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TKR Robert Johnson's hybrid recovery'

Jamie, I've been taking 1000mg Tylenol three times a day since the operation. Plus, I just saw my chiropractor Thursday.

I had an mri in 2015. I have issues with my lumbar spine: stenosis, arthropathy of facet joint and disc degeneration.

My chiropractor says we all get it as we age so he's not that concerned, but I've definitely been aggravating it with all the icing/elevation.

When the D.O. explained the troubling risk/reward for a spinal injection (bleeding can cause paralysis), I said never mind to that.

I'll try heat. I use heat a lot but didn't think to use on lower back. Thanks.
 
@Jamie are there any guidelines on Bonesmart about massaging the scar? I've looked but haven't really found anything.

My incision was super glued with one weaving stitch from top to bottom (or bottom to top?). It's totally healed.
 
No there are no guidelines for massaging because it's not really needed. You can do it if it you like, but it's not going to have an impact on your healing or the looks of the scar.
 
No kidding? Totally useless? I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I had tendon surgery at Stanford in the late 90s to fix an injury from college in the 60s. I went to therapy later and the last session was on scar massage. I even bought a little massager.

No way to know if it mattered, I guess. It's unknowable.

That's good to know. Saves a lot of trouble. What do you base that on? Has someone demonstrated that it makes no difference?
 
Jamie, if you don't mind me asking, do you have an opinion about cementless femoral component? I've been reading about it. He sort of sprung it on me and told us the morning after.

Seems like there are pros and cons to both methods.

I tend to get out of the way of specialists I hire to do something, whether it's a doctor or a tradesman. When he asked me if I wanted him to use the same method as last time regarding the cruciate ligaments, I said I wanted him to do whatever he's doing now.

I think he appreciated that.
 
Both cemented and cementless work just fine. Remember, it's the skill of the surgeon that matters. I don't think there have been a lot of studies about massaging scars, but the "no impact" is what we have seen here on the forum for years. It won't hurt. Do it if you want to, but your body knows how to heal a scar without you massaging it.

What can help promote faster healing is broken link removed: https://shop.bldgactive.com/products/ssg/?source=forumbanner. It has the ability to assist in your body's natural healing process because it is the same compound that your body makes (hypochlorus solution) to heal. It works best to minimize your scar when you use it daily as soon as possible after your surgery.
 
It is never "too late." It just works better the sooner you can start it.
 
@robert johnson , My husband can sympathize with the back issues! He has the same exact problem. He has had those cortisone shots. He won’t ever do that again. The relief only lasted one week. He had his nerves treated by a Stanford doc. That lasted 3-4 months and then, of course, the nerves grew back. He also dis some spinal decompression at the chiropractor. Hopefully, like Jamie said, you’re just having a flare up of an old problem that’s temporary. I hope you feel better!

You mentioned Stanford. I assume tou are here in the Bay Area? Did a Stanford orthopedic surgeon do your replacement?
 
@Irish471 , I think Jamie is right that once I get back to normal activities a lot of these back issues will fade away. I'm quite sure the ice/elevation position is triggering much of it. I chickened out on the spinal cortisone shot even though I got them for years in my knee.

No, I live in Washington state now, but I worked in Silicon Valley from '85 to '02 (San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas).

We lived in the central valley during those years, but on occasion we found the need to get a second opinion at Stanford. And for good reason. The head Orthopedic surgeon (I guess it was the hand specialist) in Stockton told me he wouldn't touch my tendon injury. It was too subtle, affecting only things like typing, piano, etc. Dr. Amy Ladd at Stanford looked at it, looked at me and said, "I think I'm going to do it." It was a huge success. I worked in Campbell at the time and they let me have two months off for it.

We left California in early 2007.
 
At 7 weeks, walking a mile is starting to feel pretty normal to me. The first time we bumped it up to a mile from about 6/10ths was the first time I started to notice a little pain in my knee before we got back home. Nothing serious, but definitely something I hadn't noticed before.

I always ice anytime I feel like I'm pushing things a little. I did some regular yard work today, turning on the sprinkler system, getting down on one knee around the yard at various sprinklers, walking around the yard making sure they all survived the massive snow storm we had three weeks before my operation. Nothing super human like what @CRAZY TOM is doing but pretty typical of the kind of yard responsibilities I have to deal with.

I noticed that my scar looked a little hot and irritated at the bend, probably from rubbing on my jeans while bending. At least I hope that's all it is.

I see the OS on May 2 for my 8 week exam, so I'll see what he thinks. After that I think it's just annual exams.

One good thing I found out recently is that there doesn't seem to be any reason to elevate much anymore. Icing with my legs flat seems to be effective.

A couple times a week I make the rounds on a bunch of exercises and ride my stationary bike (I even made a slant board for calf stretches), but for the most part, walking is playing a bigger role in my recovery.

Still dealing with back and hamstring issues, but when I get moving they're not that bad. It's more an issue when I first get up.
 
Lol not feeling much like a super human I have a constant annoying numbness in my knee along with a frostbite burning sensation. I'm hoping that's a normal feeling. Everyone seems to say so.
You sound like you are doing well. Walking a mile at that stage is great. Mine swells for sure if I abuse it. Keep it up sounds like you got it going.
 
The whole right side of my knee, a circle about five inches in diameter is totally numb. From what I read, it could be like that for a long time, so I try to ignore it. I think that happened to me on my left TKR also and my feeling came back to normal eventually, so I'm hoping it will this time too. It's somewhat of an annoying distraction.

You're doing what you need to do. It's amazing. Hang in there.
 
Yes, the numb spot is a little weird but it does diminish.
 
It went away on my left knee. I don't know long it took, though. I was too busy worrying about the knee itself. My guess is it went away over the first two years while I was preoccupied with the overall outcome. Once I got to the point where the knee was ok, I don't remember having a numb area.

This time around it seems reversed. I have very little worrying me about the knee's outcome, so all I'm noticing are other things like the numb area and sore hamstrings.
 
@Celle I was wondering if you could help me understand something.

On my last day at PT, one of the things the therapist did was measure my knee around the bend so that he could compare the tkr knee to my other knee to get a relative measure of swelling.

He said it was 2 cm bigger and that was OK, and certainly to be expected at this early stage.

Ever since then I measure it and pretty much get the same thing. What puzzles me is that even after a long walk or some work around the yard when it's feeling like I need to ice, because it feels like it's swelling more than the normal swelling, any time I measure it I always get the same thing.

It feels swollen, but an objective observer wouldn't see any difference.

What do you make of that? Is it possible that something inside my knee swells on too much activity, but it's not something that is measurable on the outside?
 
It's possible to have internal swelling inside the joint, without any noticeable swelling of the tissues outside the joint.
 
I've been having a lot of hamstring tightness for a few weeks now. I started to suspect it might be high hamstring tendonitis, but I wanted to get a professional opinion.

I knew I had one month from my PT release date where I could get one more visit without the need for a new referral. I got lucky and the PT had an opening today at 1:30.

I told him what I've been doing and how tight and painful my hamstrings are right below the butt. He asked me how far I'm walking and how quickly I built up to a mile. I told him I was well within the guidelines we got at the joint class. And I started at 1/4 mile back around week 3. Weeks 6 to 12 say 1/2 mile to a mile. So I didn't really do anything radical (I'm at 8 weeks Friday).

I mentioned that our path involves some uphill and we may be walking a bit fast for this early..

He thinks it is hamstring tendonitis and gave me an exercise to do on a foam roller. Just 15 to 30 seconds once a day.

He also told me to cut my walking distance in half, immediately, and ice by sitting on gel packs. He said to stay at the reduced distances for as long as it takes and then build back up slowly.

So this sort of sets me back about 4 weeks, but that's ok, since I have no pressing need to do more. This seems like good advice and is in agreement with Josephine's recommended activity levels, which I just reread.
 
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