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That is an excellent stretch for all of us, Carol!
 
Need a little advice please.

Tomorrow is 16 weeks for me. I have had no PT since week 8 and my ROM is good. I haven't had it measured lately but at 12 weeks it was around 125. No worries there.

According to my Fitbit I walk around 4000 steps each day. Mine also records revolutions on my stationary bike which I ride about 10-15 minutes each day. Other than that I'm doing no other exercises.

I still have swelling and a lot of tightness, some days more than others. My swellingnia mainly right above my knee and into my lower thigh area. I definitely have that "tight band" feeling going on. I know that will be around for some time as I experienced it with my partial 6 years ago.

I still have have issues with my IT band and hamstrings as well that I try and stretch throughout the day. I elevate throughout the day whenever I am sitting down and elevate and ice every night before bed for at least an hour.

I have no real pains in my knee other than the tightness, but my incision still gets sore and tender and I especially notice it at night in while in bed. I still get those 'zingers' from time to time as well.

I have not been sleeping well lately because my knee gets so stiff while I'm sleeping and then when I go to stretch it out or move it, it wakes me up. This goes on all night long. I slept much better in the first two months than I do now. Probably because I was on the meds back then and now I only take Tylenol at night.

I do have a lot of achiness and general soreness all around my knee and lower thigh area during the day. I find myself taking Tylenol and sometimes Tramadol throughout the day because of it. I'm sure it's because of my weak muscles from after surgery that are now being used more.

That leads me to my question. What kind of strengthing exercises should I now begin to incorporate into my days? I want to take it slow so I don't aggravate the swelling and tightness that I already have. I just feel like it's time to get more strength to help support the increased activity.

Sorry about the long post, but thanks for reading and for any advice!
 
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As you increase your activity your strength will naturally increase. There is no reason to do any strength exercises. All that will come as you use it.
 
My PTs did strength exercises with me at 4-5 months. I can't really tell you exactly what they did because they used machines and computers attached to them. However, I can tell you that since I began a walking regime this spring my TKR has never felt stronger and I wish I done this earlier. I started walking 10 minutes twice a day, adding 5 minutes a week to each walk. I had worked up to 45 minutes when the heat/humidity came and I just can't walk in the heat, so I'm swimming 15-20 laps instead. But I've noticed that I can stand longer than I have since well before my TKR and of course can walk longer. I always think of our mailmen, they seem to have the best leg muscles I've seen and walk for miles!
 
@flyaway79, do you have access to a pool? If so, and if you enjoy water, there are a lot strength training moves you can do in the water, including walking. The best part of water exercise is the *no-impact* aspect; very joint friendly. I did this after my THR and found it very enjoyable and effective. When I started, I could only swim 2 laps. After 2 months, I was up to 20 laps. I did have a trainer help me figure out the best moves to make and give me very specific directions for how many sets, etc., because it's easy to overdo in water. Needless to say, I didn't want to join that club and I didn't.
 
One more thought; have you tried heat on your hamstrings? I find it very helpful, much more so than ice. The IT Band problems are tough; been there. In my case, I had to basically be a couch potato who only did two specific stretches for IT Band problems. No walking, cycling or anything else. That said, mine was severe, and was making me limp and yours may not be that bad. If I recall correctly, the bike can really aggravate the IT Band, but perhaps you can double check that with your OS. This is such a zig-zag recovery; aarrgghh!
 
@KarriB Thanks! I'm going to slowly up my walking each day. I don't have access to a pool so no swimming. I do like riding the bike so I'm going to stick with that too.

I'm hoping to be back to work in September and my job involves a lot of walking and lots of time on my feet. I may go back to PT in August to help get myself a little stronger and more agile in preparation. I remember doing some of those strengthing exercises at PT with my partial 6 years ago.
 
@Pheebs52
No access to a pool :-(

My IT band is not bad now. I am able to do acupressure on it with my knuckles and it pretty much releases it. It's getting less and less now. If I faithfully stretch several times a day I can keep my hamstrings in check too. My issue is more of the tight band feeling across my knee. I know that unfortunately time is really the only cure for that.
 
Aaah, that's too bad about the pool, but there are many other strength training exercises you can do, at home or in a gym. I think it's a great idea to go back to PT a month or so before you return to work, especially given how much time you'll be spending on your feet. I wish there was something other than time to fix that darn tight band sensation! It's so annoying. Mine seems to have lessened by roughly 50%, but it's still very much alive and well in the morning, with a lesser presence during the day provided I don't do *too much.* I definitely tend to skew toward doing less; just a lazy chicken who wishes to avoid as much pain and stiffness as possible. Every day, I question whether or not I should be walking more, but PT says no, because it will just increase swelling. For now, it seems the knee prefers a grand total of just about 45 minutes walking per day. This is typically done with one bigger walk of about 25 minutes and then just all the incidental walking around the house. Glad to hear your hamstrings and IT Band have responded well to stretching because those can be such a bear. :SUNsmile:
 
I am a slug when it comes to walking and don't enjoy it at all, however I do enjoy the benefits. @flyaway79 you could try increasing resistance on the bike just a little each week. If there's pain, stiffness etc. back off, but if all is good keep it at one setting for a week and raise it another level after a week or two. But definitely listen to your knee. I still ride 8 miles a day on 0 resistance because of my gimpy left knee.
 
I had my 4+ month check up on Thursday. She was very happy with my progress. I was asking her about my random aches and pains and she said to expect those for the next year or so. Totally normal for them and totally normal to move from place to place. She also said to "trust" my new knee. She said it's solid and will be around for the rest of my life :-)

She said I had no visible swelling and that my ROM was 130 and I could expect even more than that once this whole process is completed. She quoted "completed" as 12-18 months. I still have the tight band and stiffness but of course she said that will eventually go away.

I did ask her about the pain I had in my hip and thigh of my operated leg and she said I had a Bursa issue. She gave me a corrisone shot and it worked!! I've had this pain since before my surgery and now it's gone. It also eased up the pain in my lower back. That was a big issue for me and I'm happy to have that resolved. Now I am concentrating on walking properly so it doesn't recur.

She's also going to give me a corrisone shot in my other knee prior to me going back to flying sometime in September. I know it needs to be done as well but I know it's not going to be this year. I want this one to be mostly recovered before I head into that one.

I felt much better after my appointment. It's not flowers and roses for me by any means right now but I can begin to see the end of a very long tunnel. I'm hoping the stiffness and tightness will begin to ease up as time goes by.
 
Isn't it good to actually hear that recovery can go on 12-18 months. Not that it takes that long, but that all the aches and pains are normal. But it sounds has if you'll be ready to hit the skies soon.
 
@flyaway79, what a positive report for your 4 month check-up! It's such a relief to get this kind of reassurance, isn't it? I'm so glad the cortisone shot worked for your bursitis and eliminated your back pain as well; win/win! I think the skies are going to be looking pretty friendly for you come September!:thumb:
 
I hope to have as good as a report as you come 4th month check up. I know already I won't get more than 125 flexion because it's the most he could get after OS closed, so he said...and that's what it is approx on my non-op leg :130(Fat thighs)
PT before you start flying is a good idea: ask the physiotherapist to go through all the motions you'd be doing on a work day to see how it goes.
 
Fantastic report Carol!!! 130 rom I'm jealous [emoji16]. Gosh reading your symptoms, thoughts, aches and pains we're so similar still even down to the hip and back pain. My hip/ groin on my operated leg is so very sore but this has only been since the operation. And it affects my gait. OS said he would do a cortisone shot in my operated leg to help with swelling and pain to help getting me back to work.
So happy to read you're on the right track, we will get there!!


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@zakmick I was very surprised at how my ROM finally came around. She said I was a slow starter in many ways. But, I do still have a lot of the stiffness and tightness. It seems the squishyness (is that a word?) is quietly going away and is replaced with more of the tight band feeling. That's why I actually feel some progress. I can feel my entire knee area now get plain old sore and achy just from me now moving around more. It usually is very tight when I go to bed. It has eased up by morning, which is also an improvement. I think I'm going to be dealing with that for quite awhile.

I am so happy she gave me the cortisone shot. That has really made a difference both in walking and also sleeping at night. I could never lie on that side without pain. Now I can. Pretty cool.

I'm also looking forward to the cortisone shot in my other knee. She said we will wait until I'm ready to return to work for that one and hopefully that will help ease me back in. Gotta admit I'm still nervous about returning to flying after this surgery. I've got another 4-6 weeks or so before I plan on being back so I trust I'm going to continue to make progress between now and then. If not - I can always delay it a little more. I'm not rushing back before I'm ready. I've been to this rodeo a time or two!
 
I had to laugh when my PA and I were talking about recovery times. She said she was recently in Costco when she heard someone call out her name. The lady said you probably don't remember me but you guys did my TKR about 8 years ago. She said "and you told me it would be better after about a year. Well you were wrong!! It took 2 years, but now I love it! Thank you!"

Moral of the story. Patience.
 
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