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TKR Progress of a November Nimble

Space Knee said:
Week 17 report -- had my first chance at water exercise today. After talking it over with the PA at my OS's office, she advised that I start slow with a few aquacize exercises. So, I spent five minutes simply walking circles in the pool in water up to my chest. Then, did some bicycle motions, some leg lifts, a few very small squats, and some treading water. All in all about 15 minutes of activity. Very relaxing and it felt really good to get back in the water again after months away!

The stiffness in my knee continues to be there, but is dissipating slowly. Still get occasional twinges along the nerve bundles, but the sciatic nerve has calmed quite a lot. So much so that I could stop taking gapapentin. The only pain med I am taking now is Tylenol. Still icing occasionally, and also going "toes above nose" a few times a day to relax the leg.
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Wow! I am so impressed by your Rom. I am 17 weeks. I am a swimmer and as soon as the stitches healed I was in the water and ohhh it was so painful.. i waited until I was about 10 weeks tkr and it still felt weird but I started swimming with my bouy just so I could swim.. then I started doing a little kicking.. I am up to 33 laps but I have paid with it on my rom... it has dropped due to swelling.. so i have cut back.. am doing the bike at home.. tried the spin bike and I can do it but it is uncomfortable behind my knee. I absolutely hate being patient but when I am and back off my knee feels so much better.. we are coming into nice weather and I really want to hike, bike and swim.. this being patient is Not fun

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Loriannie, I haven't been doing laps yet, just some gentle aquacize. However, our pool is closed for repairs for a couple of weeks, so I'll be doing some light walking and some recumbent bicycling.

There are some days when I have very little pain, and others when it's just stiff and sore. NO harsh pain, but the knee reminding me that it's there. It's tough to be patient, I agree.
 
Well, 20 weeks ago this week... progress is pretty good, although the stiffness remains a bit of an issue. Biggest problem I faced last week was a bit of a pulled muscle in my back, which made standing up and walking difficult. But, it's passed now and I'm back on the knee healing bandwagon.
 
I'm sorry to read of your stiffness, but at the same time, I really needed to read this and am so glad I found this thread. I'll be 7 weeks post-op on Monday. I was concerned with the amount of stiffness I'm still feeling. No longer worried after reading this thread. Thanks, everyone!
 
Stiffness lasts for many months. The knee will have inside swelling even if the outside looks like it doesn't. That internal swelling causes stiffness. It does goes away, but it takes a while.
 
I've been pleased that the swelling is down a lot, but it's pretty clear there's still some inside. The stiffness is really starting to be confined to a fairly small region around the knee, but it's still there. Still feels somewhat leaden, but NOT the whole knee as it was for the past couple of months. The only other thing that I have noticed is that with continued stretching and light exercise, the patello-femoral muscle point pain is finally starting to subside a little bit. The quads haven't hurt in several weeks now and they feel almost back to normal. The p-f pain is now intermittent instead of constant. So, that's a step forward (so to speak).

The back pain thing was weird -- I went to a meeting that lasted about four hours and was sitting in a chair with a back that sort of dug into my back. I didn't notice it at first, but that night it really was stiff and sore. Got worse and worse and finally about a week later, I could barely walk or straighten up. So, went to the spine doc. They said "pinched nerve" and gave me some Prednisone to help stop that swelling. It worked like a charm and one great side effect was that it kinda helped the knee, too. Glad I did it -- it was only a short, but intense course of Pred, and that's do-able since the long-term effects are not great. So, I learned something there. ;)
 
Just a quick drop-in: six months out and mostly walking pretty well, with that residual stiffness that I understand will take a while to go away. I spent a weekend on my feet at a conference, did about 6, 000 steps a day, and it wasn't too bad, although the muscle points just below the knee were squawking. Icing did help and I did spend a day or two off my feet once I got home. Still icing several times a day (the cube is wonderful!), and stretches. Once the pool reopens at our rec center, I'll be back for aquacize.
 
Your knee coped pretty well with that conference. I'm glad . :yes!: :flwrysmile:
 
I had my DH along at the conference to make sure I sat down as much as possible. I was surprised at how well it went. I have my six-month checkup with the OS this next week and probably won't have a lot to cover except the ongoing stiffness, which is abating very slowly.
 
It seemed like my stiffness hung on forever, and then all of a sudden it was gone! Stiffness is the last thing to go for a lot of us. But, your knee did well at your meeting. Yay!
 
Checking in here -- nearly 7 months post-op. Still plagued with a bit of stiffness just below the kneecap in the quads. Also having a bit of hip flexor stiffness. Saw the doc three weeks ago and they are sending me back for a bit of PT to work on the quad and the flexor. I can walk pretty well, but when I first stand up, the stiffness and discomfort just below the knee kicks in. Once I'm walking for a short bit, then it calms down. But, still gimpy and walking a bit disjointedly (so to speak). Other than that, they're pleased with the healing; the incision is nearly invisible in places and there is very little swelling.

I have a step sensor now (an economical version of the fitbit) and have worked up from 2k steps per day to nearly 8 or 10 k steps some days. We are walking at the track, and every other day I am on the recumbent bike for about five easy miles.
 
You're doing plenty of exercise so at least some of your stiffness is probably due to that. Over time that should go away also. It took a good nine or ten months for my stiffness to become a thing of the past, and still it might recur somewhat if I walk more than usual. Of course it also goes away overnight now. But what I'm getting at is you're having a good recovery with normal stiffness at this point. :)
 
My knee would get stiff after sitting but loosen up after a few steps for at least the first year--but ever decreasing. Same thing if I stood for a long time.
 
Hello all, it has been a year since my TKA and in some ways it is good, in other ways not so much. Still battling stiffness in the muscles around the knee; I call it "frozen knee". I do have very good range of motion, and can walk quite well, but the stiffness just doesn't quite go away. I exercise, and found swimming to be the best, followed by stationary bike.

Since I wrote last I have been traveling a LOT for business, don't need a cane, etc. but do need extra rest after long days.

So, it's moving along, and I think that the stiffness is still better than the grinding pain I had before. Just hoping that the stiffness will eventually fade. I see the surgeon for the one-year post-op tomorrow.
 
I hope you got a great report from your surgeon yesterday! Do you do massage for the stiffness that lingers? Please update us on how things came out for you after your dr. visit - it's exciting to hear from people who are a year out/on the other side!
 
Hi, I did get a good report from the surgeon. He says that the stiffness will continue to slowly dissipate and recommended that I massage some CBD (topical) cream into the muscles. I have just finished a month and a half of pretty intensive travel and will be getting back to my bicycling routine at the rec center, along with the walking. Overall, however, he was pleased and I don't need to see him for five years. So, that's good. ;)
 
I'm glad your surgeon was pleased with your knee.
Like him, I hope that your stiffness continues to decrease.
 
So, interestingly, the surgeon has been looking into the effects of topical CBD creams on muscle stiffness after TKA. While there are NO cited studies yet, there is anecdotal evidence that a topical cream does help the muscles "relax" a bit. I live in a state where this is legal, so I have obtained some topical cream that contains CBD and THC and am trying it out. I suspect that the massage action also helps, but we'll see.

Otherwise, I'm slowly getting better and keeping up my activity as best I can.
 
Report on various things:

1) the stiffness in my knee comes and goes; I've been massaging it twice a day with CBD oil and/or Vitamin E oil. It seems to help loosen things up.

2) back issues continue, but mostly due to a pinched nerve. That's being treated with injections.

3) I still have reddish discoloration from mid-shin down to the ankle; it begins at the same level as the lower scar where they attached the robot. Does anyone know if this is entirely normal and will slowly dissipate? It doesn't appear to be cellulitis, just discoloration.

Other than that, walking helps each day, and the knee itself is relatively pain free. The muscle attach points above and below are what's stiff.

Here I am, a 14.5 months after surgery and still healing slowly.
 
Space Knee said:
Here I am, a 14.5 months after surgery and still healing slowly.
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I think there there are more people still healing slowly after the year than we realize. :console2:
 
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