Hello Everyone...
So sorry for the long delay and being out of touch with eveyrone. Last week was a very stressful week since it was month end and since I work in accounting, month ends are usually intense. I had to work 4 full days in a row and I just seriously had no energy for absolutely anything else. I took yesterday off and was basically a log leg all day with not much flexion due to internal swelling. Today I'm better after rest and ice.
So, humm where to start the update. Well I went to the new PT one time so far and she was immediately concerned about the scar line being so tight especially in the area where they had to cut it back open to remove the hematoma. She felt like that might be holding back or will continue to hinder good flexion. So she told me to do scar massage 3 times per day for 5 min each time. I'm not sure about it. Is it really necessary and will it cause my knee not to bend? I've never read too much about that here on the boards.. so I'm curious. She also massaged the knee area quite a bit and then put me on the upright bike. She told me not to move my hips to the side in order to get a full revolution when I cycle around and so with that, there is no way I could do a full revolution. She said that I really cannot do one because I'm cheating and it will hurt my back. I see her point but whatever! I like doing them and if I have to slide my hips over to do them so what - I feel like there is benefit in rotating around even if I do have to move my hips. She also kept measuring me. When I got there, she measured 82 with me pulling back as much as I could without too much pain, and after a few minutes on the bike, she measured while I was seated on the bike, 75. I left with a homework sheet to do 8 min on the bike twice a day - (except not really to cycle but to just get to the point of tightness and hold, breathing deep), quad sets of 15 three times a day and to continue to tease the bend back further with heel slides, etc. I wasn't too impressed with her overall and if that's all I get for $96 I'm not sure it's worth my time or money!
Then I emailed my OS a couple days ago and ask him how long he would give my knee to slowly increase in flexion and he said that the best window of time is 12 weeks and that too much longer after that the benefits of doing it go down. He said that he recommended I proceed with it but if that I could gain flexion without it that would be the best. I have read that you can do MUA's beyond 12 weeks but the studies show that the best success comes with those around 12 weeks. Anyone have any studies to the contrary?
So I'm not sure. I'm just surrendering and trusting that God will guide me and if I see an increase to 90 by Wed, I will cancel the MUA and move forward on my own. If I don't then I will be going in on Thurs. the 8th to have it done. It will be 10 days shy of 4 months since the original surgery. So we will just see. Today, even after yesterdays log leg, my knee is bendy. I did 3 min of half turns on the bike and then a minute of full turns. Then I loosened up in the tub relaxing it and doing a bit of gentle stretching of my muscles. Now I'm icing and resting for the rest of the day.
Hope everyone has a good Sunday and I look forward to catching up and hearing from everyone!!!
United States
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I do have an appointment with a dermatologist and a podiatrist coming to try and trace down this issue.
