lacked the range of motion of my other hip when doing leg lifts, etc. i will ask for an X-ray tomorrow at my 4-week check up. After being assessed by 2 different therapists who both said my gait is very even, I don’t believe this is an adjustment issue. If I need a hip replacement, so be it. :sad:
 
I have pain in my hip and lower back after walking. I am at 4 months out, and I never go for a walk longer than 1 mile. I ride my exercise bike daily, no problem, but I am wondering if I'll ever be able to go on a nice long, pain free walk? Anyone else have trouble walking?
 
@MARYCOOL I am sorry you are in the same boat. For some reason my hip hardly hurts walking on the treadmill. Have you tried that? We can only be patient and ask our doctors to investigate. Once my knee is further along, I plan to seek out PT to help strengthen my hips. Losing a few more pounds could help me as well. Good luck.:console2:
 
Related to hip and other pains after TKR, though your hip is not my hip, here's my experience. I also had hip pain in the first several months post knee surgery. I thought, "oh no, here I go again, now with arthritis in my hip". Fortunately, as my knees healed, my gait must have improved as my hip pain is totally gone. So it is possible that as you recover and everything gets more naturally aligned, this will pass.
 
You could just have tight hip flexors due to your difference in activity while you're recovering.:scratch:
 
More on hip pain: So I remembered that my at-home therapist mentioned how we shorten our steps over time with our arthritic leg. She had suggested I intentionally take longer strides with my “new” leg. I went for a short walk tonight after dinner and took what felt like super long strides with my new knee. Maybe wishful thinking, but the pain in the front of my hip was hardly noticeable. The real surprise was realizing my health tracker had a stride assessment. It recorded my asymmetrical walking. The goal is to have 0 percent time of asymmetrical strides. I could see that my more intentional walk produced not only less pain— but no asymmetry, meaning my strides were completely even. (See pic below.) Not sure this is s solution, but I thought it might be helpful to others. I found it interesting. [Bonesmart.org] Flutter1’s BoneSmart Success
 
@Flutter1 I’m 2 days behind you for LTKR
I was in the recliner for the first 3 weeks. Only been in the adjustable bed the last 3 days. I’ve been able to raise the leg portion so my foot is above my nose.
I didn’t get a nerve block but I experienced bladder incontinence. What fun Hubster was awesome, he went and bought poise & depends diapers. Such a good egg
Anytime I’ve tried using pillows for even 30 minutes my knee would bend and I’d struggle to straighten it again.
I know from my knee surgeries 32 years ago that nerves grow back 1mm a day. Depending on how many they cut you could experience many little “fireworks” as they come alive
We’ll get through this, one day at a time
 
Doctors appointment later today. Happy with knee; opposite hip, not so much. Had some pain there prior to surgery and much worse now. Going to insist on X-ray and no more traditional PT. Wish me luck please!
 
Try not to get too worried about your hip, you are so very early in this recovery and things do flare up and settle down and come out well in the end.

When I cut way back on my PT appointments the second month, I went to my chiropractor twice a week for a month and that helped other areas of my body (and she never hurt me like the PTs did!)
 
@Jockette Thanks. Returned from Doctor. X-Ray showed just a little bit of arthritis (normal for my age), but determined I have bursitis. This makes sense. Aggravated by changes TKR changes. Manageable.
 
Ouch. Bursitis isn’t fun on top of the knee surgery. Happy you know what it is vs guessing. Take care!
 
I never had hip issues until my last knee surgery when I had my spacer replaced. A quick visit to my orthopedic surgeon she ordered heal left insert within 24 hours of using the insert my hip stop hurting. Now I have inserts in all my footwear and haven't had problems with my hip since my last visit with my doctor and that was two years ago. In fact, it was two years ago this month that I had my last knee surgery.

Your hip is probably inflamed from your recent TKR hopefully as time goes by and you gain full strength of your replaced knee your hip will settle down where it will be a thing of the past.

Best of luck.
 
Hi! Does anyone know how long after the incision heals can we return to the pool? I forgot to ask my doctor at yesterday’s 4 week appointment. I had internal stiches, everything looks fine. I have two very small scabs remaining. Thanks
 
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