I'm so sorry, bland. I didn't mean to add to your woes. And I hope the tablets are beginning to work so you're not feeling so down.
I don't call 4 low. That's moderate at best.
2- solpadol 30mg - 60mg 4 times daily
Solpadol is just codeine and paracetamol which I've never found to be particularly helpful for knees. And you are not even 4 weeks out yet, what we call in the trade, slap bang in the middle of the 'angry tissue' phase. I see your leg is 'hugely' swollen too which means your pain score must be a lot higher than 4. I would suggest you speak with your GP and ask if you can have something a bit more effective such as Tramadol. Unmanaged pain can also contribute to depression as well.
4- not been told yet by PT but can bend to 45 degree and leg is fairly straight has been told by PT
Well, I'm not surprised with that much swelling.
For a start you accomplish little or nothing in 30 minutes. Ice for at least 40-60mins and more than 4 times a day.
6-yes elevating leg very often most of day I would say , this is just laying on bed , lifting legs on pillows is just too painful
In order to be properly elevating, that means you need to have your leg UP! Toes above nose is a good one to aim for but don't worry about keeping your leg straight as that hurts but neither should you keep it overly bent. Here's some pictures to show you the good and the bad in elevating!
7- doing housework but not a lot just an hour a day this is done with plenty of sitting then again a bit more housework so plenty of rest
You shouldn't BE doing housework just yet! Did you read the recovery articles Roy left you in post #3 of this thread? One of them was this
Activity progression for TKRs which you should read carefully and apply.
My comments in
bold- you haven't said how many times a day you are doing these so I am assuming you only do them once a day. That's okay but give yourself Sat and Sun off!
heel slides - 10 reps -
this is an exercise that is very easy to do badly and this is badly. Read this (which was also in the group Roy left you) Heel slides and how to do them properly.
leg stretching -
10 reps -
stretches are okay but just do 2 or 3 every couple of hours, but never cause yourself pain nor even discomfort!
leg stretching combined with lifting leg and hold for count of 5 - 5 reps -
comment same as before
knee bending while sitting - 10 reps-
you're already doing a bending exercise with the heel slides. You don't need a second one so drop it
rotations on static cycle 5 reps -
I very much doubt you are able to do these at 4 weeks with a hugely swollen leg so I suggest you stop doing them until the swelling is greatly reduced.
In summary, you are doing far too much, to much exercising and too much housework. Plus your pain killers need some adjustment as you are woefully under-medicated. And then you are not elevating and icing to best effect. All in all, you're in a bad way and this is why your ROM (bend) is so low. You must, must drop the activity, elevate and ice more and speak to your GP about a better pain med.
To be honest, I never did any exercises for either of my knees and ended up with great outcomes! So did quite a few others here. I recommend you read my recovery thread to see how little exercising I did for either knee!
Knee recoveries UK style Parts I & II (Josephine)
You see, it's not the exercising that gets you your ROM, it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle and time to heal.
One thing that seems to be missing from all the physio's protocols is that all your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen so it can show itself. In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Exercise as in strength training is counter-productive and in the early weeks does more harm than good. Normal activity is the key to success.
And please go back and read all your recovery articles.
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