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TKR My new knee journey

Majella said:
I just sit on the bike and roll the pedal back and forth for the last 2 weeks and not seeing any progress, my PT thinks I'm not trying hard enuff but it hurts like crazy when i push it!
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Don't push it! Nice and gentle rocking backwards and forwards, without pain, many times a day for just a few seconds each time.
 
Majella said:
I'm a little over 7 weeks TKA and still can't peddle on a stationary bike even with the seat raised up as high as I can reach. :sad: I just sit on the bike and roll the pedal back and forth for the last 2 weeks and not seeing any progress, my PT thinks I'm not trying hard enuff but it hurts like crazy when i push it! :boohoo:same with using the EZ mend slider...same pain!
My bend is only at 90-95 at best and I posted here awhile back that my Dr. has suggested manipulation if I could not improve to 110-120 in 3 weeks!
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I know it's worrying, but try not to listen to your therapist's prophesies of doom. Your knee knows how to recover, if only it gets the chance, and the best way to help it is to treat it gently. Listen to your knee. When it hurts, it's telling you that you are doing too much. Be kind to yourself and kind to your knee.

You've heard it from all the others, but I'm going to say it again:
  • PT should not hurt. If it hurts, it's doing harm, not good. Stop doing everything that hurts. Discomfort is OK; pain is not OK.
  • Don't force anything. "No pain, no gain" is a fallacy: Myth busting: no pain, no gain
  • Being able to do a full revolution on the bike will come when your knee is ready - and it won't happen if you overwork or force it.
  • Your knee needs less exercise and more rest, ice and elevation, to decrease the internal and external swelling. It's only the swelling that is preventing your bend.
  • A MUA at this stage will only increase the trauma to your knee.
  • You don't have to do lots of exercise, to rehabilitate your knee: TKR: work “smarter” and not “harder”
 
I'm still struggling with stiffness (can't get my knee to bend past 95 degrees) and having so much throbbing pain at night it wakes me up :thud: I'm perplexed that I'm not progressing with the bend, only made 5 degrees in the last 3 weeks :what: and that I'm so uncomfortable at night.
Also... still limping when I walk...is all this normal ???
 
Yes, it's all normal.
8 weeks is not recovered. It's only a very small way on the recovery journey, which takes a full year.
Did you read the other advice you have been given? You are expecting too much of your knee, too soon.
 
My first thoughts are this Majella. Are you on schedule with your medication? Are you elevating your knee a good part of the day? Are you keeping cold ice packs on your knee throughout the day? Are you resting?

If any one of those bonesmart.org recommendations are not happening- there's your answer. I speak with great experience. When I fail to do those 4 things on any given day, I'm guaranteed severe pain.

Be patient with your recovery. I believe one day we will walk freely and not even think of our knee replacement if we relax and recover properly today.

I get allot of encouragement to do these things by posting as well as reading posts here throughout the day.

Hope things improve for you! :ice:
 
thank-you Suzie for your encouragement, these days I feel like a shrinking violet, normally I'm a strong person but this surgery has really worn me down. Rehab has been difficult and s-l-o-w but I know someday things will get better..I hope! They great people here at Bonesmart have helped me refocus on my recovery :console2:
 
Did you go into this TKR, thinking it would be a quick recovery, @Majella ? :console2:
That's a misapprehension that plagues many people.
I don't know why surgeons don't warn you that you won't just bounce back quickly, because expecting to recover fast causes so much disappointment and anxiety. A TKR is really major surgery and it does take a long time to recover.
 
You will get to where you want to be but it's going to take time. I'm two days ahead of you and if I do too much I will feel it at night and a day or two.
 
I am so glad to hear you have refocused your energy on your recovery Majella. I too have resolved myself to doing whatever it takes to give my knee and it's recovery all I've got. Yeah, I'm having to take more time off from work than I had planned, I've had to rearrange my budget cutting back on all but necessary expenses and I won't be taking my beloved trip to the coast this summer. BUT putting these things aside and focusing on my knee recovery will pay off, of that I'm certain!

The advice given here on this forum will get us there. Giving us a better knee than what we went into our surgeries with.

Less activity is more- that's my motto for now. I look forward to hearing from you here as you feel like posting. We CAN do this-!!

[Bonesmart.org] My new knee journey
 
Hi @Majella
I could have written your original post, I'm having the same issues (bar the limping), but I am a month behind you so it's early days. The stiffness in my knee seems to be worse and I am resting, elevating and icing a lot. I am normally a very patient person but I know exactly what you mean when you say this is wearing you down. Me too. I know we will get there in the end, it just might be a bumpy ride, so hold on tight.
Love Tabby xxx
 
@Majella I merged your threads as per this request One thread for your recovery please?

It is so much easier to be able to help you and give you the advice you need when we are able to easily see when your surgery was, what other issues you may have had, and what has been going on in your recovery just by looking at one thread instead of bouncing back and forth between two or more other threads.

We also have help articles here, you know! In here How To Use This Forum (it's in the "Help & Info" tab across the top of the page). The article you want is this one How can I find my threads and posts?
 
Majella said:
Rehab has been difficult and s-l-o-w
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If it's difficult then you are doing too much. Have you read the advice given you in previous posts? I mean really read them? I suggest you go back and read it all again! Another thing that convinces me you are doing too much is that you think your recovery is slow. You're not even 8 weeks out yet. The average recovery can take as much as 12 weeks but it will be longer if you overdo the exercising and try to do all your household chores as usual (just a guess!), then it will be longer!
 
Hello all:
Today was my 9 week R TKA post-op visit with my OS. My bend was 102 ( I'v been struck at 102 for 3 weeks) knee straight was at 0!
OS thinks I would benefit from manipulation under anesthesia, however he said it was "my call"..so, I'm asking for some advice and or if anyone here has had this procedure and how it went?
OS explained how it was done and what to expect, but like most surgeons they don't go into a lot of detail. Of course I'm scared:unsure: (mostly of the pain afterwards and more painful PT) but maybe it will help in the long run :chinstroke:
 
Absolutely not! You are doing just fine. ROM increases up to a year with just normal daily living.
 
It is very unusual to have a MUA if you rom is more than 90 degrees. I would ask your OS to wait for another month and then see---I suspect you will be just fine without it. It seems overly aggressive to me.
 
I would not go for it at this time. My surgery was two days before yours. If your knee is swollen at all then taking a break and resting it may help gain more ROM.
 
@Majella, I merged your threads as per this request One thread for your recovery please?

It is so much easier to be able to help you and give you the advice you need when we are able to easily see when your surgery was, what other issues you may have had, and what has been going on in your recovery just by looking at one thread instead of bouncing back and forth between two or more other threads.

We also have help articles here, you know! In here How To Use This Forum (it's in the "Help & Info" tab across the top of the page).
The article you want is this one How can I find my threads and posts?
 
skigirl said:
It is very unusual to have a MUA if you rom is more than 90 degrees. I would ask your OS to wait for another month and then see---I suspect you will be just fine without it. It seems overly aggressive to me.
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My OS told me he would not do the MUA past 12 week mark. He said it gets too difficult to bend out the adhesion's. I'm at week 9, so I have 3 weeks to deride :what:
 
@Majella
Your ROM is OK. Both you and your surgeon are being impatient. You don't have adhesions and a manipulation won't help.

It isn't exercise that brings back your ROM. It's time, healing and reduction of swelling. Left to itself, with no exercise apart from your normal daily activities, but with plenty of rest, ice and elevation to reduce swelling, your knee will gradually recover its ROM - without any effort or worry on your part.

There's no need to rush or try to meet artificial targets, because ROM can continue to improve for a year, or even longer after a TKR.
 
I'm now at 10 weeks post-op Rt. TKA and my OS was not happy with my bend at 100-102, so I signed a consent in his office yesterday for a MUA to be done June 9th (which would be at my 12 week mark) I'm getting cold feet about the MUA procedure :shocked: scared of more pain afterwards and more intense PT!
I personally think I'm making slow but steady progress (frustrating at times) still can't do steps well and have to double step! just started making a full revolution on the ex bike but with pain.
Still taking pain meds (OXY) because PT still really hurts and having throbbing pain at night that wakes me up:bored:
Any ones thoughts would be so appreciated as I'm so confused right now:what:
 
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