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physical therapy before TKR

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elcammeno

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I am due to have total knee replacement next month. . I have heard that doing knee exercises months before surgery helps with rehabilatation & less pain after surgery. Then I have heard that beings the muscles are cut during surgery the exercises are of no avail. Sure would like to know which it is?
Sharon
 
Sharon, it would seem from the posts by folks on our forum that the better shape you are going into the surgery, the better time you will have of it in recovery. Of course, this may not be absolutely true for everyone, but I would certainly suggest that you work on strengthening your leg muscles. Also very important is upper body strength, as you will be using your arms at first to lift your body upright on the walker or crutches. You are very smart to begin preparing for your surgery and recovery well ahead of time! Post any time with questions or concerns and we'll be here for you.
 
What Jamie said! But the quads snip notwithstanding, if your quads are in good shape it will heal better as the blood supply will be richer. It's not all about function!
 
Sharon,
It is very important to do your knee exercises prior to your TKR. My OS even sent me to PT before my BTKR. The BETTER your muscles are the BETTER your recovery will be.

God Bless,
Rick
 
No doubt exercise them as much as you can before....my first I did not, my second I did exercise extensively....my second recovery was WAY faster (about 2-3 weeks at any given point).
 
I exercised for 6 months before my BTKR in June of 2008. I did the exercises as outlined in the book Total Knee Replacement & Rehabilitation written by and OS and a PT, both of whom had TKR. I used the Total Gym as suggested and was able to purchase a used one very reasonably on craigslist for $100.00 within my local area. I also purchased a stationary bike.
The exercises truly helped as I was able to lift my own leg 3 days post op onto the PT bed while my leg was straight. The book also outlines recovery by days, months and covers the entire first year. Well worth the money.......

Having my upper body strong to support my lower body in the first 6 weeks was crucial to an easier recovery. I went skiing at 7.5 months post-op. What a great feeling it is to finally start getting your life back again........
Best,
Crystal
 
Ok OK I get it. But if your Quad-muscle is cut then what?? You can still lift your leg at 3 days?????????????????????????????? I think that what the Doctor does during surgery makes a big differance TOO. If the muscles are cut they are not going to be listening to what you tell them in 3 days. Excerciseing is always a good thing. I went everyday and did upper body, knees would not allow more then that. But no matter what I did or what names I called my leg it would not move on its own. And I still have to be careful
when I walk because my leg just goes out from under me. I think my muscle was Cut.
I will be asking since this was text book surgery why it was cut. I do not understand if there was no surpises why. I do not want any muscles cut this time.
^i^
 
Well it is only a snip, angel! And it will be stitched up again. The bulk of the muscle - around 75-80% - will still be intact so there shouldn't be any functional difficulties, just some soreness.
 
From what I understand the Quad has to be cut inorder for it not to tear when the knee is opened during surgery. I had BI-TKR and was in PT at 4 days lifting leg straight up, not very fast and not very many times at first and it hurt. I had to be able to do 30 straight lifts and bend to 80% before I could go home it took 7 days of PT but I made it. I did lots of leg excercises before surgery and it pays off big time in the recovery process.
At 7 weeks post op I have 0% extension and 125% flexion and was released to go full time back to work. I am now at 10 weeks and have gotten my flexion up to 130%. Just remember everyone heals at different rates and handles pain differently. It helped me to seperate the pain I was feeling Joint, muscle etc. After the surgery the joint pain was gone and was replaced by muscle , tendon , legiment etc. but I knew that these would fade and I would be pain free. When I went for my 7 week post op visit to the surgeon he thought I was crazy for wanting to go back to work but after reviewing the PT report and asking me about 100 questions he released me and said I was about 1 month ahead of normal.

Max
 
I did not have the Quad Sparing surgery.
I had both of my knees replaced at the same time last June (I was 58). The motion was sitting and lifting the leg and foot from the floor to the mattress of the bed, and sitting and lifting the leg from the floor to the PT exercise bed where you lay down and do leg exercises (I was in a rehab hospital on Friday when my surgery was most of Wednesday).
Yes, I could lift my leg after 3 days up onto the bed and onto the PT table. I was well medicated!
My quads were each cut about and inch and a half up on each leg. Even with the lower quad cut, you still have strength in the upper quad. It was very helpful to me to be ready in upper body strength and having my quads as strong as possible for me. Doing the exercises hurt, but were helpful in my recovery.
My incision was 6.5 inches in length and when I look down at each knee incision, the scar runs from a central start above my knee medially (towards the inside on each knee) by about 1/2 inch. I asked the OS if this was done on purpose. He responded, "Absolutely! By cutting medially by 1/4 to a 1/2 inch it eliminates about 2 to 3 inches in length."
Good answer for me! No way would I have wanted a longer incision.
Best,
Crystal
 
From what I understand the Quad has to be cut inorder for it not to tear when the knee is opened during surgery.
Max

Actually it doesn't have to be cut. It's a surgeon's choice of technique. I'd never heard about it until I read it on this forum. So far as I am aware, it's not commonly used in the UK.
 
Yep! You really SHOULD exercise now so your recovery goes more smoothly! You won't regret it! :)
 
Judles,
I did exercise!! And the last month I just did upper body because knees would not do anymore. Leg lifts were done all this was done from Oct to Jan14th and I still am having a ruff time getting back on my feet. And I do not say UNCLE. I still think that your OS has a lot to do with it. If you are giving good surport from your Doctor and you are already ahead. I just think that every surgery is different. Even though it is for the same thing. I'm just saying. We can do all we should and still have a ruff time of it.
^i^
 
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