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Knee Infection* Revision

A scraped knee hurts something awful! Well worth tears! This is far, far worse and worth oceans more tears. Go easy on yourself.
 
Got thru this day with no tears or exasperated pain. Had dull pain all day...a few periods of intense hurt. As usual....come 8pm the stiffness and throb came back. So....another day down. I hope all you supporters had a good day.
 
I cried a river over the first several weeks. This journey is HARD! Sometimes those tears really helped release something and I felt better afterward. Never apologize for tears, venting, being down, or anything. WE GET IT! And we understand and we care- so feel free to share. I'll be 12 weeks post op tomorrow and I'm still needing support from these BoneSmarties.
 
We totally understand how you feel. The whole process is hard to explain to people who have not had a TKR, that is why this forum is so helpful to all of us who have had it- The pain can be so relentless in the beginning-it wears you down-
I am 7 weeks out, it is not perfect, I have a ROM of 95 and still a flexion 6 degrees away from straight, I elevate it and ice it several times a day still, plus go to PT 3 X a week and do my home exercises.
I recently have backed off from doing to much and the swelling went way down after a few days.
I really pushed myself because I thought my PT was disappointed in my progress, but then I realized that I get a little better, just a few numbers up every time I go, so why should I let him make me so miserable- I am happy to tell you that when I woke up this morning for the first time since my surgery and walked into the kitchen, my knee was not the first thing that I thought of. It felt quite normal.
 
PT insisted today that I reach 90°bend. I actually yelled but she told me she had to do it. Boy that hurt. Went on my first ride to the pharmacy drive thru. Sore now....but I'm not crying so far today. 2 week mark!
 
valgriff2 said:
T insisted today that I reach 90°bend. I actually yelled but she told me she had to do it. Boy that hurt.
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Why did you let her do this? Most OS don't expect 90 degrees until at least 6 weeks. Run from the therapist. She is causing you more harm than good. Your knee is an infant and extremely traumatized. It is not out of shape, it is wounded and injured and needs to heal.

There is no time limit to get a certain ROM. Gentle movements and just walking around the house is all the exercise your knee needs to rehab. Aggressive therapy sets recovery back because it inflames an already inflamed knee.
 
Just read that possibly Advil isnt goid for the healing process. I've been taking them every day along with percocet. Am I doing damage to myself? Also....my skin on my shin and calf is so sensitive. Any suggestions?
 
There are many opinions about medications, and especially NSAIDs. My surgeon told me, on post op day 10, that I could take ibuprofen and Tylenol, alternately, so I did. I took ibuprofen every 6 hours, and Tylenol every 6 hours, but I staggered it so that I was taking something every 3 hours. That worked well for me.

Ibuprofen helped the other arthritis in my body, Tylenol took care of the post op pain. That was when I stopped the prescription pain medication

Some people can’t take NSAIDs and some people can. Always eat something when you take medication, unless a particular medication says not to.

I asked my surgeon about the thought that ibuprofen slows down bone healing, and he didn’t believe it did. There are others who think it does.

There are lots of conflicting opinions in this recovery and we have to use common sense and figure out what works best for each of us
 
valgriff2 said:
Also....my skin on my shin and calf is so sensitive. Any suggestions?
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I had this same problem. I still get some sore spots, but the extreme sensitivity passed after a few weeks. My legs were much more swollen then, which probably caused the tenderness. Ice and elevate your leg. I found if I gently massaged my legs while they were elevated, that seemed to help.
 
Today was a fairly good day. Started using a cane instead of the walker. Felt ok till around 7pm...achy. Took a pain pill, got on the bed, and elevated. Pain went away rather quickly.

Now I feel like I need to stretch all the time.
 
I'm almost at week 3. The thought of going through this again is horrifying. The pain has been incredible. I've contemplated a million times that this was the wrong thing to do. As I read what everyone else says, I'm trying to stay hopeful. I guess misery does love company, cuz its good to know I'm not alone!
 
I am at 4 weeks now. Despite being a super optimistic person, week 3 kicked my butt!! Feeling so much better this week. Take the pain meds as long as you need them. Rest. Be kind to yourself. I had no idea the toll this operation would take on my body and my psyche. But I feel much better this week than last. Hang in there.
 
PT seems to be such a controversial subject. LTKR January 7..... I will not be doing it again when and if I have RTKR. I remember panicking when I could not get into outpatient PT immediately. I stopped after 6 sessions when the PT said my next visit we would be doing leg presses and lunges. Every PT seems to have their own ideas and methods. I am sold on normal daily activities, gentle stretching, recumbent bike and reasonable walking, iceing and elevation. Just wondering what the general consensus on PT is...
 
Flpickleballer said:
Just wondering what the general consensus on PT is...
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I believe formal PT is unnecessary for many patients, that using the knee in my daily activities is perfect for it's recovery. Many favor going to PT and have found that gentle movements, massage, working on reducing swelling, and aiming toward a correct gait is working for them.

For the vast majority, aggressive and painful exercises cause pain and swelling, which sets recovery back. If it takes days to reduce the pain and swelling from a day of PT, then PT is not helping to heal that knee, its keeping it inflamed.

A TKR recovery is not training an out of shape knee, it's allowing it to gently heal from a traumatic, major surgery.
 
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