TKR My TKR Was Worth It!
- Thread starter kiwicurls
- Start date
JojoFitness
junior member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2022
- Messages
- 80
- Age
- 74
- Gender
- Female
- Country
United States
Hi @kiwicurls - i still can't bring myself to wear slacks or most of my leggings - the thought of the fabric right on top of my incision is freaky ;) But it's warm here, so I wear easy pullover dresses all the time. The steri-strips are finally off and my incision looks to be healing fine. How is yours?
Hi @JojoFitness Great to hear incision looks good. Mine does too. Wearing stretchy yoga pants as it’s turned very chilly here. They bother the scar for a few minutes then I am fine. It settles down.
Well, it is 4 weeks today since my TKR and I am doing fine.
Minimal swelling, still icing and elevating several times a day, ROM improving weekly and pain is not too bad. I had to give in and take an anti inflammatory yesterday as panadol was not enough. I find diclofenac the most effective anti inflammatory but it does upset the stomach, even when taken with food.
My activity? Certainly not the gym!
I walk down our street and back for 15 minutes a day. I have taken back many of the household chores such as folding and putting away laundry, cooking meals and loading/unloading dishwasher. I also wipe the kitchen benches (out of sheer desperation as husband appears oblivious to any mess on them!) I also dust through the house and clean the bathroom.
I would rather do these household chores than do squats, lunges or any other manner of gym exercises as I feel my activities are safer and I am still moving around.
I sleep well, apart from waking up when I need to change position in bed. I don't need pain medication through the night.
My scar is flakey but I was told not to put anything on it for 4 weeks after staple removal, just to ensure the wound has healed. I intend to use bio oil as this worked well on my feet (no visible scars left there at all).
I can wear soft yoga pants and, although they bother the scar when I first put them on, the knee gets used to them and I am fine after a few minutes. Just as well, as the cold weather seems to be arriving early this year here in Sydney.
To those of you who are still in a lot of pain, especially at night, I urge you to slow down. I know we are all different but please listen to your knees!
Minimal swelling, still icing and elevating several times a day, ROM improving weekly and pain is not too bad. I had to give in and take an anti inflammatory yesterday as panadol was not enough. I find diclofenac the most effective anti inflammatory but it does upset the stomach, even when taken with food.
My activity? Certainly not the gym!
I walk down our street and back for 15 minutes a day. I have taken back many of the household chores such as folding and putting away laundry, cooking meals and loading/unloading dishwasher. I also wipe the kitchen benches (out of sheer desperation as husband appears oblivious to any mess on them!) I also dust through the house and clean the bathroom.
I would rather do these household chores than do squats, lunges or any other manner of gym exercises as I feel my activities are safer and I am still moving around.
I sleep well, apart from waking up when I need to change position in bed. I don't need pain medication through the night.
My scar is flakey but I was told not to put anything on it for 4 weeks after staple removal, just to ensure the wound has healed. I intend to use bio oil as this worked well on my feet (no visible scars left there at all).
I can wear soft yoga pants and, although they bother the scar when I first put them on, the knee gets used to them and I am fine after a few minutes. Just as well, as the cold weather seems to be arriving early this year here in Sydney.
To those of you who are still in a lot of pain, especially at night, I urge you to slow down. I know we are all different but please listen to your knees!
The household duties are much better for your knee than squats, lunges, or gum exercises at your stage of healing. Those household chores are PT.
Physio has just been. She did a “speed walking” assessment and is very pleased. She says I have no trace of a limp. Told her she should be here in the evening as I limp at the end of the day.
She has me stepping up onto a small step, with the operated leg and stepping up sideways. I have no trouble doing this. I want to be able to climb the steep stairs at my daughters place eventually and she says I will get there!
Most of the other exercises she has stopped as she says I no longer need to do them now ROM is so good.
Physio actually said that what I was doing around the house was plenty of exercise.
She has me stepping up onto a small step, with the operated leg and stepping up sideways. I have no trouble doing this. I want to be able to climb the steep stairs at my daughters place eventually and she says I will get there!
Most of the other exercises she has stopped as she says I no longer need to do them now ROM is so good.
Physio actually said that what I was doing around the house was plenty of exercise.
Not at all uncommon -- just a sign you are tired or, perhaps, that you did a little too much that day?
You are doing great, @kiwicurls !
Had some excitement in our street today: they are making a movie! Very strange as we live in a quiet suburb just outside Sydney. There have been young men running up and down the street and 3 houses down from us is the centre of the action; people screaming and falling over…. it’s so far removed from our normally quiet area. I did quite a lot of walking up and down our driveway today ( purely for rehab purposes, not to be a stickybeak, of course!)
Oh! There goes another actor, bare chested, running down the street… hope this excitement doesn’t kill me
Oh! There goes another actor, bare chested, running down the street… hope this excitement doesn’t kill me
I’ve been reading a few posts here today and wonder if this not allowing a pillow under the leg in hospital is correct or is it just another way to torture us? I spent 3 nights in hospital with my leg dead straight because the physio said a pillow, even lengthways, was forbidden. It was extremely uncomfortable and as soon as I got home I slept how I liked.
In the extremely unlikely event that I get the other knee done, I’d like to know if it’s really necessary to keep the leg completely straight.
In the extremely unlikely event that I get the other knee done, I’d like to know if it’s really necessary to keep the leg completely straight.
WFD
graduate
FWIW, I also had to keep my leg straight in the hospital with a pillow under my ankle and air under my knee. It was very uncomfortable but I came out of the hospital with a straight leg and have never had any problems with extension.
Of course, maybe I would never have had a problem with extension anyway, it’s hard to tell.
Of course, maybe I would never have had a problem with extension anyway, it’s hard to tell.
Yep, it's just to torture us! Seriously though, this torturous action is so unnecessary. Keeping the knee straight for many of us this early in recovery is extremely painful. I slight bend feels so much better and doesn't harm the extension at all. It's more important to get quality sleep than it is to worry about ROM. Healing is your #1 job for the next few months. As you heal and the swelling goes down your ROM will naturally improve. You don't have to do anything but gentle, pain-free movements!
When I woke up in the hospital after my TKR, there was a pillow under my knee and no one ever told me that I had to keep my leg straight -- just to elevate and ice.
Isn't it interesting how different the recovery protocols are across surgeons, hospitals and therapists!
I had to use the ankle pillow in the hospital, see image). Torture is a very good description - add in the thigh high compression hose and I would have surely given up government secrets, if asked. When I got home, I ditched the pillow and tried to straighten and bend my knee throughout the day, avoiding any position for too long. I reached full extension several months back. Maybe it could have come sooner had I continued the torture. I'm happy with my choice.
![[Bonesmart.org] My TKR Was Worth It!](https://bonesmart.org/forum/attachments/1652286048645-png.85736/ "[Bonesmart.org] My TKR Was Worth It!")
InkedMarie
post-grad
With my first TKR, I stayed overnight. I sat in the recliner, I think both that night and next morning, with a pillow under my legs that my husband put there. For this current TKR, I left that same day, asked for a recliner and they brought one in but wouldnt allow any pillows! They’d have probably had a fit if my husband brought in my Lounge Doctor!
Marie
Marie
Thank you for the replies. I have had full extension from day 1 @WFD as you say, perhaps it would have made no difference.
I asked the surgeon about it, after the second night of agony, and he just laughed and said it’s better not to upset the physio and just do as she says. Very helpful, wasn’t it. I intend to ask him again at my post op visit and will expect a better answer.
I asked the surgeon about it, after the second night of agony, and he just laughed and said it’s better not to upset the physio and just do as she says. Very helpful, wasn’t it. I intend to ask him again at my post op visit and will expect a better answer.
I think most of us were told to keep our leg straight right after surgery. I must have had a decent block in my leg, as it didn’t hurt much the 36 hours I was in the hospital. The only PT I had in the hospital was walking.
If I ever do this again, I’m hoping for same day surgery, so I can get home and recover my way!
If I ever do this again, I’m hoping for same day surgery, so I can get home and recover my way!
@Jockette , Hi. I wouldn’t want day surgery as I was given intravenous antibiotics for 36 hrs. Prophylactic, I know, but I feel this is important. Also, the nurses gave me much more pain relief than I would ever have taken at home. My surgeon keeps all of his knee patients in for 3 days post op and I was glad he did, despite the uncomfortable nights. Day surgery for tkr hasn’t really taken off here in Australia.
After further discussion with my GP I had flu vaccination yesterday. Aching all over now. Silly me.
After further discussion with my GP I had flu vaccination yesterday. Aching all over now. Silly me.
