TKR Jean’s Recovery Thread

[skigirl]

I had a dent like that on one of my knees after TKA, i worried about it too!! One day in Pt , I heard a little click and looked down, my scar was flat. Obviously the stitch broke. So, I would not worry about it, it will resolve itself.

 

[Jean54]

@skigirl, Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope my snag will be released too. I am 6.5 weeks po but walking is still a big challenge. My knee becomes numb, swollen, and stiff/tight as soon as I start walking without my tight knee sleeve or a knee compression support on, or I would limp pretty bad. Is this normal after 6.5 weeks? My knee acts like a brat that also doesn’t like to be iced. I feel I am stuck and not making progress in recent weeks.

 

[skigirl]

Jean, I decided to read all of your posts before answering you. For one thing "normal" is different for everyone. Some people have a faster recovery and some a slower recovery. However, I feel your doctor has misled you.

Most of all I see that you played pickleball several times at 2 weeks. At that point your flexion was 115. That is the source of your current problem.
When you have surgeries, your muscles are disrupted and they do not work as well after surgery as they did before. My quad took two full weeks to recover from surgery. During those two weeks, I spent 80% of my time in bed or on the couch with my leg elevated so that the swelling would go down.

When you muscles are weak, they do not fully support your leg and the joint itself has to support the leg. You had a new joint, with soft tissue swelling and weak muscles when you played pickleball. So, no wonder your joint is still complaining. You simply cannot rush the healing after this major surgery. Your over activity has made your soft tissues angry and they are yelling at you to stop.

I cannot believe that your husband is trying to tempt you to play with a swollen, inflamed knee. If you want the fun, you can go there and talk to people, but keep your leg up on a chair. It is a bad idea to even think of playing right now. So, I suggest that you spend some time with your leg elevated and buy time. I mean hours, as many as you can so that the swelling and inflammation leave your leg. 4 hours in the am and four to five hours in the pm.

I used a stationery bike myself, but two days after surgery, i hopped onto it and My Pt said---what are you doing??? He let me ride for 5 min. Here was his formula: ride for 5 min. swelling? ride for 3 min. no swelling, ride for 7 min. As you can see, first, you have to bring down the swelling, then you have to GRADUALLY get back to your activities. I am a ski instructor, but I did not ski until 4 months post surgery. I skied better since I no longer had a wonky knee. But you will have to trade the next three months for your future sports life. There is no way at all that you are ready to run, stop, start, run.

If you stress the joint too much now, you risk tendonitis, which is no fun at all. So, major surgery, one year to full recovery, you will get back to playing sports, but you will have to move slower to get there. I am going to give you some articles from the library to read.

Activity progression for TKRs

Elevation is the key to controlling pain and swelling

 

[kneeper]

I think skigirl is right on target. Going gradually now will pay off in you getting back to the activities you love. The thing with this recovery is that less really is more.
I let my PT with my first knee push me to do things I wasn't ready for. Overdoing led to swelling and tendonitis and did not speed my recovery.
With knee #2 I took it slow and steady and recovered more smoothly with less pain and swelling. I know it seems like forever, but better to take the weeks of slow going and then be able to do stuff than have a lingering case of tendonitis beyond the 12 weeks.

 

[Jockette]

I had pain and swelling and didn’t walk well at 6.5 weeks. It takes way longer than that for those things to improve.

I did not wear any compression socks past the first 10 days. For me, I felt all that pressure was not allowing my leg to relax. Over time, lots of it, my leg has relaxed and healed and my bend is now good and I can walk well.

Many of us are set up for unrealistic expectations of this recovery because our medical team does not adequately prepare us for how long it is.

 

[Celle]

I think you're being a bit impatient about your incision and its lumps and bumps. It's still healing beneath the surface and it isn't the finished product yet - not by a long way.
Give it time, lots of time, and it will eventually look much better and the skin will become looser. For now, leave it alone and let Nature get on with the job of healing.

Remember, I told you complete healing takes as long as a full year. It's not reasonable to expect the incision to be completely healed yet, as it's still a "work in progress".

 

[Kiwigirl62]

I'm nearly 5 weeks and have been told to wear compression stockings for 6 weeks. Originally thought a real pain, but on reflection i like as i feel it definitely reduces potential swelling through the day and leg always feels very supported.

Think I'll use a compression knee band for a bit after the 6 weeks

 

[Jean54]

Thank you for all who wrote. I get it, really and finally. @skigirl, Thank you for taking time to read my previous postings and you explained so well. Wow, you just knock some senses into my head and you were right! I agree that my OS really made my TKR sounded like a cakewalk from the start (and I was playing in a tournament 3 days before my surgery and I got a medal that day). I truly believed I’d be back to my old self in a few weeks when I walked into the surgery. Hubby was also kept telling me that there was nothing to worry because TKR is the most common done surgery everyday. At 2 weeks, I was walking unadided, had no pain and had good flexion, so I didn’t think playing with only walking on the court would do my knee any harm. I was cleared by my OS to play Pickleball at 4 weeks, so I have played since, with a lot of limpings. I was thinking to play in a November tournament, but now I know better. I thought knee elevation to our hip level is good enough (since the ankle is no longer swollen”. Now I am back to raising my knee above my heart level again. Boy, it’ll be so tough to lay/sit around with my knee up for so many hours a day! Since I have been cleared by my OS to play Pickleball at 4 weeks, I am afraid husband is going to say I am a worrywart and thinks I am no fun. I will try to be good but I don’t know how long I can last doing mainly sitting around. Many times I intended to just go talk with friends, but I always ended up on the court playing instead. After my surgery and I started reading others’ posts here, and that was when I became aware of what others are going through with their knees. So I am grateful with how mine turned out. I am just so unprepared about the ups, downs, length, and emotional side during this super long recovery. The knee is in control of my life. I will not want my other knee to go through this if I can help it.

 

[kmak81230]

I played a little pickleball at about 2 or 3 months, but I was limping on the court so decided I didn't want to get in bad gait habits so put my paddle down until I could play without limping. Of course two months ago I took a stumble playing and broke my arm but that's another story . . . . . be patient and you'll be back getting those medals in no time

 

[Jean54]

@kmak81230, It‘s nice to hear from another pickleballer! So sorry to hear about your arm and I hope you are doing better now. I have known players who broke their wrist, leg, or arm when they took a tumble. Even when I was limping on the court last week, a fellow player broke her wrist when she took a fall during the game. I was very careful about not running and not chasing after balls when I played. I agree I got back into sports too soon, but I wonder if I have also injured my new knee by doing deep quad stretches last week? I thought deep quad exercises are good for my flexion and flexibility, until I read it otherwise. Could I have overstretched my patella and damaged something inside my new knee? Sometimes it feels like my patella may have shifted a little and the tightness, swelling, and numbness sensations under my kneecap was much worse than before, which now makes my walking more difficult. My knee makes a lot of clicking noises. Is that normal? Good thing is that my new knee is not in pain and I am off all pain medications since 5 days ago. I have not been doing much of any rehab exercises either thinking I probably didn’t need it anymore. I will get back and doing my daily gentle stretches again and hopefully that’ll make my knee happy again. Now you have to try harder to make me believe whenever I hear “you’ll be back...in no time” again.

 

[Jockette]

Now you have to try harder to make me believe whenever I hear “you’ll be back...in no time” again.

I think most people mean well when they say that, and it’s just a phrase we say. Instead of “no time” just in your mind add “no set time”, then it’s more true to this recovery.

, swelling, and numbness sensations under my kneecap was much worse than before, which now makes my walking more difficult.

Most likely you upset the soft tissue which takes a long time to heal.

 

[SusieShoes]

I hope you’re feeling better today. My guess is you will need to rest your knee for some days, and maybe weeks, for the soft tissues to settle down. When you played on your new knee too soon, your muscles didn’t have the strength to prevent irritation of other structures, like tendons, ligaments, and bursae. Muscles, of all the soft tissues, heal quickly and will recover the fastest, but these other tissues — still considered soft tissues — take longer to heal. It sounds like you need to baby them along for a while yet.

Clicking noises are completely normal! I had both knees done and my right knee (which healed months faster than my left) clicked at around two months. It just started up one day. The clicking continued for a few weeks and went away. Then my left knee started clicking about a month after that. I figure the clicking was a sign the swelling in the knee was going down. As I walked more and my muscles grew stronger and the soft tissues snugged up, the clicking went away.

Sometimes knees continue to click even after healing; that too can be normal.

 

[skigirl]

Here is some of what I did during my down time; I learned to knit on you tube, bought stuff on line and had it delivered. made hats for all the granddaughters! Watched Downton Abbey from day one. Looked at videos of Jane Austen.

I looked up some videos of old tv shows that I hear people talking about that I never have time to watch. Then, I got books from Amazon on my iPad and read a lot of mysteries.

I just looked up some kayaking videos on you tube because my daughter had one in front of her house---they were helpful. I watched a lot of ski videos on you tube. and started watching a show called Britain's got Talent on you tube--so many of the try outs are hysterically funny. You could watch Pickleball videos and pick up some points.

I had friends who took me out to lunch once a week--even though I had to put my foot on a chair. I walked my dogs---1/2 mile at a time.

I did a little bit of jewelry. I watched some Soccer games---ugh, it all sounds so silly when I write it down. Most of all, try to keep yourself going with something. You really do need to sit and elevate for the first two weeks. I made myself do that and almost all of the swelling was gone when I started PT at week three.

Here are some things that will make things worse. A PT who pushes your need to get extra rom!! This is a biggie, the swelling can last for weeks. For me, it was being on my feet in my studio---one night I was in agony--my knee needed more rest. So, at week 3---two hours down for every one hour up.

You are doing something good for your body, you are healing. So many people try to rush this stage and some frantically exercise so that they can be first to recover---we ususally find them later with tendonitis---you simply cannot rush these first three weeks.



take a topic and research it---Kayaking in Australia,in New Zealand. Beaches in Hawaii, how to change the oil in your car---you get the picture. Your computer is your friend right now.

I even got some audio books so that I did not have to hold the ipad!! Have you listened to the HElP? or Lord of the Rings? or Pride and Prejudice.

I am a reader, if you are not watch videos. Amazon prime was a good friend for those weeks when I had to order stuff on line since it was delivered in one or two days. I studied some art--oh yeah there are classes on Craftsy---cake decorating, knitting, sewing, quilting, painting---I took 4 on acrylic technique--oil painting, drawing. Now is the time to indulge your brain and find something new to learn.

You get the picture---life is about more than sports. What about those photos on your phone that you were going to organize "some day"?

 

[kmak81230]

I agree with Susie - you've likely caused inflammation to the soft tissues which take months to get better. At 17 months I can still cause discomfort in the tissues around the new knee when I overdo it. The implant is likely fine but the other stuff is what takes a really long time to heal. Remember, they basically cut your leg in two and drilled and hammered a bunch on each end and then put it back together . . . As for clicking, I started several months in and my PT said it was common and that it was a good sign that I could feel it as it meant that some of the internal swelling was diminishing. I couldn't hear it and it didn't hurt but I felt it with each pedal stroke on bike and when I bent the knee more than 90 degrees. Patience grasshopper! I will have to remind myself of that in another month when I get #2 done. I was determined to get back to playing ice hockey and my surgeon cleared me to do so after 6 months. My PT was not in favor of that and since I was progressing well under her care and trusted her I waited for the 9 month mark to start slowly skating again.

 

[Jamie]

For those who don't know what Pickleball is, here is a video:

Jean, please take a look at those movements the players are doing. Even though they are moving rather gently on the court, they are still doing what we call "torquing" their knees. The motions are frequently start and stop motions where your feet are planted and your upper body is in motion.

Even at several months out from a knee replacement, your soft tissues are still healing....yours even more so since you've been pushing them by playing this game so early. The soreness and swelling you're experiencing is telling you your body is not ready for Pickleball!

You say yourself that you witnessed someone taking a fall recently. What in the world do you think might happen to you if you accidentally got off balance? With your new knee, your ability to "catch yourself" and prevent a fall is greatly reduced! So you're also risking injury or broken bones in addition to irritating your tender new knee tissues.

If your husband and friends don't get this, so be it. They are not you and have not had a knee replaced. I know you have the inner strength to stand up for yourself and do what is right for you. Please don't feel guilty for taking the right path. Kelly's suggestions for things to do were excellent. You can find things to do if you want to.

Please consider putting Pickleball on hold at least until after the first of the year. You will not regret that decision and your body will be healthier and stronger for your decision. Instead, do some walking or cycling to exercise your new knee (start gradually, of course, and be sure you don't have pain or swelling afterwards).

 

[Jean54]

@skigirl - Thank you so much for all the hobby suggestions. I admire your positive energy and your motivation to explore new things around you. I admire and have much to learn from you. I do enjoy movies and cooking programs. I probably could crochet or knit something nice and useful for my 3 grandkids, 7,6,&5 year olds for Xmas. Hubby and I drove our RV across half of the country 2 years ago visiting national parks, playing pickleballs, and visiting families along the way. We have not used our RV since then. We probably could do a short RV trip to sightsee and to get away a bit. Hubby loves RV trips. @SusieShoes - Thank you for asking. No, I am still limping a lot. Going through my daily stretches and routines of maneuvering my long way back to be normal again. @Jamie - Thank you so much for your advice. You are Right. Even without running on the court, I probably have still ended up using more of my knee than I realized. I will lay down my paddle at least until the first of next year, like you suggested. Hubby usually plays at least 4 to 5 days a week. It’ll be so fun to just watch him play...ugh. I promise to be strong and stand firm to temptations for the long term welfare of my knee this time.
@kmak81230- So hard to stay away from Pickleball! But I will put down my paddle like you did and wait for my knee to heal first.
@kneeper - thanks for your words of experience. I will take it slow now.
@Jockette, you are the lucky one who did not need compression socks for too long. I was off it but now I need it to walk!
@Celle, One year is Soooo long... I wish I knew or i’d have decided my TKR timing differently.
@Kiwigirl62- Good for you for wearing your compression socks faithfully. I am doing catching up work by wearing mine now...
@Jockette - I am forever haunted by, “ you will be back to play Pickleball in no time.”
I really appreciate all your words of wisdom and experience. Thank you for sharing so we could all learn from it. We are stuck with our new knee/s, like it or not. So I get it now and will be patient. Thanks.

 

[Jamie]

Jean, I absolutely love your idea of an RV trip. I'm assuming hubby won't mind doing the driving and you can ice and elevate as you see the country. What a plan!!!!

 

[Jean54]

@Jamie, Glad you liked the idea. Hubby had our trip route mapped out already, and he has been waiting for me to say yes. I just texted hubby (he is out of town) and told him let’s go. He immediately sent me a GIF showing a man and a woman highfiving. He is silly and happy! He loves to drive so that’s settled. I’ll have everything I need in the RV for my knee too.

 

[Jamie]

Hopefully this will be a good compromise that will allow you to increase your activity slowly as your knee permits. I've got my fingers crossed that he doesn't also have a host of walking, climbing, shopping or sightseeing planned along with the driving. You'll just have to take charge if things get a bit too active for you. Good for you for finding a solution that helps you both.

 

[texasjeri]

@Jean54 I'm in awe of how active you were pre-op and hope you'll be back to YOUR normal soon! I think the RV trip sounds wonderful. I'm having my RTKR on 10/31 and would like to travel to see my son's family at Christmas time but that's up in the air. If we had an RV that would be do-able. We are planning to get one in a few more years when I retire. Hope you find some hobbies and activities that will keep you busy till your recovery is complete! Best wishes!