TKR looking for help

[referee54]

That's because pt is an evil torture chamber and the gym is a stress reliever ;-)

I was one of the very lucky ones---my PT did not ever push me or hurt me; he also, at times, had to reign me back, too. He really was very close to the Bonesmart Mantra in all aspects. I really looked forward to the PT sessions----but I admit again, that I am one of the very lucky folks to have benefited from this type of PT.

It is interesting to note that, where I went to PT, I noticed that there were two sets of PT's---ones who worked with joint replacement patients and those who worked with the more "athletic injury" patients. The two groups of PT's never crossed over to the other patients.

@sirj---

I wish my gym had that mountain bike you spoke of.

It is great---I do not have to watch the numbers either go up or down on a bike or an elliptical---I can actually focus on riding, downshifting or upshifting, and keeping my RPM's up.

I also think that I am going to go join the spinning sessions!

 

[kneeper]

I had some kind of cloth compression sleeve--tubigrip? that was supposed to keep down the swelling while I was recovering. I think it probably did help. But now sleeves or anything now.

We're here for you. Don't worry about posting when you "know the answer"--we all need reassurance sometimes.

 

[sirj]

Ok had my last home PT visit and saw the doctor who said I'm doing good as far as healing and he scheduled me up for in office " therapy". My ROM went from 70○, 90○-95○ by week 4 and then back to 90○ now at week 6 and my extention wasn't that great.. So now im scheduled for in office therapy in which I assume will be more aggressive cause I was told ROM needs to go to120○. Yes I'm nervous but determined. I start on Monday I really want to do well as I'm looking for some sort of normalcy back to my life.. Any tips my friends

 

[Clipless]

Need to get 120° by when?? I haven't been to my six week ortho exam yet, not sure what to expect. Here on Bonesmart I see some achieve 120° early in recovery, but for others it can take months (with or without MUA) and still be considered a normal progression. I also wonder what type of therapy is considered "aggressive"? If I overdo my exercises or other activities I pay for it later with increased swelling and temporarily reduced flexion. I, too want/need great ROM- looks like I won't get there quickly.

 

[sirj]

Need to get 120° by when?? I haven't been to my six week ortho exam yet, not sure what to expect. Here on Bonesmart I see some achieve 120° early in recovery, but for others it can take months (with or without MUA) and still be considered a normal progression. I also wonder what type of therapy is considered "aggressive"? If I overdo my exercises or other activities I pay for it later with increased swelling and temporarily reduced flexion. I, too want/need great ROM- looks like I won't get there quickly.

My doctor said I need the 120○ within the next 2-3 months. I assume aggressive meant more in depth bending and stretching along with electrical stimulation and massage.

 

[jenng2003]

Remember that more activity increases swelling, which decreases flexion. I too lost some extension this past week. It can be pushed down to be achieved but they wanted me to extend it on my own. Cold weather and changes in barometric pressure messes with my flexion and extension.



LTKR. October 27th 2014

Sent from my iPhone using BoneSmart Forum

 

[Celle]

So now I'm scheduled for in office therapy in which I assume will be more aggressive cause I was told ROM needs to go to120○

Aggressive therapy is almost always counter-productive. It irritates your healing tissues and can slow down your recovery. Don't allow them to work you too hard and, most importantly, don't let them hurt you.

You're at 90 degrees now and there truly is no rush. ROM will continue to improve over time, as long as you (or they!) don't do anything to impede it.

This is how one member's ROM progressed, slowly but surely:
92 - 8 weeks post op
105 - 10 weeks
107 - 5 months
110 - 6 months
112 - 7 months
116 - 9 months
119 - 11 months
118 - 1 yr
120 - 1yr 2 months
125 - 1 yr 8 months

It took her a while but she got there, and so will you,

 

[referee54]

start on Monday I really want to do well as I'm looking for some sort of normalcy back to my life..

We were all looking for normalcy in our lives, and that is one reason that we had a TKR or a BTKR---an I would say that almost all of us did not know how long it would take---recovery that is---to regain the normalcy. How about a half a year? How about eight months? Some take longer.

So now im scheduled for in office therapy in which I assume will be more aggressive cause I was told ROM needs to go to120○.

By when? Recovery is not something that you can speed it up---it happens on its own---there are some things we can do to help it along, but most of the aggressive therapy causes a great deal of frustration, as it slows down the recovery and makes it more painful.

Yes I'm nervous but determined.

You can be as determined as you want, but that is not going to help the recovery. Your surgical knee determines how fast or how slowly your recovery will be, and it determines when you gain ROM.

Trust me on this---the more you push, the more aggressive you become, the slower your recovery will be.

Again, my recovery took six months to reach 80%-85% and eight months to reach 90%-95%.

Something else to consider---again, normalcy is something that we all craved, as do you---but when you consider how long it took for you knee to get like this---where it needed tremendously traumatic surgery---well, that did not happen over night, did it?

And when you consider that it may take months to achieve normalcy. that is actually a pretty short period of time.

 

[kneeper]

Generally once you hit 90 you're in good shape for getting more. Just keep on doing what you've been doing combining exercises with lots of ice and elevation and it will come as the inflammation continues to recede. Remember as others have said, you're knee is pretty new. Challenge yourself a bit, but really try to listen to the knee. For me it seemed a little pain while doing the bends but not so much that I continued to hurt afterwards was ok.

 

[referee54]

@sirj Looking forward to hearing how you are doing!

I need an status report, please

 

[referee54]

I was thinking of some things that may help you out with this recovery gig.
I had some surgery earlier---I was ACL deficient---and the OS decided that, since I was getting along fine without an ACL, that he would just scope the knee and clean it out---and not perform the ACL reconstruction.

I did, however, have the ACL recovery protocol during rehab.

Wow---I was off the charts--setting goals and over-achieving them. I was ahead of schedule and got back out on the baseball diamond sooner than anyone thought I would.

I thought it would be very much the same after my BTKR.

I was stiff. I was sore. I was frustrated. My progress was moving---maybe moving---at a snail's pace (and some times the snail would go in reverse.)

I kept asking my PT's when this all would end. When would I get to "normal"?

They would smile, tell me things were fine, and say that I would get there. They did not say when, but they did say that I would get there.

I would ask at least once a week---and their answer was pretty much the same.

One time, I had a touch of the flu, and called and said that I would miss a PT session. Norm, my PT, said, "That's fine, you need to take some time off, and it will be good to let the knees rest, too! (I never had thought of that, or expected to hear that, either!)

It is important to note that my PT, nor any of his associates, told me to speed things up. They understood something that I did not---that my recovery would take place on my knees schedule, not on mine.

As my knees began to return to that ever-elusive "normal", things became much clearer to me---that the PT's were correct---it was all about keeping the knees happy and understanding that there is nothing we can do to hasten recovery.

I got there---it was worth it---and I know that you will get there, too.

Remember the saying, "You cannot rush perfection"? it applies to a TKR recovery, too.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

My doctor said I need the 120○ within the next 2-3 months.

You don't need anything.

Sirj, you are as I write this less than two months post-op.

You: this has been going on forever, it's never going to end, there's no improvement, the doctors are all over me, I hate this.

Me: you've only just started, your swelling and pain will continue to decrease unless you overdo things, you only need pretty gentle stretching exercises to restore mobility, at 90 degrees you're pretty much on target, you'll not know yourself in three months time.

 

[MotownGirl66]

Can anybody explain the reason why we have "night pains". Everynight, like clockwork, my leg pains me around 1-2am and it keeps me up for the entire night also recently I've been have a bad pain in my calf area, I'm I the only one to suffer from this?

I'm right there w/ you re: the 1a-2:30a night pain. I think it's the meds we took at nighttime wearing off.

 

[sirj]

I was thinking of some things that may help you out with this recovery gig.
I had some surgery earlier---I was ACL deficient---and the OS decided that, since I was getting along fine without an ACL, that he would just scope the knee and clean it out---and not perform the ACL reconstruction.

I did, however, have the ACL recovery protocol during rehab.

Wow---I was off the charts--setting goals and over-achieving them. I was ahead of schedule and got back out on the baseball diamond sooner than anyone thought I would.

I thought it would be very much the same after my BTKR.

I was stiff. I was sore. I was frustrated. My progress was moving---maybe moving---at a snail's pace (and some times the snail would go in reverse.)

I kept asking my PT's when this all would end. When would I get to "normal"?

They would smile, tell me things were fine, and say that I would get there. They did not say when, but they did say that I would get there.

I would ask at least once a week---and their answer was pretty much the same.

One time, I had a touch of the flu, and called and said that I would miss a PT session. Norm, my PT, said, "That's fine, you need to take some time off, and it will be good to let the knees rest, too! (I never had thought of that, or expected to hear that, either!)

It is important to note that my PT, nor any of his associates, told me to speed things up. They understood something that I did not---that my recovery would take place on my knees schedule, not on mine.

As my knees began to return to that ever-elusive "normal", things became much clearer to me---that the PT's were correct---it was all about keeping the knees happy and understanding that there is nothing we can do to hasten recovery.

I got there---it was worth it---and I know that you will get there, too.

Remember the saying, "You cannot rush perfection"? it applies to a TKR recovery, too.

Good morning, Good afternoon or good evening depending on when your reading this...lol.. what's funny is how I read your post as I was sitting in my car right before my first " aggressive" physical therapy session. I remembered all the useful and wonderful information you have past on to me. I took my meds at least an hour before the therapy and reminded my self that this healing process was not a race but a marathon and that there was no such thing as No Pain No Gain... My session went pretty well it started with the electrical stimulation massage with some mild stretching afterwards. Then some light leg lifts with ankle weights followed by "trying" to do a complete cycle on the stationary bike. I did at least 1 cycle before I started to feel it, the rest of the time I just tried to stretch the muscles. Afterwards I felt great.....well this morning around 2am the knee let me know it was not that happy...lol.. yes alot of pain but nothing a can't handle. So no therapy today I'll go tomorrow today is just for iceing and elevating. Thank you again for reaching out. I must admit it does take some time getting use to a whole new regine. Be doing alot of research on the do and don'ts after knee replacement. My days of kickboxing are pretty much over but I can still practice Tai Chi. My hopes of running a marathon are over (mind you I've been "wanting" to do that for the past 10 years...lol. each year was ok the next year I'll do it..never happened) but it ok I'll do a "walkathon"...and as far a weight training just take it light on the lower body exercises.. I do have a guestion. So you have an links to other sports a person after knee replacement can do?

 

[sirj]

I'm right there w/ you re: the 1a-2:30a night pain. I think it's the meds we took at nighttime wearing off.

Yes this sooooo much sucks..

 

[sirj]

You don't need anything.

Sirj, you are as I write this less than two months post-op.

You: this has been going on forever, it's never going to end, there's no improvement, the doctors are all over me, I hate this.

Me: you've only just started, your swelling and pain will continue to decrease unless you overdo things, you only need pretty gentle stretching exercises to restore mobility, at 90 degrees you're pretty much on target, you'll not know yourself in three months time.

I keep reading that there's no time table when it comes to ROM. So where are these doctors getting this idea or information from?

 

[referee54]

So where are these doctors getting this idea or information from?

That is a very good question!!! I have no clue---I do know that my own OS who did my BTKR did not put any time-limits or schedules on my recovery, and none of my PT's ever pushed me to meet deadlines, either. I have heard others, though who were under the same pressure as you do get things done.

must admit it does take some time getting use to a whole new regine. Be doing alot of research on the do and don'ts after knee replacement. My days of kickboxing are pretty much over but I can still practice Tai Chi. My hopes of running a marathon are over (mind you I've been "wanting" to do that for the past 10 years...lol.

yep, when I had my BTKR, I pretty much kissed reffing basketball---and college basketball---goodbye. Running as a form of exercise and aerobic conditioning was gone, too.

It took some getting used to---I am not one prone to enjoying change, either. However, now that I cycle and see the benefits of it, as well as finding time to do other things rather than blowing a whistle and being yelled at---things are great.

It will take getting used to---change for many of us is an issue, and we are certainly creatures of habit and of regimen. But change does bring a new perspective on things, and that is good.

 

[Celle]

I do have a guestion. So you have an links to other sports a person after knee replacement can do?

@Roy Gardiner is into cycling and does a lot of mileage, I believe.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

Not as much as I'd like, but it's not a limit imposed by my knees. Cycling's a good sport for TKR people.

 

[Roy Gardiner]

So where are these doctors getting this idea or information from?

That's a very* good question. I don't know, but it stands both to reason and to experience that pushing things is incorrect.



*other words could do here.