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TKR Mitzi here....one month past LKR

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@Mitzi just to say I am nearly at week 6 after a partial. I have done almost no PT since I left hospital. I have rested, iced, elevated and then done simple stretches heel slides, quads stretches and leg lifts, I've walked a bit and rested, iced and elevated again. I have a good bend - at least 115 and can get my leg absolutely straight.i take almost no painkillers and gave up anything stronger than Tylenol at week 3. I've seen a PT once just to check I was on course. Now I'm walking about an hour per day and starting to do light work around the house . the Bonesmart mantra has worked for me. In the UK, we do very little formal PT and it seems to work. I have my next Pt appointment on Friday and hope to be back in the gym taking it slowly by the end of January.

Good luck with your recovery however you approach it. But don't let anyone hurt you.
 
@Lovestoread I don't want act like a doc to them for not doing what they say. Lacking knowledge of what is a good amount of exercise to continue the knee to move as before surgery. Which exercises also. Where does one find someone who does right with patient and what is good for the knee. Also the surgeon's recommendation. What is your experience? Fibromyalgia doesn't help either.

Wait to hear:)
 
@SuperSnapper .....thanks for reply. What a story. 115 blows me out of water. I don't know yr age and partial is like my daughter-in-law had. She did great! I so want your story!:). A lot of good you gave me.
 
Today is 6 wks. My scar looks great! I see surgeon Fri. I am doing a lot of thinking about PT & pain. I am courious if it is a regiment of how it all should go for them. I rested, iced, pain pills which is something I have a long time for Fibro flare-ups thru my arthritis doc. Normally once in a great while but last year I had back surgery & needed pain med very much & that doc would give none. He truly turned out to be awful! Later I heard he was fired. His secretary was the same. I had L3 & L4 done. Had an epidermal shot a few months before LKR. My med is Vicodin. Also muscle Robaxin for Fibro hits the muscles & that helps a lot when needed. I am grateful for all who replied and encouraged my thinking to look closely at the different things I deal with. I canceled my PT for tomorrow to rest my cold & leg too. Be good to me. In all this I get I can say when pain is enough to a PT. Yet what are the exercises to do the upcoming months & another PT maybe. Doing a lot of praying praying about all this. Want my leg to be healed back to where it was & now it may be months down the road. Are all PT systems in helping someone like me the same pain/ gain way? Need guidance. Read many good stories on this site looking for someone(s) like me. Just bits here & there. Still I will continue.

Blessings to all of you....you are the shot in the arm/ medicine I need.
Perserverance68
 
Hi @Mitzi thanks for sharing your experiences. Please listen to what they tell you on this site - it is so sensible. I have learned that we all heal & recover at different rates, there is no "one size fits all". The things that are consistent are that if it hurts, stop, rest elevate and ice - this seem to be the most often types phrase on this site but hey it must work cause they all do it and have all moved forward.

The thing I like about this site is that it has united people from all over the world sharing experiences and knowledge, offering advice and support -just love it. As you said its like one big family. I'm in Sydney Australia and go in for a bilateral knee replacement on 28 January.... can't wait!!

Stay strong and do what you can without hurting yourself - pain is not good. Take care - Maggie X
 
My experience at 3.5 weeks is that if I don't do excersizes between pt visits I get stiff and can't progress to the next ROM degree. I know the philosophy here is different, but I feel that if I don't put myself in at least a fair amount of discomfort and pain I don't move forward. I don't seem to have as much swelling as most on here and it doesn't gets worse when I have PT, it gets better. Everyone is different.
 
Today I wondered what exercises any of you do or did given for at home? I wonder also what is the difference between discomfort & pain. It would my understanding much. Thank you!

Wait to hear!
Perserverance68
 
Mitzi said:
Today I wondered what exercises any of you do or did given for at home? I wonder also what is the difference between discomfort & pain. It would my understanding much. Thank you!
Click to expand...

I think the difference between discomfort and pain for me is that discomfort is something that I can live with. It's often like a continuous ache.
Pain is when I think "I have to do something about this, right now". If the PT moves you from discomfort to pain and you feel like crying, screaming, or hitting something, then it is too much and you must tell them to stop.
If you tell them to stop, they must stop. You're not acting like a doctor or defying orders. You are just speaking out, to take care of your own body.

I did incredibly little PT and I have made an excellent recovery. At home, just walking around the house and doing this exercise is all you need: Heel slides and how to do them
 
Hello Everyone! Well after talking to my surgeon's nurse about what My pain was this morning she called & said the doctor wants the PT to cut back. I felt great. I go to PT tomorrow. I took meds for pain today so it is till things calm down.

I appreciate everyone's feed back.
Perserverance68
 
Hi again, does anyone in this group suffer with Fibromyalgia? I am with Winter cold feeling it in various places and Arthur also. Wait to hear.

I have another new decision....not going to PT the rest of this week. Pain needs to settle down & as I said earlier I see surgeon Fri. Ice on now. Tried some simple exercises some told me of & was on Bone Health. Pain meds in me too. Thanks again for support. I found a treasure when I got to this site.

Perserverance68
 
@Mitzi, I don't suffer from Fibromyalgia, but there are others here who do and I'm sure they'll chime in. I do know that cold weather tends to "stiffen" me up, though. It's below zero today and the school where I work was cancelled, so I'm hunkered down at home.

I think you made a good decision to stop PT for the week. I believe you will find it makes a huge difference. Continue to do gentle stretches and heel slides and ice and elevate. Keep on top of those meds, too! This place is wonderful for all those going through the challenges of TKR. I think you will find lots of great advice and people who genuinely "get" what you're going through. Hang in there my friend!
 
Hi Mitzi! I learned a lot ftom PT, but invariably I'd walk in without a limp, then come out limping... because she worked me too hard!!! Apparently I have a high/weird pain threshold: maneuvers that didn't seem to hurt were nonetheless too much. Finally I started putting my foot down. Now I'm done with PT and improving on my own.
 
@Clipless ....thanks, just love the analogy of what I look like or feel. Everything hurts at the moment. I don't want to move. Took another pain pill.

What did you do to help yourself heal besides drop PT? My pain is always higher then others around me in this kind of setting. There is no believing and I start to feel like ...what's wrong with me? I have grown over years in Fibro and know others do not get it. Even authority figures.

Grateful for your message and wait to hear your answer.
Perserverance68
 
Hi, Today it's pain, some exercises, do some stuff and just feel wondering will I have a normal walking knee:(

Mitzi (the dumps)
 
HI @Mitzi i am so pleased you stood up for yourself and got the PT to back off - well done. Still try to do some gentle movements until you go to PT again an in the mean time MICER...Meds, Ice, Compression (if you are doing this), Elevate and Rest.. take care Maggie x
 
Hi Mitzi, I stopped PT after January 1st because my deductible reset and I now I can't afford the co-pay. Also, I'm further along now and able to take short walks, ride my exercise bike and (barely) a real bike. I do incorporate certain things I learned in PT to my everyday routine, but not others. FOR EXAMPLE, the therapist and I had a regular battle about the seat height of the exercise bike. She'd drop it low (where it would cause me pain bending), and I wanted it high. I'd do it her way and pay later with soreness and swelling. One day she dropped the seat real low, and I refused to get on unil she let me adjust it to my comfort. I won!

I've searched youtube videos (the ones that seem legit) for TKR stretches, and Bonesmart is a marvelous resource as always. I'm not averse to hard work, but if a particular exercise doesn't work for me, I'll find a different way. Here's another example: I can't lay on my stomach with my legs hanging off the edge of the bed. Lots of folks love this for extension, but it hurts my lower back. So instead I sit on my comfy couch with my leg extended and my heel resting on a towel roll atop a stool that's slightly higher than the couch. Then I *gently* apply a padded 5 lb. leg weight to my knee area and relax as tolerated (15-30 seconds but I go longer now). I've recently added a next part-I lasso the foot with a strap and pull back *gentle and steady* to stretch the calf and hamstring muscles. PLEASE do not attempt this without first clearing it with your PT, but I credit this specific stretch with getting my extension to zero!

I'd say more but my teenager is sick, needs his mom. :)
 
I'm back. I've found that I prefer doing my "heel slides" in a high-ish swivel desk chair- I sit on a pillow, and high enough that my feet dangle free. Then I work my foot back gently using the toes of my other foot instead of sliding my surgery foot on the ground. Recently I've started using the strap -strap around ankle, and pulling behind chair- to *gently* pull my lower leg back further, then hold for a count of ten. I repeat x3 several times a day. I also stand and bend my knee on a low step in my bathroom- there's a sturdy rail to hold for support. I just bend it back & forth x5 or so, not too hard, several times a day.

The last bendy stretch: I stand holding my dresser, with a towel roll between my legs just above my knees. Then I stand on my good leg and just bend my TKR knee back. Just hold for a few seconds and repeat.

PT and I also had a debate about quad weakness. It still hurts me to do straight leg raises and I don't know why. So I do bent leg raises and this: I lay back with my knees bent and a squishy ball (like a 4-square ball, but softer) between my legs above the knees. Then I squeeze that ball and slowly lift my lower leg. It really works the inner quad (the VMO). I also do this while sitting on the couch or edge of bed- just squeeze the ball while lifting lower leg. I love my squishy ball.

Please, please check with PT before attempting any of the above. Rest, elevate, medicate, ice back & front. Toes above nose!
 
@Clipless ....thanks again. Sounds like God pulled the plug on PT for you:)

Thanks for a l l the exercises. Going gently while keeping at doing something is outline I hear among everyone's suggestions. It is healthy sounding. I will read over these again. Pray your teenager gets well soon!

Perseverance68
 
Hi @Mitzi yes, keep going gently with the exercises even if your fibro makes you feel lousy. I have fibro too and so do several others on the forum. As you've noticed, you will probably be a bit more achy and fatigued generally than others, but just about everyone with a tkr will have pain. And the "energy drain" goes on for many weeks for everyone. https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/energy-drain-for-tkrs.11953/
So it's kind of a matter of balance. Move the knee frequently, continue to ice and elevate and nap when your body says to.

btw--could you please add your surgery date to your signature? It helps a lot to know where you are in recovery as time goes on when Josephine and others advise. https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/how-to-create-a-signature.14728/
 
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