TKR Help!

[Bridge55]

Hi,I'm Bridge,I've just had the Total knee replacement 4weeks ,when does the pain stop? I'm in agony.

 

[Jaycey]

@Bridge55 Welcome to BoneSmart! What surgery did you have and when (actual date)? We need a bit more information in order to advise you.

 

[Bridge55]

I had a Total Knee Replacement on 17th November 2020 .thankyou x

 

[Jaycey]

So you are less than one month into a process that can take up to one year or more. Are you icing your knee and elevating that op leg? Ice is a natural pain killer and it will help reduce the swelling that is causing you pain.

What medication are you taking and how often? Are you doing any physio?

Here are some guidelines for you that might help"
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 Closure​

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.

 

[Sun catcher]

I am sorry you are in such pain. I am 5 weeks now and had a similar experience. The suggestion to ice and elevate cannot be understated. I ice and elevated almost constantly at first and still do very frequently it is the most helpful. I still have to be careful to not be up too much on my feet but things are slowly improving. Do not wait too long to take your prescribed pain meds. Do not be afraid to call your doctor and tell them how much pain you are in and ask what else you can do. I hope you feel better!

 

[Austin]

Bridge, I'll be at 5 weeks tomorrow since my TKR. It's certainly been the most difficult 5 weeks of my life, because like yours mine has been quite painful. This site has already been quite helpful for me, with good information and the stories of others who are struggling, too. It helps me to know I'm not alone, and neither are you. I was sure something was wrong with mine until I read all of the similar accounts here.

I hope icing, elevating, and effective meds help you through!

 

[sistersinhim]

@Bridge55, be sure you are not overdoing activities and exercises. Doing so causes inflammation, which causes pain and swelling. Exercises can not heal you any faster than your knee is going to heal, but doing too much will set that healing back. You want to keep your knee as happy as you can with rest, icing, and elevating. These 3 things will help to decrease your inflammation thus reducing your pain and swelling.

 

[Monkeycage]

I love my physical therapist. His mantra is walking is not exercise. Do your recommend exercises as long as they do not cause pain later that day or swelling of any kind, but other than that don’t walk any more than you have to. He always says you can forever after it heals.
I am on my second partial knee. I tried to do too much my first knee and the pain was never ending and depressing.
This time around I try to walk as little as possible. The difference is night and day. I wish you the best of recoveries!

 

[Jockette]

In my opinion, walking is indeed exercise, and this early in recovery a short walk is very good for you. It gives you gentle bending and gently, over time, will strengthen your body. Walking, though not to excess, was better for me than the list of exercises that my PT wanted me to do.

This is what‘s so great about each of us being different, and finding what works best for each of us.

 

[Celle]

I love my physical therapist. His mantra is walking is not exercise. Do your recommend exercises as long as they do not cause pain later that day or swelling of any kind, but other than that don’t walk any more than you have to. He always says you can forever after it heals.

Walking is the best exercise of all for a replaced knee. In fact, it's all the exercise a knee needs.
At first, you should only walk a little, but you can gradually increase the amount of walking you do, as your knee heals.

I'm glad what you're doing is working well for your knee, but it isn't suitable advice for everyone.

 

[Bridge55]

Happy new year guys xx

 

[Celle]

Happy new year guys xx

And Happy New Year to you too, @Bridge55 .

You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together as it's best if members in recovery only have one thread.
This is because:

• That way, you have all your information in one place. This makes it easier for others to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you start new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. We won't miss your new question as, between us, the staff read all new posts each day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, tag a member of staff.
Tagging other members and answering tags

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts?

A helpful hint - Many members have found it useful to bookmark their thread so they don't lose it. It's a good idea to do that - I see that you haven't been back to your thread to comment on the advice you've been given. Did you lose the thread?

And how are you getting on now? I hope you're feeling a bit better.

Best wishes,
Celle

 

[TKRsharon]

@Bridge55 How are you doing? Please take the advice of the other members. My TKR was 10/13/20 and my recovery has been hellish! It wasn't until I joined BoneSmart that I learned what I was doing to cause my own pain and set backs. Things started to get better about a week 11. I can FINALLY sleep. I stopped PT about a week ago as it was counter productive. Take your pain meds and iCE and ELEVATE! - all day. I am still waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel, but I can see a glimmer of hope now. Keep us posted. I am so sorry for your pain.

 

[Ny grandma]

Hi. I had my knee replacement Nov 10. I too have pain . I can’t take pain pills so it’s been a long recovery... I’m on 7 weeks and the pain is not that bad... hang in there

 

[Goma]

My tkr was on17nov20. The pain gets easier every week if you can find a balance. I would rather recover slower with less pain than push myself and suffer for It. Plenty of setbacks but there is definitely not one answer fits all, everyone and everyday is different.

 

[Michigan Mitten]

I had LTKR on dec 10 2020, so I am about 3 and a half weeks into it. I also had TKR on my right knee in June 2020 which was a painful difficult recovery where I vowed never to have surgery again! Unfortunately my left knee wasn’t going to cooperate so back to the operating table I went in December. Regarding the pain, I learned that being tough and trying to skip the pain meds does not work. It also slows down making progress in rebuilding strength, etc. My Dec TKR has taught me this so I have given up being tough and take my pain meds on a set schedule. It took a few weeks to establish as I also had to coordinate with my eating schedule .( feel sick on empty tummy and loss of appetite). Finding that balance in pain management is key as well as finding the balance in physical therapy, resting and activity. Bonesmart taught me not to feel quilty if I don’t push myself into miserable pain , that it’s ok to rest and take a day off from physical therapy. Just keep your knee oiled on those days your knee needs to rest. Oiled meaning some gentle movements to avoid the knee getting stiff. My right knee recovered just fine without having to be the wonder girl who recovered quickly and running 3 weeks after surgury.