PKR IT Band Issues<

[pm1207]

I wish I didn’t either,, and I too wished I had planned ahead for more time off. The orthopedic said 4 weeks and I felt like I trusted his advice. Really wish I had found this forum earlier on! @funkymuse I guess we just didn’t realize how hard this recovery would be...I really thought I would bounce back faster.

 

[funkymuse]

@pm1207 and we are so FAR away from really recovering. I CAN'T think about it!! My life is going to be disrupted from many of my normal activities that i've done for years for quite some time. I will slowly get back to them all but in the meantime.. what a hard shift. If one sits and thinks about the enormity of it all, it can get you down. I had NO clue and the slow and steady progress makes it harder. I guess I'm venting here..

 

[Jockette]

My surgeon didn’t give me a time frame but what they did say, and what I’d read online before surgery about partial replacements led me to believe it would take 2-3 months. Online info said a partial was a quicker recovery than a total.
Lies, lies, lies!!!!!

But I’m more accepting of it now. Maybe because I am 9 months post op and closer to that year, but I still have frustrating limitations. This was so not what I expected.

 

[funkymuse]

I went blindly into this. I did a bit of research but not much and the sites I ended up at all had folks saying how wonderful their knees were. I ONLY WISH I had found this site and researched more! I would have put up more soup!

 

[pm1207]

@funkymuse it can be very depressing. Definitely had some good cries over it all. Vent away! No one else can really get it unless they have been through it like we all have. We all know the frustration and how hard it can be to meet other people’s expectations of how we should recover. I think people see me up and around and going to work and think that I’m fine, when in reality some days I’m exhausted beyond belief and so sore. I have a very caring and understanding husband which helps tremendously. We all just want to feel good and get our lives back to normal!

@Celle you are 100% correct!! They just don’t know and we trust in their advice

@Jockette I was told that the partial was half as less long than the total recovery. Really didn’t think I would feel like this at 6 weeks...I’m sorry you still have limitations at your recovery point,,,

 

[Josephine]

@Josephine i do the stretches because they make my knee feel less tight and stiff, especially in the morning and throughout the day when I sit for long periods.

But those are not stretches, they are lunges. Quite a different thing. I showed you proper stretches to do.

 

[sistersinhim]

When I went for my yearly checkup, while waiting in the waiting room, a man came out of the exam room and told his companions that he could have just a partial replacement and they said good that the recovery would be a lot shorter. I joined in and told them than it wouldn't be any shorter than a total and they looked at me like I was crazy. It's funny how so many people know so much more than those of us who have have a knee replacement know!

 

[Jockette]

At one of my surgeon appointments I was talking to another patient in the waiting area and she was saying how much PT hurt. I had recently found Bonesmart and told her it didn’t have to hurt and right away she said, “oh yes it does. My mother didn’t do her exercises and she didn’t have a good outcome. “ I didn’t comment much after that. Some people just don’t want to hear it.

Whatever the reason for her mother’s outcome, we know it was not because she “didn’t do her exercises!”

Others I’ve talked to do feel that PTs go too far and they don’t agree with it. Those are the ones open to the more sensible Bonesmart way.

 

[pm1207]

I have to say that my knee feels much better now after spending a good part of the day doing “nothing”. Every other surgery the doctors always say rest, let your body heal..why do they have such a different outlook with joint replacements?

 

[SusieShoes]

I have to say that my knee feels much better now after spending a good part of the day doing “nothing”. Every other surgery the doctors always say rest, let your body heal..why do they have such a different outlook with joint replacements?

I have no idea. Seriously. None. Well, maybe one. A lot of orthopedic surgeons come to the specialty through sports medicine. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[pm1207]

It’s nuts!!! I am just remembering what my gastrointestinal surgeon said when I had my gallbladder out in may, he wanted me to take a full 2 weeks off of work, and lots of rest. When I think about that hearing 4 weeks from my orthopedic sounds outrageous, and them pushing constant movements.

 

[Celle]

My surgeon didn’t give me a time frame but what they did say, and what I’d read online before surgery about partial replacements led me to believe it would take 2-3 months. Online info said a partial was a quicker recovery than a total.

Advertising hype! In all fairness, I have to say that there have been a few people who recovered faster from a PKR, but they seem to be in a minority.

I had a partial and it was a success. It lasted for 11 years.
Of my three knee replacements my recovery from that partial took the longest.

In spite of the good performance of my partial, I decided I didn't want another and elected to go straight to a total when my second knee needed replacing.

 

[pm1207]

Does anyone know anything about therapeutic massage? Helpful or harmful?

 

[pm1207]

This has been an incredibly frustrating weekend. I had a very busy Friday so I spent the entire day Saturday elevating and icing and just doing a few very light chores around the house. I took 2 naps and still felt exhausted. Today I had to finish up some Christmas shopping so I went out for a little bit. Yes....stupid. For the past week it feels like my knee is going to give out when I walk. The last week I also have had to up my hydrocodone; which previously I had only been taking at night. I’m now taking it 2-3 times a day, just one pill. Found myself crying today. I just want to be able to go about with my day and be able to do things without feeling pain and exhausted. I really am venting here because I know from everyone’s input that I’m still early in recovery. Just feeling very down.

 

[Celle]

Does anyone know anything about therapeutic massage? Helpful or harmful?

If it feels good, it's OK. If it's rough, or hurts at the time or afterwards, it's probably done more harm than good.

 

[funkymuse]

If it feels good, it's OK. If it's rough, or hurts at the time or afterwards, it's probably done more harm than good.

I can vouch for this!!!! At my last PT he did that and was too rough and I hurt badly afterwards.

 

[funkymuse]

So sorry @pm1207 - gosh... I know how you feel and many do. If I think about how truly early I still am.. it can get me down for sure. So I try not to! Sending you an comforting hug...

 

[pm1207]

@Celle thank you...I’m thinking of doing some research to find a gentle massage. I have this constant feeling like I need to stretch...prob muscle issues?? I will make sure that they understand my situation and will be extremely gentle.

 

[pm1207]

@funkymuse thank you for the hug! I appreciate your support.. our surgery dates are only about a week apart so I know you know how I’m feeling frustration wise. Sending you a hug back!!

 

[Celle]

I'm sorry you're feeling a bit "down" today, @pm1207 .
Days like that are part of the recovery process, I'm afraid. YOU feel as if you should be able to do more, but you can't yet, and it is frustrating.

Try not to think of resting as "lying around, doing nothing." Instead, think of it as working hard, to give your knee the best possible chance of healing well.
In other words, when you are icing and elevating and watching TV, you are not 'lazing around' - you are "engaging in a carefully considered, proactively designed, heuristically programmed, dynamically structured recovery programme".