TKR Glosnana's Recovery

[Celle]

It's better this a.m. thank goodness but now I have to be a detective

Don't worry about it. Sometimes, there just isn't any explanation.

 

[kneeper]

What I did before I was ready for a full flight of stairs foot over foot was to just do a few of the steps foot over foot for practice and the rest one at a time.

 

[Glosnana]

Really bad day today. I'm reluctant to post because I never seem to have anything positive to say about my knee lately. I was doing so well and now not so much. I have a medial pain as if a rod is being pushed in my leg and the stiff feeling over the front of the knee. It's also clunking and quite honestly feels as it did pre-op! It doesn't hurt to bend or extend though but makes walking uncomfortable mostly because of fear of the pain striking! My other knee is also very painful today so activity is at a minimum. Just really concerned.

 

[marieltha]

Sometimes all the soft tissue seems to announce it hurts. When are you scheduled for a followup?

 

[Glosnana]

I'm not scheduled for a follow up, my OS is at my clinic one day a week if needed. Since the desperation of this morning (imagining a loose implant!) the knee has settled a bit. A day of icing and no driving! I'm sure you're right and I'm hoping it's soft tissue healing. Where it hurts it is still a little puffy! I'm wondering if it's IT band related as well. Rollercoasters - I was never a fan!!

 

[Glosnana]

24 weeks tomorrow...how time flies! All pain/burning/stinging has gone except a couple of twinges yesterday after I did stairs. I can't deny that I scared myself with wild imaginings whenever an unexpected pain or sensation struck! Thank you for the patient support.
I'm rolling out my IT band as it's painful at night and I think it's partly the cause of the stiffness I still have at the front of my knee. I thought it was sciatica for the past couple of years but after some research, all the symptoms fit ITB issues. I know it started when I was hunched in a garden chair doing coursework on a laptop. Is home therapy beneficial for long term relief?

 

[Macknit]

Hi @Glosnana , I can't really speak to home PT as I am too rural and we had to drive 30 miles from the beginning. However, I can speak to IT Band issues.... My RTKR was done 9/3/19 so it's still a baby, but part of my bone-on-bone arthritis had caused my leg to develop the valgus deformity (or knock kneed.) Luckily, the surgery did a great job of straightening that... but from a few days in, I have had to use a foam roller and my PT always comments how tight the R IT band is. We believe it is because everything is shifted in the adjustment and the IT Band is learning how to reform itself! The conundrum in this is the IT Band was a problem before all of my knee issues (or because of the issues) so there is an article in here entitled: ITB (ilio-tibial band) issues and treatments it has been very helpful!

Best of luck as we adjust to these ongoing issues with recovery!

 

[Glosnana]

Thank you @Macknit. I wasn't very clear about home therapy ...I meant the DIY type!! It was the article that led me to research further, thank goodness for all this helpful info when you're floundering in the dark! I think I'm going to try an ITB compression band. $20 is a small price to pay if it helps and a local store has them in stock.

 

[Macknit]

Oh I see! DIY, I've been doing and I honestly think, from what I've read here, that everyone has been trying long term DIY PT, just to slowly improve strength once we get out of regular PT (I have two more weeks left and since they have been so good with me, I will definitely finish it out.)

Please post how the ITB compression band works for you, it seems like something I may need Also!