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TKR liam2015: 1 Year Anniversary, Life Goes On!

Wondering how things went looking after your granddaughter and if you have had any additional acupuncture treatments yet?
 
awww thanks for thinking of me. still looking after granddaughter every day, until tomorrow afternoon when they go on vacation. i have not been to physio in 2 weeks nor have i been able to ice and elevate during the day, other than one day on the weekend and, of course, at bedtime through the night. the pain down the outer side of my knee/leg has subsided (i think) as of today or yesterday but the swelling remains the same and r.o.m. the same. other than that i'm sleeping great at night and fairly comfortable during the day. i do have my leg sort of elevated on a foam pillow from my thigh to my ankle on an ottoman watching t.v. or on laptop. no point in getting too comfortable having to get up every 5 minutes either with granddaughter, hubby or dog lol! can hardly wait until they go on vacation ~ i want to baby this knee and start back to physio next week, but just for the massage and treatments, including acupuncture. so far have not done exercises there, just at home but i stopped most of them except for stair lunges and step ups here and there just to keep the knee bending gently.:hi: p.s. i do get exercise walking around my backyard which is on a ravine, going up and down the wooded area on "poop patrol" lol.
 
I am exhausted just thinking about all of that up and down and round and round activity! Ok, now dizzy as well!:snork: I thought their vacation started already, but that is something to look forward to. Glad to hear that you are sleeping through the night, but I imagine chasing after everyone all day has something to do with that!:tiredwheel: Also great news that some pain has subsided! It really is the little things that make such a big difference!:flwrysmile:
 
Did you aggravate your leg doing that "One-legged Stand," business? I find I can only do a few of those and must hold on to the kitchen counter, otherwise, it sets me up for IT Band aggro.
 
yes @Pheebs52 that is how i ended up with that awful pain. i was getting quite good at balancing, not holding on to anything, 15 seconds each leg. no more of that until i gain some strength gradually. maybe it is the IT band everyone talks about. we haven't booked our vacation yet. we're hoping for a week or 2 in september at a place we rent on lake ontario (sandbanks beach). so nice and quiet...no motorized vehicles in the water in that area. it's a provincial park. lots of room for the dog to run also. @Fire wolf ~ i'm probably exaggerating just to get sympathy lol. :umm:
 
That's an easy thing to aggravate and a hard thing to banish @liam2015; ugh! Do you do any moves to stretch your hip flexors? They play a major role in developing IT Band problems and getting rid of them. The moves are quite simple and YouTube has many depictions that are much easier to follow than any instructions I could write.

Well, I don't have a grandchild to chase, but I do sometimes feel like a *Jack-in-the Box,* with two dogs who always seem to want something, lol. It's probably a good thing though, since prolonged sitting is still not a favorable thing to the knee. I think it really likes all the *pop-up* action; hah!
 
I feel as though I'm always echoing you guys, but here I go anyway! :shrug: I too had issues with the balancing on one leg exercise. My PT told me to stop it when I told her about some additional pain I had.

Re the IT Band: You could ask Melissa to do some massage on it, as she has branched out into several modalities to treat you better. My therapeutic masseuse can feel when the thing is acting up. He says it feels hard and brittle at those times. Be prepared for a bit of an "ouch." Loosening the IT band is NOT painless, whether you have a masseuse work on it or use a foam roller or rolling pin. I just tell myself that I will feel so much better when he's done--and I do!
 
@liam2015 Grandchildren are wonderful but oh so tiring at the best of times! It is double difficult with a TKR!
Mine stay for two or three hours and I need a nap!
I used to get acupuncture on a regular basis prior to my TKR to try and keep the pain bearable. I found it helpful in conjunction with the physio, massage and some drugs. I hope it works for you.
I am still battling a very unbendy knee and some days I find it depressing but mostly I thank goodness I can function without the bone on bone pain. Even when I am sore and achy from doing too much, it is still a far fetch from that grinding, biting pain prior to the TKR. ( now I only have that in my left knee)
I am ready to try deep tissue massage again and have an appointment Thursday. I had a long chat with the RTM and she is willing to work with my particular ouchies. I am anxious to see how I do. Will keep you posted.
Let me know if the acupuncture post TKR is worthwhile. It is my PT that does it so easy for me if we decide to try it.
 
Hello.......hello.....ello......ello......llo......llo....oooo
Yep, the echo is definite in this canyon!:loll:
I personally think that the more people that do echo something, the better. I know that I feel better when several people validate the same idea.:) :-) (:
 
thanks @Polkadot ~ it's good to know i'm not the only one to have issues with that balancing exercise. it's called "reverse jumping jacks", no jumping of course...stand on one leg, lift your opposite leg to the side and lift opposite arm to the side. i will ask melissa to concentrate on that area next time. thanks for the validation @Canada35 and @Fire wolf. so funny granddaughter has been curled up with me watching the disney channel and keeps touching my scar. i tell her to keep her bare feet away so she puts them on either side of my scar very close. she thinks it's so funny i react whenever she touches the scar with her fingers. and then the dog is jumping up on us wanting attention too. i will definitely let everyone know if any of the treatments (or a combination) works for me with the swelling. i feel like i'm stuck in my r.o.m. which at best is 95 degrees, not enough to rotate on bicycle or go down the stairs comfortably. luckily i'm not on any time schedule so will keep at it. i really appreciate all the tips, information and support.:thankyou:
 
lol...yes she never wears socks even in winter takes them off and uses our legs to warm them up. you are too funny and correct, they would make a good ice pack lol.:loll:
 
Who knew I was supposed to be standing on one leg for interminable amounts of time? My therapist has not been having me do that one :snork:. I can hardly stand on two legs for very long without swelling. I hope you will be able to catch up on some rest and recovery after your granddaughter leaves and the family heads out on vacay. You need to rest up so you can have your own relaxing trip. Maybe if you give yourself a more extended rest you'll see some improvement in your ROM.
 
thanks @kmak81230 ~ that's what i'm hoping for, to get the swelling down with appropriate icing and elevating at least a couple times during the day and hopefully my knee will bend more. i just looked up the exercise with the accurate description: "modified jumping-jack": Stand in good posture. Raise your left arm and right leg laterally. Repeat on the other side. Hold 15 sec., Rep. 5, Set/day 3. Melissa did say that the holds, reps and sets/day were up to me. i think i only did them once or twice a day for a few days. my other leg didn't hurt. i'm not sure if this was a strengthening exercise or straightening/extension. she told me to stop when i told her about the pain. obviously, not ready for some of these exercises.
 
I obviously am not an expert, so take this for what it's worth, but I believe that the exercises you described are in part for strength, but more for balance and to help with propreoception (spelling may be incorrect). I was doing several *balance*/single leg standing exercises, sometimes with eyes closed which makes them harder. PT said something to the effect that the muscles need to learn how to stabilize everything so that if, for ex, you are walking on an uneven surface or even in the dark at night, your muscles know how to react and adjust so that you don't fall down and go boom. Made sense to me. :)
 
I think you're right about it being for balance, @Fire wolf. Because this exercise has given several of us pain, I'm wondering if just walking, adding a bit more distance every so often, is going to take care of most balance issues for most people? I did a modified version of this when rehabbing a severe ankle sprain, and although it didn't hurt then, I never thought it really made much difference in my outcomes.
 
I *think* it's mostly for balance as @Fire wolf just detailed, butt....butt...it IS also a minor way to strengthen glutes. Many of us have weak glutes for a variety of reasons. Weak glutes create all sorts of problems with ambulation, backs and IT Bands. Weak glutes are bad news. Very bad. Sad. Pffft!
 
@Canada35, just what is your ROM at this point? I haven't been measured in about 2-3 weeks, but figure I must have flexion around 100 if I can pedal the bike forward. That said, I don't feel especially *bendy*, though did feel much more so for awhile after the cycling today. Extension has been basically 0 from the beginning, so I was very fortunate in that respect.
 
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