TKR IrishMike's Recovery Record No. 1 ready for No.2

[Holly]

Hi Mike, great to read your report, you are doing fantastic and you seem very focussed. I am also Irish and from Dublin, I had my left TKR done on 15th December, I had no real issues, very strong and back doing some yoga classes. I find the hardest thing is working on the ROM, I am at 95 at 8 weeks and can really feel it loosening out, I cannot wait until I feel the ROM higher. I went to my physio session on Thursday and it just sets me back for two days, he is very good, does massage and then acupuncture, but I seem to go back to about 50 rom or less after the PT with swelling, this happens every week. I am due back to see the OS next Wednesday for my 8 week visit, I am not going to do any physio next week and will just keep working on the ROM myself.

You seem to be doing a lot of walking, do you find this good on your knee and is it helping the rom, I am still inclined to drag my knee and not bend it, so I am going to try a walk on the tread mill for a bit to try and correct that.

Best of luck with your continued recovery. Holly

 

[vinny]

Hi @Holly .....hope all is well with you ...I found walking was the very best way to increase my
ROM....if the physio is setting you back and causing swelling and restricted ROM something is not right with the physio...in my case the ROM was the highest at the end of physio due to stretching and loosening up.....can you go down stairs fairly easily? that is a key to increased ROM as it requires more....congratulations @IrishMike on your progress...my sister and I are Irish Twins as I am 11 months older....

Vinny

 

[Holly]

Hi Vinny, I got on the treadmill today and walked for 1 km which took about 15 mins, did the stairs 10 times up and down twice today, slow coming down but could feel the stretch, was also able to do the leg extension machine and calf curls without weights, so really felt the stretch, got more out of this than with the physio. So will work on it each day. I will update my own thread. Hope you are doing well. Holly

 

[IrishMike]

@referee54, @Holly

Thanks for your comments, although I am guessing that you are replying to my left knee page which I posted on Friday....

Holly, I don't walk as an exercise because I find that the length of time required to have a good walk adversely effects my knee i.e. can make it sore. Using the bike helps me with my ROM because I get a full turn of the leg and cycling is non-weight bearing so shouldn't hurt my knee - I can also adjust my foot on the pedal to help make the leg movement smoother until my ROM improves.

I am working on building up my leg muscles to help make my knees more stable, my right knee is fine but my left knee needs work on my ROM (it has gone backwards lately). To improve my ROM, I am stretching, cycling and doing strength exercises, I have decided to give the physio a rest until March just to let my knee settle down etc.

My right knee (13 months old) is very happy - it is numb in parts but is functioning very well. It is probably waiting for my left knee to catch up.

Hope you continue to progress well so you can really enjoy the summer(?) mobile and pain free!

Take care

Mike

 

[Holly]

Hi Mike, thanks for your response, I misread your previous comments and thought you were walking 5 to 6 km on your new knee, I was amazed lol. Hope you are doing well and that the break from the PT is benefiting you. I took out a membership at Carton House today, did some walking in the water for a couple of lengths, swimming was easy just doing the breast stroke so the knees were kept in a straight line, but it felt great, did some heal slides in the sauna and also in the jacuzzi, the heat really felt good on the knee and was able to go easy into the rom more. Hope to do this about 3 to 4 times a week, had some swelling afterwards so just iced. I am the same as you, I had good ROM and then went back a bit, saw the OS on Wednesday this week and he was delighted with me driving, no crutches, strength training, yoga etc which he said I was way ahead with, but wants me back in two months just to make sure that I am getting more ROM, he told me work on the stationary bike more. Did you try a CPM machine, it just does not seem to be that common a practice here in Ireland.

Well I hope my new routine increases my ROM more and I have a happy OS in two months.

Holly

 

[vinny]

@Holly ..hot water shower helps a great deal with ROM..the pool should be great to....love Carton House their facility is wonderful..I hope you and @IrishMike continue to make progress and a little rest from PT can be very beneficial ..

Vinny

 

[IrishMike]

@Holly thanks for your comments, I read back my comments (page 1, comment #3 & 5) and I was walking 6 & 8 km per day but I found that my knee became sore after 4 or 5 km so I moved to the gym where I could control my exercises better and be more specific with areas that I train also. It worked for me and appears to be working with my 2nd knee.

I find going somewhere formal, e.g. a gym, works for me because I am not disciplined enough to work at home.

Take care

Mike

 

[Holly]

Thanks for explaining re the walking, but still fair play to you walking that distance. Best of luck with your recovery, hope it is going well for you. Holly