@sistersinhim answered here:
I guess we all felt her explanation was the answer.
I’ll add to that, I iced until about 6 months and that is when it began to be painful, so I stopped. You can choose what you feel is best for you.
It's not like a regular numbness...it's strange. The outer layers/muscles feel like they need to be iced. I put the ice on and then it feels like the
bone is numb. Not just on the surface...but the bone. In any event, not really icing that much anymore.
@Softtail - my go to position for zero pain is - recliner, pillow length-wise under each leg, ice paks wrapped in towels (lots of times I can get there without ice now). I'm sitting at the computer - working position and have zero pain right now. I do know, however, that when I get up, both knees will be stiff and the right one will bark louder. Glad I did both at once. Beforehand, I was thinking, if it really hurt, I'd be reluctant to do the second. As it turned out, it wasn't 'that bad' and if I hadn't had them both done at once, I'd have been bummed that I didn't.
@Laurenkate - thanks. Looks like that might be the case. Feeling much better today. They sent me to their 'express clinic' yesterday. The PA that saw me said I looked great, took the dressing off my knees, said they looked good, so she wasn't sure whether to send me home or to the ER. That seemed like quite the range to me...so, she gave me something for nausea and off we went (home). It did give me a chance to get out for about a 40 minute (each way) car ride, which went fine. (The regular office is only about 5-10 mins away).
No oxy or ice yesterday and no real pain either. I think maybe I was too mentally distracted by not feeling well. Today, going with some occasional ice. So far, my home PT people have been great. Haven't touched me and if I told them something hurt, they'd either say, do fewer, don't do it as hard, or just don't do it. We'll see what the OP people have to say.