Icing....with nothing behind the knee??

[Poctdb]

To all,
My LTK Mako is June 24. I am ready...house set, ice machine tested, post op drugs to be picked up the Saturday before surgery as I am doing this alone.

But I am puzzled. Many posts here say that you should ice the back of the knee. But other posts, and my pre surgical materials say “nothing behind the knee.”

Can someone explain this to me? Thanks....

 

[Pumpkin]

My best guess is ice behind you knee will bend your knee, and the concern in the early days is about extension.
This is why they will not let you elevate the foot of the bed in the hospital.
You also want to be sure there is a towel between your skin and the ice, lots of nerves and blood vessels are located in the back of your knee.

 

[Celle]

They mean don't put a pillow behind your knee.
A small ice bag or frozen gel pack is not going to have an adverse effect on your knee.

I used to ice both back and front of my knee, using gel packs. Naturally, as Pumpkln says, you do need to protect your knee from frost bite, by having some material between your skin and the icing medium.

 

[Josephine]

Many posts here say that you should ice the back of the knee. But other posts, and my pre surgical materials say “nothing behind the knee.”

Celle is correct. The second precept means no pillow or pad behind the knee like this.