TKR Journey of a slow healer

[benne68]

The patience fairy

I love this! With your permission, I will quote you to others....

 

[Tentcamper]

Of course! @JusticeRider is the original author of the phrase.

 

[benne68]

Yep, sounds like her! Don't know how I missed it!

My surgeon liked to say "the most important muscle to exercise during your recovery is the patience muscle." (I borrow that one all the time, too).

@Tentcamper

 

[sistersinhim]

My achievement of the day was being able to slide into the back seat of the car without having anyone help. Big win!

That is a big win!

 

[JusticeRider]

You all are making me laugh! Yes, we all need a visit from the Patience Fairy from time to time. I’m glad she has stopped by to see you recently, Tentcamper!

 

[JusticeRider]

"the most important muscle to exercise during your recovery is the patience muscle."

I love this one too!

 

[Tentcamper]

@JusticeRider Actually, the Patience Fairy has had to take up part time residence in order for me to hold still with any of this!

 

[sistersinhim]

the Patience Fairy has had to take up part time residence in order for me to hold still with any of this!

So true for almost all of us.

 

[Tentcamper]

I have a question based on something my PT said. I'm three weeks out and she is manipulating my kneecap. It hurts and when I told her not to do that, she said if she doesn't my kneecap will get stuck where it is. Is that so? I still have lots of swelling but with PT I've gone from a ROM of 18 to 40 in two weeks. So PT and exercise is helping but sometimes I feel my therapist may be behind the times. She certainly doesn't believe in the Bonesmart method but I suspect it goes against her training. I am very insistent on not doing anything that makes me uncomfortable. So, please weigh in on a stuck kneecap.

 

[benne68]

@Tentcamper Yikes! My PT never touched my kneecap and it has healed perfectly -- it is not "stuck."

At 3 weeks out, you are still in the very early stage of healing! Please don't let her do anything than makes you uncomfortable. It's YOUR knee and only YOU know how it feels.

By the way, as long as you have swelling, your flexion is going to be restricted. Don't worry about it. As the swelling goes down, your range of motion will improve.

 

[EalingGran]

she is manipulating my kneecap. It hurts and when I told her not to do that, she said if she doesn't my kneecap will get stuck where it is.

I am sure this is not true. I only had a couple of sessions of physio/ PT post op and otherwise have just had private pilates lessons. No one has touched my kneecap apart from me giving the knee some gentle massage after a few weeks.
The only manipulation my pilates teacher has done is some massage along the IT band with a spiky ball to prevent IT band issues. You definitely don't need anyone manipulating the kneecap. Mine moves perfectly.

 

[Tentcamper]

@EalingGran and @benne68 thank you for the input. I think this PT has no idea what she is talking about and that applies to other comments she has made. I'm switching to a different tech who I liked before. If my ROM was closer to 90 I wouldn't do PT at all!

 

[JusticeRider]

with PT I've gone from a ROM of 18 to 40 in two weeks.

PT may be helping your ROM increase, or your knee may simply be healing and moving better as you get further from your surgery and have less swelling than you did right after your ‘controlled trauma’. Hard to say! Either way, it’s good you’re listening to your body and advocating for yourself. Also, I didn’t have my knee cap manipulated either. That sounds very unpleasant!

 

[sistersinhim]

I'm three weeks out and she is manipulating my kneecap. It hurts and when I told her not to do that, she said if she doesn't my kneecap will get stuck where it is. Is that so?

This is certainly not true. Your PT is way behind the times in her/his joint replacement rehab training. Hands-off and easy movements are the best way to recover from your surgery. Those of us that never exercised or took PT recovered just as well as those that did. It is mainly a time thing, not an exercise thing!

 

[Tentcamper]

I called my PT and changed all my appointments to my favorite one. I didn't get any push back and was encouraged to let them know if there were further problems. I'm not going back for 1.5 weeks to let the swelling settle down. Back to ice and rest. I have acupuncture tomorrow and will document how that goes. What a journey this is.

 

[benne68]

I'm not going back for 1.5 weeks to let the swelling settle down. Back to ice and rest.

Wise decision. I wouldn't surprised if you see improvement in your bend just by letting it rest and icing to get the swelling down.

 

[Tentcamper]

So you ask, how did acupuncture go? The guy first thought I might have a knee infection because the swelling is warm. I looked it up on the site and see that it is normal. He did the acupuncture anyway which included electro stimulation using cups and then needles. I don't see a lot of difference but the swelling on the left side of my knee has gone from feeling like a hard bulge to feeling like a soft bulge. Yes! Progress! He wants to see me twice a week but I'll wait until my one month checkup next week to make more appointments.

I have to report that the exercises the PT did with me have set me back two weeks in terms of ROM. Grr. My new PT and I will have a serious discussion on what I will and will not allow her to do to my knee.

 

[LD of Michigan]

I'm three weeks out and she is manipulating my kneecap. It hurts and when I told her not to do that, she said if she doesn't my kneecap will get stuck where it is. Is that so?

This is certainly not true. Your PT is way behind the times in her/his joint replacement rehab training. Hands-off and easy movements are the best way to recover from your surgery. Those of us that never exercised or took PT recovered just as well as those that did. It is mainly a time thing, not an exercise thing!

Absolutely. Hands-off-my-kneecap would be my response to that 'stuck' kneecap talk. For both of my TKR's I had a few things I would not allow. Thankfully my PTs were adaptable to my specific case.

I was the 'queen' of over-doing it too sometimes. PT is fine but you can't rush healing. And KNOW you can say no if PT specifics are not working for you.

 

[Tentcamper]

I'm looking into getting a peddler. How important is resistance? If the thing peddles at a resistance of three gears on a 10 speed bike, is that enough?

 

[benne68]

At this point -- not even a month out -- you should only pedal with NO resistance at all. The initial goal is to promote flexion and "spinning" is all you need to achieve that. Adding resistance too soon can cause inflammation, which will reduce your flexion.

So, if you decide to purchase a peddler, be sure you choose one that has a setting without any resistance. Start that way. Once your flexion increases so that you can pedal easily, try increasing the resistance one step. If you have pain on pedaling or experience pain the next day, go back to no resistance for a bit longer.

It's really all about trial and error since we are each different. Just don't rush into adding weight/resistance. You don't want to set your self back!