My Aquatic therapy...
I started aquatic therapy at the suggestion of my surgeon. For a very short background on me, I've had 6 knee surgeries. Three arthoscopic surgeries and three total knee replacements, all on my one right knee. Two scopes came after two knee replacements because I would grow so much scar tissue that my ROM would go from 133 down to 40 degrees. After the 2nd TKR and another scope to take out scar tissue, I started losing ROM once again. I found another new doctor, (6 surgeries and 5 doctors) my newest and smartest doctor who did the blood testing to find that I was allergic to nickel which is what my first two knees were make of. So he did a second revision on me and put in my 3rd knee that I was not allergic to. We had hoped that this would be the end of the scar tissue problem with a knee that I was not allergic too. When asked what he truly thought I could get with ROM on my 3rd TKR my doctor replied that he would be happy if I got 110 degrees because I've had so many surgeries and so much scaring. I proved him wrong and worked hard and got to 126!! But...I started losing ROM again, not as bad as with an allergic knee but bad enough that I could not do stairs any longer and it was getting harder to pedal a bike. I went to see my surgeon at 10 months post op about losing ROM. Since I can't keep having surgery to remove scar tissue...like a dog chasing it's tail, he suggested I do aquatic therapy...
Aquatic therapy I thought...geeze it's not going to work, it's not going to help!! But...I'll do it so that no one can ever say, "well, you didn't try the aquatic therapy when we asked you to!" I started in mid September, and 80 mile round trip from my house twice a week. Much to my surprise, I loved it, I loved the aquatic therapist and I loved how I felt in the pool. I started having good results and was able to cut my time down to once a week, so each and every Wednesday morning I drive into the city and do aquatic therapy - I love going!
What is Aquatic Therapy? Maybe not what you think! When I tell other people that I go to aquatic therapy, they imagine me in a pool with a group of people doing aquatic exercises. That description in NOT ANYWHERE close to what I do. It is one on one, me and the therapist in the pool. I have flotation devices on me to where I am laying on my back and floats on my legs and I basically am laying on the water on my back in 92 degree water and this therapist starts soft tissue work with her hands from my neck and shoulders down to my hip flexors, hamstrings, IT Band, calf, and foot all on the TKR side of my body. Being in the water the body is totally relaxed so there is no tensing of the muscles and she works out tightness, knots, stretches and lengthens muscles. She takes the skin on my quad, knee, shin, and with her thumb and index finger grabs and pulls up my skin. She and I can both feel and sometimes hear the adhesions popping and breaking away thus loosening up my skin and allowing me to bend my knee. I've gone from reaching back and not even being close to be able to touch my foot to being able to reach back and grab my leg by my ankle. I am not saying that this is all relaxing because it can and does hurt when she is DIGGING into soft tissue and putting intense pressure but it does not hurt like dry land where you are trying to bend your knee. Its more like just more like a really good sports massage but 10 times better. I've been able to increase my ROM 15 degrees so far. That is 15 degrees on dry land but more like 25 degrees in the pool. The warm water is therapeutic and the water and flotation keeping your body from fighting back. I will wear ankle cuffs and let the floatation bend my knee and I kick my leg back down for strengthening with water resistance. If any of you have ever used a step box in PT, well I use a step box in the water. One legged, (TKR leg) on the box and step left leg and touch front, step and touch side, step and touch back, all on the TKR leg like a mini one legged squat making me stronger. I cannot do that on dry land. Therapist will hold me at my waist with my cuffs on my ankles, and flotation dumbbells in my hands and make me do the equivalent of jumping jacks in the water, making the inner leg strong, or holding me at the waist and making me do a jack knife while she shouts PUSH PUSH PUSH, then PULL PULL PULL. For my reward when I finish my one hour session each week I get to water jog in the deep water for as long as I want to and then go sit in the 104 degree Jacuzzi too.
When I am in the pool nothing hurts me, I feel so good in the water, it takes away all aches and pains and I feel liberated and so mobile once I get out. I can do stairs 10 x's better than I could before I started Aquatic Therapy, and I walk completely normal out of the pool now. It is making me feel so normal again that I've been able to increase my walking mileage and pace and continue to get stronger.
I started walking seriously for exercise back in May at 6 months post op and on the 4th of July that I walked 8 miles for the first time at 8 months post op. I was on a mission to get good and fast because I am already committed myself to coach a walking group of newbies for the 1/2 Marathon in Houston (the 1/2 marathon that I just did a week ago). I was once a marathon runner and running was my life, active life, social life, an entire community of friends and then I lost it because of this right knee. When I was approached about taking on a walking group I said yes, wanting with great desire to get a bit of my old life back. So I set out to build miles and speed then hit this road bump of losing ROM and began aquatic therapy. I was worried at first that I would not be able to continue with the my walkers, but Aquatic Therapy saved me. So today, I walked 6 miles, 6 days after i finished my 1/2 marathon. I have another 1/2 on February 11, then March 4, then April. I am thinking that I will walk the Portland Marathon in October 2017. We are part of a running club in my community and we are called the "Bonnie Walkers"
Never give up hope, it took me 5 years to cross the finish line again and there were times that I thought that I would never get better, and although better...I am not there yet as I am just 14 months 2 weeks post op. Just imagine how good I'll be doing at two years post op. I am excited now because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. At least at this bend in the road aquatic therapy helped me to keep going so please don't rule anything out without trying it out.
At top is my finish picture again and the picture of my Bonnie Walkers after the race, we are all biting our finisher medals! As a side note, no one in my group has ever had a joint replacement of any kind, just me. Out of the group, only 3 beat me (that is because two of them ran!)
@Cratchit @Jamie @mollygram @NightQuilter @trailspud