Bilateral TKR No progress ROM

[sistersinhim]

I just want the tight feeling in my knees to go away. I can manage to do everything I need, it just takes longer as I tire easily.

The tightness is a common complaint and usually the last thing to go. It was for me. The tight feeling is not coming from being out of shape, it is from swelling. Even if you can't see it on the outside, it is swollen on the inside. There's not much room in there, so even a small amount of fluid will cause a stiff knee. I suggest you ice and elevate more often and for longer times.

I still am recovering, exercise 3x day and ice and adl.how long until the tightness goes away?

Exercising 3x a day is way too much and contributes to your tightness. When you exercise too much your knee is staying inflamed. That inflammation causes swelling which causes tightness. You will have it as long as you're working your knee too much. Slow down and give your knee a chance to heal.

 

[kneeper]

^so true. Exercising 3 times a day (particularly if your PT has you doing a lot of exericises per session) doesn't help that tightness and is probably adding to it. Time is the main thing that helps with the tight feeling.

 

[MarkTKR]

Probably already been said here but...

There is a balance between rest and PT/exercise. You and only you can find that balance.

Too much rest not enough movement and you will not improve as fast as you want. Too much exercise, not enough rest and you could actually degrade your ROM.

I had left TKR which went great and 2.5 weeks after surgery when I was at ROM 120 degrees and feeling on top of the world a table at PT collapsed that I was on and I ruptured my Pateller Tendon in the same knee. New surgery, 10 weeks immobilized leg and when the cast and brace came off, I had all of about 25 degrees of ROM. I had NO strength in my quad. Here it is July and I finally have 130 ROM and I can go up/down stairs. It still feels strange and is weak but I am getting there.

I try to balance my exercise with my rest. It helps me a lot.

 

[Susie-Q]

I agree, doing exercises 3x a day is too much and your knee is telling you that with tightness and swelling. I would back off on any exercises for a few days, do lots of icing, elevating and resting. Then resume exercises if you are feeling better but only ONCE a day to start with. You are overworking your knee and it's angry.

 

[pamsknees]

I had my bilateral TKR in Mar 2020, the day before the shutdown, so i never had any PT at all & never had any ROM measurements so i have no idea what mine is. All that i care about is that i have knees that do everything that i want them to & my knees no longer limit my life. It was a long recovery & i used my ice machine & elevated my knees a lot for at least 3 months. I hope your tightness goes away soon & that your recovery goes great

 

[Knees_York]

I am now into week 11 since surgery and at week 5/6 the tight feeling across the front of my knee started and pretty much stopped any real progress with ROM as it was impossible to get past the pain of the stiffness when bending beyond a certain point.
It was only in week 9/10 that I noticed any change and now in week 11 I can definitely say that the stiffness is subsiding quite substantially. However, that stiffness at the front of the knee, which was ever present, has been replaced by a similar feeling at the back of the knee but only when trying to bend beyond a certain point.
Nevertheless I measure this as an improvement, which is a welcome change, as I feel I had been stuck for a few weeks without any real gains and feeling somewhat frustrated.
Hang on in there it seems that your body will let you know when it is ready to move on.

Thanks so much for this @Algarve46. I specifically popped onto the forum this evening to research this question prior to posting. Things have become a lot more stiff in both of my knees at the exact same point in my recovery (I had a BTKR on June 29), and I have been baffled. Good to know your trajectory; there's comfort in understanding the journey of others.