TKR Questions 8 months from surgery

[beachy]

I had LTKR 4 yrs ago and am scheduled for RTKR Sept 28.
I went back and read my recovery thread.
The 6-8 week point is crazy. Its up and down. You don't know if you're doing the right things. You have new aches and pains. You think you "should " be doing more.
The recovery can be up and down. Its not a straight line.
I don't think your recovery is slow. My doc was very honest and told me flat out....this takes a full year to FULLY recover.
You will see small victories here and there. I bet you have already.
Good luck!

 

[Mickimouse]

Thank you for your encouragement! I am so glad I found BoneSmart, I don’t feel so alone and is helping me know that what I am feeling is snot unusual.

 

[Jockette]

I agree with beachy, your recovery is not slow, it‘s normal.

Stiffness/Tightness is a normal occurrence after this kind of major surgery. Your surgeon did major carpentry work and disturbed every millimeter of soft tissue in this area. You aren't tight because your muscle is underused and needs to be stretched and rehabbed. You're tight because your tissue is healing...and full healing takes a full year or more.

Tight Band feeling across the front of my knee

That tight band is caused by scar tissue but not the adhesions type of scar tissue. When the surgeon opens up the knee, he has to undercut the skin and superficial structures from that centre line to each side of the knee in order to get good access all round the bones. Part of the healing...

bonesmart.org

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Post op blues is feeling depressed, weepy, nervy, shaky, fearful of the future, anxious, overwhelmed by what is happening to you, convinced it's never going to get any better and finally, uttering that most intense of all cries "I wish I never had this done!" It arises out of a variety of...

bonesmart.org

 

[Mickimouse]

I have been having a very bad shooting pain from my knee on the outside going up to a specific spot into my buttocks, it especially happens at night. I always seem to feel worse at night as well. I am now going into my 9th week PO I am wondering if this sounds normal or should I be contacting my doctor? It is over the moon painful and the oxycodone, Advil and muscle relaxer not helping. I’m worried something is really wrong. Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[Jockette]

What kind of activity do you do during the day? Exercises? Shopping? Household chores? Do you walk a lot? Are you still doing your PT exercises 3 times a day, like you said in your first post?

If you are still going to a PT office, what do you do there? How long is your session?

The reason I ask these questions is because very often, doing too much creates pains in many areas. You have been through a very major surgery and it takes an average of a year for everything to heal and settle down. In a recovery of 52 weeks, 9 weeks is still early in the healing process.

 

[Mickimouse]

Hi Jockette, to answer your questions and more: I do 15 exercises 3x’s everyday, plus walk outside for 5 mins or more 3x’s per day. I go to PT 2x’s per week for 45 mins., I have been trying to walk without the cane but can only do that so long. I also tried yesterday a message gun which I think I did more damage than good especially at the sore spot in my butt. Other than the workouts I pretty much sit in the recliner or elevate ice after working out. The pain really doesn’t come on strong until the evenings. My husband is of the mindset I don’t miss a workout. He’s been wonderful but I think he has heard no pain, no gain. Thank you for responding, I think I need to take it a bit easier especially since I have the it band and butt pain. Just hope by cutting back on activities the pain will subside.

 

[Jaycey]

@Mickimouse No doubt about it - your body is telling you to stop all this activity. And it does sound like the massage gun was not helping the situation.

Please tell your husband that you are not in training - you are healing!

 

[Mickimouse]

Thank you Jaycee for responding… I am totally not handling this recovery well, but this forum is helping me get by. I just want to be out of pain already

 

[Jaycey]

I just want to be out of pain already

Then you need to listen to your body and stop pushing yourself. All that exercise is counterproductive. Then you add PT. No need to walk 3 times per day. No need to do all those exercises 3 times per day. Workouts are for people in training. Try the gentle approach - it works!

 

[Joules]

Mickimouse, it will take time to recover from TKR. Pain management is key to permit your PT to commence. My TLKR was July 1, 2022. I still have days of discomfort and fatigue, so I generally rest. Other days I have energy and push my walking and exercises more. I still ice and elevate following. I have accepted that TKR takes far longer than hip replacement (both hips). But the mobility and strength will be worth the effort over time. I still have swelling in my knee, calf and ankle. But they are MUCH improved. What has helped greatly was PT massage of those areas following sessions. It has really helped me recover and improve the swelling therein. It may help you.

 

[Mickimouse]

My PT has not offered messages, guess I need to ask.

 

[Skip]

Hey Mickey….I hated it….I swore I’d kick my dr.s butt….never thought it would get better….nights of leg spasms. Restless leg, only sleep on back….it sucked butt….BUT, month 6 was awesome….do aqua therapy, my right knee still will not hold me up, no dr will touch it for replacement, but the water was great….I’m finally walking without a cane at 7 months…. Not able to walk very far like around the block or anything, maybe never will again, but. Have one awesome leg! And believe me it will come…eat them dang pain pills do therapy 2 times a week….exercise on your own…..you be you!

 

[Skip]

Oh and one more thing that helped with the long sleepless nights…my granddaughter introduced me to video games, never had much use for them……..love madden football….it will pass hours and you get very sleepy too…..

 

[Mickimouse]

Thanks Skip for the encouragement! My biggest problem right now is I feel I have piriformis sciatica which is really painful especially when I do my exercises or walk. This is so depressing me because I don’t know what to do for it. Anyone out there have same problem? Any positive outcomes?!

 

[WFD]

I get that from time to time. The problem I have is that the stretches I used to do to deal with it (mainly pigeon pose) are not possible with my knee as it is. Nowadays I stretch the buttock by laying my back with one leg straight and flat on the floor while I pull the other knee to my chest as far as possible, while keeping the other leg flat on the floor. Switch legs and repeat.

I then do a cobra pose to stretch the front of the hips.

These two work for me but are not as effective as the stretches I can't do anymore.

When I once had a particularly bad attack, my doctor had me on high dose ibuprofen to drive down the swelling that apparently was applying pressure to my sciatic nerve inside my butt. It took a few weeks but it did work. Don't do this without approval from your doctor.

Sciatic issues can be really stubborn and can originate from different places such as the spine, without causing pain there, so talking to a professional might be best.

 

[Jockette]

Pain management is key to permit your PT to commence.

There is no need for painful rehab in this recovery. Taking pain medication to enable you to do PT masks the necessary pain signal that tells you that you are doing more than your healing knee is ready to do. Doing more than you are healed to do will increase your pain level later on, requiring more pain medication to help relieve it, and doctors don’t want to prescribe pain medications for very long. Doing more than you are ready to do can cause setbacks, which extend your recovery time.

I do 15 exercises 3x’s everyday, plus walk outside for 5 mins or more 3x’s per day. I go to PT 2x’s per week for 45 mins.,

This is what I suspected, and it’s way too much for your particular knee. As Jaycey said, you are not training for an athletic event, you are healing from a major surgery that caused a lot of trauma and disruption to you whole leg.

I just want to be out of pain already

Then stop doing the things that are adding to a recovery that has enough pain all on its own, due to the nature of the surgery.

As we say in our recovery guidelines:
Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

I’m sorry your husband feels all this exercise is best for you. Many people do feel this way. But, it’s your knee and your recovery. I had a lot of discussions about the painful exercises with my husband also. In the end, he acknowledged that I had the right to make my own decision about how I recovered, and I stopped the PT and home exercises.

As one of our staff members likes to say, this recovery is a long journey but if you stick with the BoneSmart approach the journey will be less painful and you will still reach the same final destination. Ultimately you get to choose the path, the tough rocky road through painful PT, or the BoneSmart path through the meadow with the pretty wild flowers.

 

[Mickimouse]

Thank you everyone for your support! I have an mri scheduled for Thursday and meet with spine doctor Monday, I just wish I didn’t have the sciatica going on, ugh

 

[Jaycey]

wish I didn’t have the sciatica going on

I have chronic sciatic problems. I even had spinal decompression for this years ago. Unfortunately joint replacement can aggravate the sciatic nerve. I worked with an osteopath after my first THR and had great results.

Please let us know how your appointment goes.

 

[Mickimouse]

Went to outpatient PT today. Only workout I did, and she took it easy on me. The only thing she said about my back is cut down on workout for few days. Sounds familiar lol! I did however get a ROM on flexion of 110 and 4 on extension. I just wish I was feeling better. Just start getting sore and not feeling good socializing. I sat with some neighbors for an hour and a half and got really uncomfortable and of course it is evening. Is that unusual for nine weeks?

 

[sistersinhim]

No, it's not unusual at all, especially later in the day. That's when all the day's activities add up and your knee will start to fuss about it. Try to follow the advice here and you should feel better.