bill 3/20
junior member
United StatesAll of us recover differently. The critical thing is to listen to your body. It’s beneficial to do as much as you can and damaging to do too much. You have to pay attention to find the balance.
I also had a partial. I had a wonderful PT who was gentle but also encouraged me to do as much as I could. I went to massage and had deep tissue massage, but I was lucky to find a practitioner who had worked with knee replacements before; she was a great help. I also went to acupuncture and that helped. I went to PT twice a week for 4 months and gradually got more difficult exercises. I generally didn’t do too much and erred on the side of caution. I was nervous about hurting my knee and often my PT provided reassurance that I wasn’t hurting myself. I am now 9 months post surgery. I can walk pretty much as far as I want. I ran 5 miles today on a hilly trail. I still experience some swelling after a workout, but it doesn’t impair function. Neither my PT nor my surgeon was concerned about the mild swelling. I feel like my surgery was a success. Before surgery, my knee had deteriorated to where I needed a cane to walk.
As to PKR v TKR, none of us know how long our joint will last. My surgeon says the materials are constantly getting better, particularly the plastic spacers. My PKR is a Stryker triathlon done with MAKOplasty; there have been improvements in the process even in the last 9 months. Since my surgery they have started using honeycomb titanium that encourages the bone to grow into the titanium. The point is that what happened to someone in the past might not happen to you.
I did not have an easy recovery. I had pain almost all over my body. My back pain was so severe, I couldn’t stand long enough to cook green beans. I stayed on oxycodone for 6 months. I think a lot of my pain was due to having my knee realigned as it was so out of place. I also worked to correct posture, gait, and leg strength to keep from damaging my new knee. On top of that, I think I became extremely sensitive to pain post surgery. I think my nervous system became more responsive to pain and it was hard to deal with, but that all past.
It can be hard to stay positive, but most of us come through this and are able to return to our lives. I am hoping to do a walking tour in Portugal this coming spring.
I also had a partial. I had a wonderful PT who was gentle but also encouraged me to do as much as I could. I went to massage and had deep tissue massage, but I was lucky to find a practitioner who had worked with knee replacements before; she was a great help. I also went to acupuncture and that helped. I went to PT twice a week for 4 months and gradually got more difficult exercises. I generally didn’t do too much and erred on the side of caution. I was nervous about hurting my knee and often my PT provided reassurance that I wasn’t hurting myself. I am now 9 months post surgery. I can walk pretty much as far as I want. I ran 5 miles today on a hilly trail. I still experience some swelling after a workout, but it doesn’t impair function. Neither my PT nor my surgeon was concerned about the mild swelling. I feel like my surgery was a success. Before surgery, my knee had deteriorated to where I needed a cane to walk.
As to PKR v TKR, none of us know how long our joint will last. My surgeon says the materials are constantly getting better, particularly the plastic spacers. My PKR is a Stryker triathlon done with MAKOplasty; there have been improvements in the process even in the last 9 months. Since my surgery they have started using honeycomb titanium that encourages the bone to grow into the titanium. The point is that what happened to someone in the past might not happen to you.
I did not have an easy recovery. I had pain almost all over my body. My back pain was so severe, I couldn’t stand long enough to cook green beans. I stayed on oxycodone for 6 months. I think a lot of my pain was due to having my knee realigned as it was so out of place. I also worked to correct posture, gait, and leg strength to keep from damaging my new knee. On top of that, I think I became extremely sensitive to pain post surgery. I think my nervous system became more responsive to pain and it was hard to deal with, but that all past.
It can be hard to stay positive, but most of us come through this and are able to return to our lives. I am hoping to do a walking tour in Portugal this coming spring.
