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TKR Post Op all is well<

Let us know if cutting back a bit helps. I know when I jumped back into working, even at part time, my knee ached. But by building up my activity sloooowly I had less or no pain. Just listen to the knee, if it’s complaining, then it’s time to cut back. TKR rehab is very different than a sport injury, less pain is best.
 
Last week, at the instruction of my PT, I went to doing active PT exercises every other day.
The reason for this was that my ROM is really good, and on off days I walk the dog 3 times, ride the stationary bike and out of necessity go up and down stairs fairly often.
The rest of my time I rest and ice.
I'll let you know how this works out.
 
Shoot, if your ROM is really good then you don't need to do any PT exercises. But, as long as they don't upset your knee then doing them is fine, if you feel you want to do them.
 
Thanks.
I didn't think of that.
I only do them on alternate days.
I may just sbstitute swimming laps for the water PT.
The thing that restricts my ROM is a really sore hamstring.
It's been bothering me since the day of my surgery.
I see the surgeon on the 27th and i'll ask him about it.
My physical therapist has me doing hamstring stretched and gastroc stretches 3 times a day.
Hope that helps.
Any advice would be awesome.
 
The hamstring stretches are what are making your hamstring sore. The tendon is only going to stretch slowly (over weeks or months, not hours or even days), so what's getting stretched is your hamstring muscle and that's why it's sore. It took the tendons at the back of my knee five months to get back to straight, and I didn't have a particularly bad case of shortened tendons. Many people take much longer.

If your knee isn't straight yet, that's not unusual. Better yet, you have plenty of time to get it straight. So ease off the stretches for a week or two, or maybe just give them up. Regular walking, swimming, pool exercises, etc. will stretch those tendons gently over time and do the job with lots less pain. If you want, you can just press your knee down on an ottoman a few times here and there while sitting, or on your bed while lying or sitting. It's the excess stretching that's making you sore.
 
Hi Susie,
I can straighten my leg completely.
The pain in my hamstring is what prevents me from bending it farther than I can.
I've had this pain since the surgery before I started doing any stretches.
In any case, I'll take your advice and see how that works out.
Thanks
 
Slowly is really the key. Also can you find ways to reduce the number of trips up and down stairs each day?
 
Hi Kneeper,

It is true, that my knee feels best in the morning. Therefore, I am finally going to follow your sage advice and do more resting than exercising.
This is difficult for me and goes against my innate instincts, but I am going to listen to all of your collective experience.
Thanks again. I couldn't have reached this point of my recovery without the support and wisdom of all of you.
 
Hi Friends,
Today is the 12-week anniversary of my surgery.
My status is:
ROM is about 90%+ of my nonsurgical leg.
Pain is not really an issue.
Swelling is slight but still bothers me at times.
I am able to go up and down stairs normally.
Leg strength is not there yet. Much work still to do, but I am not really doing any strength exercises other than my normal PT routine.
I do my PT on alternate days, either land or pool.
I am up to 15 minutes on the stationary bike.
Still feel some restriction when I walk. I feel it primarily on the side of the knee, below the incision.
I am still resting a lot, and icing when needed.
That's about where I am.
I think that my recovery has gone about as well as could be expected.
Thank you for your support, help and advice.
Looking back at the entire process, it's been better than I thought it would be, but not something that I would like to do again.
Hopefully, my right knee will hold up.
See you next week.
 
I was at 109 flexion at 5 months and continued to improve over a year later. Patience is the key.
 
Here I am after 13 weeks.
ROM is 120+.
Only pain is to tendon/ligaments on the side and behind the knee.
Still swollen, which causes some discomfort.
I've scaled back my PT some what.
That's about it.
I have an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday.
We"ll see what he says.
Going out to do x-rays now.
 
That all sounds great!
I hope your surgeon is as happy with your knee as he should be!
 
120 at 3 months is great! Be sure and let us know how your appointment turns out.
 
Thanks.
IllI write tomorrow after my appointment.
 
Well, I've had my 3-month checkup and the doc is really happy.
Proclaimed that I have full ROM, which is not really the case but the ROM is more than 120 degrees.
He suggested that I use an elliptical machine which is better for regaining leg strength.
It also works the hamstrings, gastrocs, and thighs.
I guess I'll have to add that to the pool, land, swimming and stationary bike.
If I wasn't retired, I'd have to do so, just to get all my work in.
He told me that the discomfort I'm feeling on the side of my knee, and in other places, is normal for a healing knee.

I'll write again on Sunday as my journey to recovery continues.
Thankfully, so far, my right knee is healthy, so maybe, I only have to do this once.
Have a very productive and pain-free week.

May you all have a Happy Easter or Kosher Passover, as the case may be.
 
Good for you! You might also try intentional walking. Starting to slowly build up my walking regimen and adding five minutes a Day has helped build the muscles in my leg more than any other training I’ve done.
 
I began with just 10 min 2x a day and added 5 min each week. Let us know how it goes.
 
Schenk said:
He suggested that I use an elliptical machine which is better for regaining leg strength.
It also works the hamstrings, gastrocs, and thighs.
I guess I'll have to add that to the pool, land, swimming and stationary bike.
If I wasn't retired, I'd have to do so, just to get all my work in.
Click to expand...
You don't really have to do all that exercising - unless you really want to. Your knee is doing fine and you won't lose the ROM you already have if you cut back the exercising.

You could try alternating the activities - swim one day, walk another, gym work on a third day. Don't let exercising take over your life.
 
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