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TKR New knee newbie<<

I'm so excited!! My leg which I haven't been able to lift because of the "dead leg" problem just suddenly woke up today :loveshwr: It took just 2 months, Just like my shoulder did 2yrs ago.
Now i'm able to do my leg lifts with no problem. Now if only the swelling would go down and I could get a bend greater than 73 I'd be really happy
 
:yay:Mine did the same thing, albeit sooner, but it's still wonderful when it happens. I went home from the hospital with a dead leg, and two hours or so after getting home it suddenly woke also.
 
Had my 9wk post op today. And he's recommending a MUA. I'm stuck at 73. He was happy with how straight I got it just not the bend. I know it my choice and Ive decided to go a head and do it. I'm not happy with where I'm at. I'm scheduled for Wed's Aug 1. He wants me to stay in the hospital for 2days. Any advice for those that have had it would be helpful. Thanks.
 
Sorry, but IMHO, 9 weeks is barely over 2 months and waaaaaaaay too soon to worry about ROM, and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too soon to even think about an MUA. Your knee is only 1/6th of the way recovered and I'd wait a while and see where I was before saying I wasn't happy with my bend. It's your knee, and your choice, but being impatient to see x ROM number by x date is not helpful, physically or mentally. I don't know my ROM; my OS never even mentioned it at my app't today, nor did he give me a random number I should be at by a certain date before the surgery. This recovery takes a TON of patience, and if you are impatient, your knee will be the one that suffers. I'd suggest instead, a lot of icing and elevating every day. I seriously ice and elevate most of my day, with some walking thrown in every hour or two. I also ice all night long every single night. I hope you will think about it and give your knee some more time to recover before putting it through another procedure so soon.
 
MUA can be helpful for people who are truly stuck, but like lovetocookandsew said we usually tell people to think hard about whether swelling is the problem. It took me a good 6 weeks to get to 90 but it looks like you're less than that at 9 weeks.

MUA folks will comment I'm sure, but most people here have found that treating the knee much like you did just out of surgery--lots of ice and elevation and gentle motion was the way to go after MUA.
 
I get what your saying, but I'm at the end of time when my Dr will do one. I've been stuck at 73 for close to 3wks it just won't move. I can't drive so I can't work and I need to get back to work on Aug 15. Right now I've extended that to Sept 5 after that I will have used all my vacation & sick leave and won't get payed after that. I've talked to my Dr & nurse friends and they all say the same thing I have a limited time to do this. I live in Central Cali in a rural area and have to travel 50mile to see a Dr, that and retired military Ins make my choice of Dr's limited.
I know this will be a set back and there will be pain & swelling.
 
Well, your time may not be that limited, but... you aren't getting the flexion you should be. At nine weeks and with the resting and icing you're doing that should be helping, and isn't, I can see why you would give MUA a shot. You're right that an MUA serves as a setback for your knee, so you will most likely be dealing with some pain and swelling. Some people have really excellent results, so that's what I'm going to hope for you! :console2:
 
I hope that the MUA works for you. Remember to ask your surgeon how far he was able to bend your knee - a photo would help - and whether it was easy or hard to do.

Afterwards, you will have some soft tissue damage, so treat your knee gently. Ice and elevate a lot.
Don't be pressured into doing lots of exercises. All you need to do is keep your knee moving gently. Over-exercising could set up an inflammation in your knee's tissues and that could increase the chances of getting adhesions.

Yes, it will set back your recovery a bit. Count your recovery as starting on the day you have the MUA.
 
My MUA is on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to a decent bend. I know I will be back to square 1 as far as recovery, But I know what needs to be done this time. Where as when I had my knee replaced I was left floundering with zero guidance. I will be in the hospital 2days but I know what needs to be done on my part. Making sure I get the ice I need and if I'm put on a CPM machine ask for it. I didn't do this before.
I'm really tired and have been for a few weeks I'm hoping its because of my healing and stress of having to go back into the hospital. I can hardly do anything around the house without getting tired and I'm starting to get the blues again. On top of all that living in Central California We're getting the smoke from one of the fires and that is messing up my asthma.
I just want to get back to normal.
 
Good luck tomorrow. We're here when you need us!
 
Well here I am on the other side of my MUA which was on Aug. 1.
My Dr was able to get my knee to 130! I haven't seen him but he told my husband that there was a lot of scar tissue and you could really hear it when he broke it up. He did take pictures and showed them to my husband. They had me on a epidural & the CPM for 24hrs. PT came in and got me up (I still had the epidural) got a little dizzy which was to be expected. They removed the epidural around 12pm, PT came back around 3 I actually walked ( I wanted to go home) and they sent me home around 7pm.
I'm so happy to be home I have a list of stretching exercises to do. Plus lots of ice and pain management. I'm surprised just how much everything hurts. But thats to be expected. I'm just glad I'm on the other side and I'm looking forward to continuing my recovery
Oh I got 95 bend on my own.
 
Just gentle stretching now! Let you knee heal.
 
MJ61 said:
Well here I am on the other side of my MUA which was on Aug. 1.
My Dr was able to get my knee to 130! I haven't seen him but he told my husband that there was a lot of scar tissue and you could really hear it when he broke it up. He did take pictures and showed them to my husband. They had me on a epidural & the CPM for 24hrs. PT came in and got me up (I still had the epidural) got a little dizzy which was to be expected. They removed the epidural around 12pm, PT came back around 3 I actually walked ( I wanted to go home) and they sent me home around 7pm.
I'm so happy to be home I have a list of stretching exercises to do. Plus lots of ice and pain management. I'm surprised just how much everything hurts. But thats to be expected. I'm just glad I'm on the other side and I'm looking forward to continuing my recovery
Oh I got 95 bend on my own.
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@MJ61, I'm following your experience closely because my expects me to need a MUA, and I currently expect if I go with that recommendation that it will be at about 7 weeks. I'm not sure if I will allow it, though, because even my PT thinks that a MUA at that point is likely to be ineffective. He told me the same thing BoneSmarties have been saying, that MUA is best for adhesions and new scarrring, while my ligaments and muscles have 60+years of "adaptive shortening" to overcome.

Please continue to update us o on your progress post/MUA. 130 Degrees is fabulous; I can't even imagine having that much flexion! Sounds like you're doing extremely well!
 
@CaliCat Like I've see others post here I think Dr talk MUA to get you motivated to move. I got stuck at about 6-7wks at 73. No matter what I did it wouldn't move. I had the MUA at 10wks. When the Dr says it was quite loud when he bent it Thats telling me I did have something going on. I'm doing the gentle exercises, The PT at the hospital told me if it hurt t stop. So far It doesn't hurt. She also said if I can go all the way around on my recumbent bike that would be the best for me. So I'm working on that. I havent noticed much pain realy. They had me on a epidural for 24hrs. I'm not sure if I'm still feeling the effects from it 3days later but I still don't notice much pain. I'm supose to take my pain meds every 4hrs but I've been extending that to 5hrs not by choice I jstu forget to take them. I'm really hoping to get back to my cane soon.
 
Sounds like you're doing well. :) Keep us posted.
 
Well i'm almost a week later from my MUA. Sunday was a really bad day for pain, I think when my Dr did the it my hip got out of wack. I had to go to my chiropractor yesterday and he knew right away my hip was out jstu by the way I was walking. So I cut back on my stretching exercises. I go back to regular PT starting tomorrow. I'm using my recumbent bike and I'm so close to going all the way around. I know my bend is better but its still so stiff I know because of the swelling. There are times when I wonder if my leg will ever be lose again. I feel like I'm walking with a peg leg. I need to be able to drive so I can go back to work, I tried getting into the drivers side before the MUA that didn't go well at all. Haven't tried since. I'm going to miss the first days of school and I'm bummed about that. But I wonder if I'm even ready to work, when I get up and do thing I'm so worn out after only a few minutes. I know all this takes time but damn its taking so long it feels like forever.
 
Sorry I have to scream THIS IS THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER DONE.!!
Its been a week since my MUA and thought I was doing good. before I left the hospital I was able to get a 95 degree bend I was so happy, I been doing my exercises every day and went to my first PT today. I was barely able to get to 75!! I'm so unhappy I've been yelling and cussing for over an hour. WHat happened to my 95? My PT was saying its because I won't bend my leg, I thought I was bending it, its feeling tight again like I can go to just this one point and it won't go any more. I'm so ready to just give up. and never have a life again.
 
MJ61 said:
I been doing my exercises every day and went to my first PT today. I was barely able to get to 75!!
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There lies your problem. Your knee, while undergoing it's MUA, was traumatized again. This has caused swelling. If you can't see much outside, you can bet it's swollen quite a bit inside. That swelling restricts its ability to bend. Treat this knee like it is shortly out of surgery, which it is! Give it lots of rest, icing and elevating. Just moving around the house is enough exercise for it until is heals from this last assault done to it.
 
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