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TKR Really swollen

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Sweetie, I am going to say it again [Bonesmart.org] Really swollen ! And STOP the PT if you are going to be in agony the day after. Here is the mantra again for you:

- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!

If you will follow this to the letter, your recovery will be so much easier and progress at a much better rate. As long as you and others beat up on your traumatized knee, it is going to hurt and swell which causes more pain. This paradox of this recovery is that the slower and easier you take it the faster it will go. Your knee is in charge--not you, not your PT, and not your OS. If you are not kind to your knee, it is not going to be kind to you.

Please take care of yourself and your knee and keep us posted. We care.
[Bonesmart.org] Really swollen
 
There's a good reason for the tears...this rollercoaster ride! I hope they weren't deep squats, mini squats are sometimes too much that early.
I cried more often than I'd like to admit. This isn't fun at all, but in the end it will be worth it.
 
Tomsgirl,
Please listen to Judy (bottomshollow)!

You are doing far too much and that is why your knee is protesting. All this extra activity is actually slowing your progress.

That physiotherapist needs to stop hurting you and making you do unnecessary exercises, too. At your stage, you should only be doing very gentle exercises, not things like squats. Your knee has been injured. It needs gentle treatment and time to heal. It is not a knee that is suffering from weak muscles that have to be strengthened - that comes much, much later in your recovery.

It is your knee and you are in charge of your own recovery. If your knee tells you not to do something (by hurting and swelling) then don't do it! Your physiotherapist works for you, not you working for him/her. You have the choice to say you will not do certain exercises. If the physio can't accept that, then ask for a different physio.

My surgeon does not allow any of his patients to have physiotherapy until at least 4 weeks after the operation. He insists that the knee needs that long to recovery from the trauma of surgery. All his patients do during that 4 weeks is gentle ankle pumps, heel slides and straight-leg lifting, as well as the usual getting around the house. He has a very low rate of manipulation under anaesthetic (MUA) and his patients make very good recoveries.

Please try listening to the advice of people who have been through the same operation as you - I'm sure it will help.

Caryl (Celle)
 
Tomsgirl, that sounds about right for 3 weeks. Cry time! I spent weeks 3-5 trying to understand why everything I did or saw or whatever my hubby said to me made my tears start flowing. It will drive you crazy! But, never fear, it does go away. I hope it goes by quickly for you!
 
I'm so relived to know I am having normal feelings! Pt went smoother today, told my bend is only 84 but I feel good because I can walk without a limp and pretty much straighten my leg which is something I haven't been able to do for a few years now!
 
Yesterday while out grocery shopping with my husband I was doing fine when we got back to the house I could hardly bear wt on my rtkr the pain was on the medial aspect of the knee and shot into the shin with any wt bearing . Once inside I took pain medication and elevated my leg ice, the area was hot and slightly swollen. This morning the swelling has gone down and I am able to bear wt with a little discomfort but now I am very nervous that I may have done something to hinder my recovery. I see my OS tomorrow morning for my 4wk f/u . Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?
 
SQUATS at 3 weeks?!!!!!:shocked:
At 4 weeks post op I had just started 'official" PT, only real gentle stuff, no squats till about 8 weeks out.
You can't rush healing. You might want to cut back a LOT and see how much you progress.
 
My story of swollen right knee sounds like everyone elses. I'm starting 5th week post op - PT started in hospital - day 2,3 then discharged home. Home PT began end of week 2 - 3xs a week - I told PT about not wanting to push past discomfort to avoid horror of swelling and pain - she let me go at my own pace. The first 4 weeks I dealt with pain at the knee and to the inside of the patella (right knee) - I had a bruise on the back of my calf almost 50% of the calf - that has decreased in size and color - my new pain has to do with an increase in swelling -I compared my sizes by inches above the knee, at the knee, below the kness, at the biggest point of my calf, at the ankle, and around the foot - Right leg always 1- 1 1/2 inches bigger than left - no change over the 4 weeks in size but a big increase in pain and discomfort - it feels like a knife is being drawn across the top of my right foot - Also - the whole right leg muscles hurt - as I massage from toes to hip (trigger point therapy book) it feels like every part of all the muscles are bruised inside - I'm a nurse and know how to check for clots - there is nothing local. I was trying to balance my exercises and slow activity (walking around house the first 2 weeks with rest periods and the mantra of ice, elevation etc. - stopping when I felt tired and/or felt the ache get stronger) - Week 3 I walked to the mailbox and back - about 70 feet from the house - The last 2 days a friend drove me to the store - 7 miles away and I spent about 15 min walking with a cane- Came home and the right leg was throbbing - back to ice etc.

I live alone in a rural area - have 6 dogs, 6 cats, a horse, a mule and 2 roosters. I hired 2 amish boys to care for the outside animals - but have to do the dogs and cats (inside/outside) myself - I do those chores very slowly and with rest stops - and I have to check the barn - a short walk to the barn - boys will be boys - and forget sometimes.

I realize that I do push a little more than I want to - and that the current swelling is related to all this activity - I don't want manipulation and I'm trying not to end up with a long uncomfortable and painful recovery because I can't get the swelling down.

Just wanted to check with everyone if the pain of the whole leg is normal - and if the increase in size of the leg might become permanent? So great to have this forum -
 
Hi Rick, I sure hope the swelling is not permanent because my leg still swells even after being off of it and icing with elevation. I don't have pain in the foot but I too had that sharp pain right down the front of my leg into the ankle that has started to go away, I just wish the stiff feeling around the knee would leave too and I sure it will when the swelling finally subsides. I'm also a RN and thought I knew what I was getting myself into...boy was I wrong ! So glad to have this forum for reassurance
 
rick said:
I realize that I do push a little more than I want to - and that the current swelling is related to all this activity - I don't want manipulation and I'm trying not to end up with a long uncomfortable and painful recovery because I can't get the swelling down.
Click to expand...
If you don't want an MUA then you are going the wrong way about it because aggravating already angry tissues is one way of getting them! You see, angry tissues that are swollen and hot with inflammation are much more likely to 'stick' together. You best way of avoiding adhesions is to keep the leg cool with rest and ice, keep the swelling down with elevation and control the pain with pain meds. They are all interlinked. You're only 4½ weeks out which is extremely early. Adhesions don't usually form that quickly so you should be okay with the BoneSmart mantra. Go back to your thread and read the articles Judy posted for you - again, if you've already read them. Within them lies your salvation to a half decent recovery.
 
The stiff feeling is completely normal at this stage. Like the others have said, be kind to your knee--it's on its own healing schedule and pushing too hard makes it cranky and stubborn.
 
I so appreciate everyone's response and reminders to work with the healing - I - too - thought I had done my reading and was prepared for the "work" as the surgeon said - I discovered I wasn't ready to rest and be kind to my body. I spent the last 2 days doing the mantra and the results are there - the swelling has decreased. This evening I did some work in the kitchen and could feel the skin beginning to tense - so it was back to elevation and ice -

I'm still feeling my way around the mechanics - I don't know if I did the wrong thing. At the end of the posts is a thumbs up with "Like" I thought by hitting it - I was saying I liked the response - but if I am wrong and the opposite happened - I apologize - there is nothing I don't like at bonesmart - the articles and the people are important to me - so I always "like" responses
 
Tomsgirl said:
Hi Rick, I sure hope the swelling is not permanent because my leg still swells even after being off of it and icing with elevation. I don't have pain in the foot but I too had that sharp pain right down the front of my leg into the ankle that has started to go away, I just wish the stiff feeling around the knee would leave too and I sure it will when the swelling finally subsides. I'm also a RN and thought I knew what I was getting myself into...boy was I wrong ! So glad to have this forum for reassurance
Click to expand...

Hi - you had your surgery the day before mine - right - 12/18? I sit and bend my left leg and am amazed by the degree of flexion(no surgery on that knee) and have a bit of anxiety that the right will never be able to do the same - the stiffness and difference in size - I find myself going off into worry-land - things like - maybe the joint ireplacement is too big and it will always be slightly bigger. The surgeon had offered to customize the joint by doing a special ultrasound but my insurance denied it as experimental - i sometimes wonder if it was a mistake not to pursue and appeal their denial - I've never been this silly after previous surgeries. The complete and sudden exhaustion is also surprising. I had a laminectomy last year and was up and about - pain free - in 2 week. This forum really helps put things in perspective - I keep recommending it to everyone. Hope your healing continues without complications.
 
[Bonesmart.org] Really swollen
You got the "like" exactly right. If you really like someone's post, you click it. They will get an alert at the top of their page on the screen that will let them know that you really liked their post--If you click it by accident--just click again and it will go away!
 
Tomsgirl said:
Yesterday while out grocery shopping with my husband I was doing fine when we got back to the house I could hardly bear wt on my rtkr the pain was on the medial aspect of the knee and shot into the shin with any wt bearing . Once inside I took pain medication and elevated my leg ice, the area was hot and slightly swollen. This morning the swelling has gone down and I am able to bear wt with a little discomfort but now I am very nervous that I may have done something to hinder my recovery. I see my OS tomorrow morning for my 4wk f/u . Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?
Click to expand...

You are at four weeks---please consider that your knee was sliced open and two bones were sawed off---and there was a great deal of forceful work done to your knee when the implants were put into place---your knee has sustained some major surgical trauma. At four weeks, your knee is still not only dealing with this, but still reeling from it, too!

Grocery shopping was, perhaps, ding too much too soon, and your knee is letting you know that---please listen to your knee.

The good news is that we have all done too much, too soon, and you just have to take it easy and understand that it will take time---longer than you would most likely like---to recover from this.

Simply work to stay within the envelope, so to speak, and take it easy. Icing, elevating, and resting are key components of helping your knee through this. Take it easy, take it slowly, take it gently, and understand that you will eventually reach your destination of being fully recovered.

That implant is cemented in there very, very strongly, and you did nothing to it---what you did do, though, is to aggravate the tissue and the muscles around it that are not ready to carry that load for that long. Slow down, back off, and relax! Hang in there!
 
Believe me I learned my lesson about slowing down! Now I'm resting ,icing, and elevating most of the day with a 10-15 min walk outside for fresh air. I start out patient PT on Tues so we will see how that goes.
 
Hi again Rick, I bend my left leg a lot farther than the right too and also wonder if there really is a size difference! I do notice that I can walk on it now without the grinding bone on bone pain so that's a plus. Hopefully someday I will be able to not worry about every little ache and pain wondering if I may have done something to damage my new knee. Everything I read on Bonesmart says that the exhaustion will pass but it sure is taking its sweet time I feel like all I do is rest ice elevate and sleep.
 
I does take time and the ache and pain do get less. And it is so worth it. Take care. Tashia
 
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