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TKR Questions about knee extension and scar massage

I returned to my full time desk job at 7 weeks, way too soon even for a sit around job. I was also to move between meeting rooms periodically and had PT after work. The Bonesmarties recommended getting up every hour for a walk about. I iced while at work and still came home every night very fatigued, unable to do much else. My knee was very swollen and sore at end of every day.
 
I am so frustrated at the slow recovery. I read all the posts and they really help me to sort things out and realize we are all in the same boat. Went back to work last Friday and worked Sunday (mostly doing paperwork). I am a nurse. Took it easy the rest of Sunday and all day yesterday other than some easy PT. Lots of pain and swelling over the weekend and pain at night. Feel like any little activity I do results in swelling and being very uncomfortable. Also diagnosed with a dvt 2/5 and follow-up tomorrow. I do ice and elevate all day long. How are others recovering at the 8 week mark?
 
Welcome to Bonesmart. This journey IS long and frustrating at times. There will be days you wonder what in the world you have done and then days your knee feels comfortable. Many people continue to have swelling and pain for months after surgery. I hope your DVT resolves quickly. There are better days ahead.
 
As a fellow nurse, I think 8 weeks was really too soon to return to work after this kind of surgery. Unlike other types of surgeries where when your incision is healed you can pretty much consider yourself healed, a knee replacement can take several months to fully feel 100% again. And if you had a DVT a couple of weeks ago, that should be considered a complication which requires more time to get over. It's normal to still have swelling and pain, and if activity is causing it to increase your knee is telling you to slow down! I was fortunate to be able to retire after I had my 1st knee replaced (I planned it that way), but I can tell you there was no way I would have been ready to return before 12 weeks and I had a mostly desk job. I wasn't even sleeping through the night until then so I wouldn't have been able to function through the day. It was probably 4-5 months before I could sit with my knee bent for more than an hour at a time. Everyone heals differently, but this is not a quick recovery and it does take patience. Keep icing, and it may help to get on a regular schedule of Tylenol to keep your pain level controlled. Even now at 8 months post on my 2nd knee I take 2 extra strength Tylenol in the morning and night just so I can do everything I need to during the day and sleep at night. I can bike 5 miles a day, do stairs up and down normally and honestly don't even think about my knees now. Be patient, you'll get there.
 
ses9663 said:
How are others recovering at the 8 week mark?
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After my BTKR, I returned to the classroom at eight weeks. I thought that it would be my "magic date" and I would be "good to go." Boy, did I have a great deal to learn. I now know, in looking back, by returning to work at that time, that I slowed down my recovery,.

ses9663 said:
I am so frustrated at the slow recovery.
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It is indeed a slow and frustrating process. Mine went on for eight months until I was pretty close to being fully recovered---and I continued to gain ROM past the year mark. When you consider, however, what has been surgically done to the knee---the surgical trauma and the devastation done, you will understand why it takes so long to recover
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[Bonesmart.org] Questions about knee extension and scar massage

Patience, Grasshopper, Patience!!

ses9663 said:
Went back to work last Friday and worked Sunday (mostly doing paperwork).
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Again, these activities, while they are something that we want to do, will cause swelling, stiffness, pain, and frustration---mine did, as well. One thing that I did on every Sunday was, after church, I did absolutely nothing but rest, ice, and elevate all day. That seemed to help.

I was back on the baseball field calling balls and strikes in April after my November BTKR, but I still had an ever so slight limp that went away shortly after that, and I did ice and elevate at times when I got home after games.


It was not until I was at about the six-month mark that I would say that I was around 80%-85%, and at eight months I was 90%-95%---getting close to 100%.
 
@ses9663---I merged your two recovery threads, as per forum protocol. We would really like all TKR recovery patients to have one recovery thread, as it makes it so much easier for us to see where you have been, what issues you have had previously, and how you are doing now---simply by looking in one thread.

We do not have to bounce from one thread to another, and it makes it much easier and much for efficient to get you the advice and the help that you need.
 
Hi ses9663 , How long are your work days? If you are doing 12 hour shifts it's way too soon to be there, even if you are mostly wrangling papers. If you can take at least another month off you will feel so much better for it, and I'm sure management will understand. I am 19 weeks post op RTKR and will be returning to work TOMORROW as a respiratory therapist in a large, busy hospital. Why so late? I learned a lesson from my first knee replacement: I went back too soon and was in so much discomfort I'd find myself ducking into restrooms to cry, then cry again when I got home. There's NO WAY I would have been able to safely perform my job at 8 weeks post op- I could barely walk unassisted! This recovery I used FMLA, sdi, and some extra disability insurance to stay out as long as needed to recoup my strength and endurance. At the 12 week post op check my OS had no problem clearing me for more time off. He knows how hard we work! I did experience some anxiety about my long medical LOA, but touching base periodically with my department manager and supervisor has been quite reassuring. As for my co-worker nurse friends who had knee replacements, like me they stayed out four to five months. I hope you can arrange a little more time off!
 
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When I returned to teaching, I tried everything---I parked very close to my classroom; I limited my walking to the office; I had others run errands for me and took papers to the office or to the copying machine; I iced and elevated during my planning period and my lunch period, and I changed the way that I taught---instead of walking around the room a great deal, I sat at a table in front of the class and "held court" from there.

Nothing worked---at about 11:00 in the AM, I was becoming stiff and sore, and by the end of the day, I was frustrated and exhausted.
 
Thank you for all of your support and advice. It is so very helpful to have an idea of what this recovery is like at various points in time. I should have mentioned that I am part-time and work 2 days a week though the shifts are generally 10-12 hours. It is an outpatient surgery center. I do not want to rush things and thus slow down my recovery. I appreciate your honest opinions about just how long this recovery is. I knew this in my mind but was thinking I am young and my recovery will go faster. Boy, was I wrong!! I really should have known better! :unsure: I feel so much better after reading all of your responses. The Tylenol suggestion is very good advice as well. I generally take no pain meds during the day although I did take Tramadol on the days that I worked. This forum has been really wonderful for me. Thank you!:)
 
ses9663 said:
I should have mentioned that I am part-time and work 2 days a week though the shifts are generally 10-12 hours.
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Even though it is only two days a week, that is a long time to be on your feet.

There are some who have recovered quickly and rather flawlessly, but, for the most part, most of us seem to plod through recovery ever so slowly, which is pretty much par for the course.

Take heart in the idea that you will reach that destination---that the roller coaster ride of recovery will end someday, and you will not have to focus on your new knee at all! Normalcy will reign!!
 
If you have a dvt, should you be on your feet for 12 hours? Is that the recommendation for you? I would have thought that you might have to take a few more weeks off.

At any rate, I found that support hose helped me when I went back to work. I used thigh high stocking with no feet in them. I got basic black and they did not look as bad at the ted hose!!
 
@skigirl, The OS said I could return to work with no restrictions. I asked to have an additional week off and he gave me a note. I am going to have the OS write a note to restrict my hours to no more than 6 hours a day. :)

I do have the compression stockings and they do help. I also bought a pair of sockwell compression socks which don't look at all like Ted hose!
 
Do not try to compare yourself to other patients who may be recovering faster than you. Just as we are all unique individuals, so is our recovery.

Take heart in the fact that the vast majority of us felt pretty much the same as you----that the recovery is not going fast enough or as fast as we think it should be. You will get there---and you will feel great when you do---in reality, I would say that 99.999% of us were not prepared adequately for the length and the frustration levels of this recovery.

As for those who have had a very easy and ridiculously fast recovery, they are much like Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman or the Yeti----people claim that they exist, but nobody has ever really seen one!
 
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Hi. I follow this forum religiously and find some really great advice and support on it. I went to the OS today for my 3 month follow-up Left TKR. I go to PT twice a week and switched therapists. The new one is much more gentle. I finally got my flexion to 100 but extension is stuck at 8. The OS was not happy with the extension. He also told me that I am prone to scar tissue development. He suggested taking pain meds to help with PT. The Tylenol and Tramadol do nothing for me. I am on a blood thinner for a dvt so I cannot take NSAID's. He advised taking Vicodin. I prefer not to take it - I do at night sometimes if I am very active that day. He also suggested massaging my knee. Any suggestions on how to massage? I find the extensions exercises very uncomfortable so I admit I do not do them as often as the flexion exercises. My gait is suffering because of this. Any advice is most appreciated

Clipless said:
?! The above post cannot be from Tim C.!
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Hi. Tim C. kindly posted this to my post-op thread. I sent it as a personal message when I wanted to send it out to everyone. I also would like to change the title but don't know how to do that either! Technology challenged! :heehee:
 
We will get you back on track! More advice on the way!

Have you tried to heat your hamstring for a while and then do gentle hamstring stretches?

I would lie face down on my bed, with my leg hanging over the edge from about the knee down. I would heat the hamstring with a heating pad and then gently let gravity to its job---for maybe 30 seconds or so at a time. I also had to use very small ankle weights to help. By heating the muscle, you are allowing it to be more stretchable and it will allow better results. I also used ice on the hamstring afterwards.

Others use the ottoman and let the knee slowly and gently bend to straight.
 
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