TKR Post surgery knee stiffness?<

[CAdesgirl]

You don't ever have to feel bad for doing your recovery on your timetable. I didn't let PT come the day I came home from the hospital, either. When they came the next day, I wouldn't let them touch me except to do vitals (my medical provider has nurse/PT that work for them) and chat. I showed them that my ROM was fine and that was good enough for them.

It's your knee and your recovery and you've got enough experience to know what worked last time and what didn't. You're going to do so much better this time.

 

[NavyGunns]

No need to do PT right away. I didn’t have any home PT. I did the stretching moves, heel slides, etc. that I was shown in the hospital and did so at my own pace. My OS didn’t even mention PT until after my first post op visit to his office at two weeks. Started outpatient PT at week 3. Went twice a week for 4 weeks. Did so mainly for the stretching and massage that they provided, not for any exercise.

 

[maryo52]

Dale, so you are home with your 2nd knee. The stiffness you mention in the first knee is normal, and the short answer is the more you do, the stiffer it will feel. Each of us has to find a good balance between rest and activity. My discharge PT instructions say, "Start slow and increase your activity daily. If the swelling and motion in your knee is getting better then continue to progress your activity; if they are getting worse then decrease your activity and increase your time elevating and icing your knee."

It sounds as if right now your bigger challenge is pain control, and if you read the articles, you'll find some good guidance on pain relief. Especially look at the one on icing and elevation.

I've noticed that a lot of people think that PT leads to faster progress, and this is simply not true. PT is intended to restore function. Our knees out of surgery need to be babied in order for the tissues to heal. I am 2 weeks 4 days out and doing really well but I still have my leg up when I'm sitting, often with the ice machine hooked up.

Good luck. I hope you are mending well. The winter here in the northeast hasn't been too too bad. I'm not far away, in Maine, and glad to be able to get out and walk a bit.

 

[bad0351]

@maryo52
Thank you for the words of encouragement.....I'm disappointed that the pain is twice as bad with this one and I'm hoping it will heel as well as my first is.
Dale

 

[Roy Gardiner]

You will be fine. You will look back with gratitude (my guess!) at the short interval between the two. For those of us needing 2 knees the gap is just marking time until full recovery can begin.

Foot slide x10 times as far as possible and hold for 10 seconds each
Lunges x15
Marching x15 times
Balance x30 seconds
Kick my knee back x15
Stretch as far as I can leaning into the first step on staircase x15 hold 10 seconds.
Step up x15 times

I may cut back a little on the PT.....it really does cause a lot of discomfort on a daily basis and sometimes I would just like to rest it for a day.

Cause and effect, your response is the correct one.

I am a little late to this, just to say Josephine gave it both barrels and as always says it right. Any exercise that puts force through the knee, as so many of these do, is not appropriate. It is a strength exercise, which you neither need nor want. All you need right now is gentle stretches (no pain, more gain!) for mobility. When healing is well under way you can go for proper training - if you like, you don't have to!

See also https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/post-operative-exercise-–-the-bonesmart-view.25463.