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MUA Rubber band feeling'

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The bike is all about the position of your seating. I have a recumbent bike. Try moving your seat in different settings. Also try moving the position of your feet as well.

Does the Dr know why you continue to have pain at night?
 
Been there done that with the bike. I am told by both the OS and the PT that night pain is quite normal as the knee stiffens up with the lack of movement.
 
Pontoon, I agree with BARBRI that your biking routine is too much since you have this pain in your knee. You're back and work and doing other normal activity. You don't need additional therapy right now. I suggest you stop the bicycling completely until your pain (that "banding" feeling) is under control. Actually, you should be coming straight home after work, resting, icing and elevating. You're still in recovery and I believe your activity level is contributing to the pain you're having.

Some people feel that gentle turns on an exercise bike help keep their knee loose. If that's the case with you, you could do 5 minutes on the bike....VERY slow turns and no resistance....twice a day.
 
I work from home and can elevate and ice my knee whenever I need to throughout the day. When I get off the bike my banding issue is at its best for a good hour or so. I will however ask my doctor if I'm doing to much on the bike at four months. I really feel the biking is helping me.

@little red canoe had suggested a bike awhile ago as it helped her with her banding issue.
 
Pontoon, I am only 4 days ahead of you and I, too, get that tight band feeling, swelling, pain in the calf, knee - oh, allsorts of things! I use the bike as I find this keeps my flexion and loosens up my knee but I don`t exceed 10 mins max once or twice a day. I start off with low resistance and set the seat high enough that I easily obtain 100/110 flexion. After 5 mins or so (sometimes more, sometimes less depends on how the knee feels at the time) I lower the seat and increase the resistance. I do stairs, I walk, I potter about. I do allsorts of things to keep mobile but I stop if I go beyond the point of discomfort. I am now at the point where I feel that I have more control over what I do. Yes, I probably do too much at times, other times too little but overall I am at peace in my recovery, albeit with a long way still to go.

It`s frustrating and we all have the need to try and speed things up but this knee thing is stubborn and seemingly with a mind of its own which seeks at all at times to thwart our best attempts to expedite recovery. The trick is, I think, to make peace with it, go with the flow and push just that bit beyond comfortable but not to the point of pain. Progress often seems to be realised retrospectively!
 
Cratchit. I totally agree, my time on the bike is not difficult for me at all. I've been bumping up the resistance over the past several weeks. Currently at seven. I could easily do more time if I wanted. We have no stairs, so have done Little of that. My trouble is due to the banding that tightens right around the knee cap it makes it very difficult to do much walking, hence my need to bike to keep more Mobil. I do think the band clamp is getting smaller, however more now closer to the cap making it harder to walk, plus at times throws off my hip a bit.

I have two areas one upper left above knee cap and one lower left below knee cap that is very tender when I do my nightly massage. Almost feels like an adhesions as when in do a deep tissue massage. I can feel pulling more towards my knee. Topic for my OC tomorrow.

Other than my pressure feeling banding I have no other pain areas but do have several pockets of swelling that just don't want to give it up.

I also have noticed in the last week that the skin around my knee is way more flexible and loose than it has been.. that tells me that I have lost some of my swelling. The skin right below my knee is still real tight.
 
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An experiment, continue biking, but set the resistance at 0. You may have started increasing the resistance too soon. Resistance is equal to weight training which will aggravate things. In my opinion you've added resistance too early and that could be making the tight feeling worse. I love my bike too, but kept the tension at 0 for 6 months post op, until there was no pain or tightness.
 
@Pontoon l am from North U.K., not US. :)

In regard to resistance, as with everything, there is a middle line. If you're still getting pain then Karri's suggestion is worth trying. The resistance l use is probably no moe than 2/3 from a starting point of 0. Any more than that seems to induce pain therefore l haven't increased further. I was advised to add resistance by the OH physio when she assessed me with a view to returning to work (l'm a nurse). She said l had lost power in my quads which, she explained, was contributing to my poor gait. She said that toning up my quads would add power and strength which would support the structures of the knee which in turn would improve my gait. A bit of a catch 22 but somewhere l had to find the middle line which didn't push me into pain but which gave just enough to start building up power.

I think listening to your pain and adjusting your regime accordingly so that you experience no more than some discomfort would probably effect a better outcome in the long term than pushing the knee to the point of pain. I'm sure l've read somewhere on here that four months is about the point at which strengthening work can begin as everything is starting to settle down. Whatever the case, pain remains a warning sign and therefore the best guide in whatever activity you're doing.
 
I agree. I use my little pedaler device twice a day. I adjust its distance to increase the angle of bend. This works very well. The only snag is that its soooo booooring! However, after the last 14 weeks, being bored is a very acceptable complaint to have!!
 
Have not heard from you for quite awhile pontoon. How are you doing these days? We had sugery on the same day.
I have good days and bad days,who knows why. Flexion and extension have improved since MUA almost 3 weeks ago,but night time pain and lack of sleep are still my major complaints. I wonder why the pain escalates at night although it seems fairly common.
 
Same here. I have good days and bad days. My only remaining complaint is my banding. It still strangles my knee cap. I keep thinking it's scar tissue, but my OS feels otherwise. I'm at 115 ROM on my own, can push it further.. I do still have a fair amount of swelling, which my OS feels is.part of my banding . I can't wait to be normal again. I expected 2 months at the most. However, when you read others forums there are so many folks far worse off than we are.

On a positive note, I've decided to take early retirement. 3.5 weeks to go
 
Woohoo @Pontoon! Only 3.5 weeks to go till freedom. That's great news. You won't regret it. Its a whole new life. @Cratchit take note!
 
My surgeon said 3 months before returning to work and possibly a year before feeling 100% normal. So at 2 months you have some time to get rid of that tightness. I was at 18 months when I realized I could squat in the water!

I also retired at 59 years, but because I had taught 38 years it wasn't considered early retirement. I had planned on feeling out retirement while recovering from my TKR, but because of my complications I rarely left the house. Not getting up at 5:30, getting dressed and running out of the house is wonderful! Also running errands or shopping in the middle of the day when there are no crowds is fabulous!
 
Pontoon said:
I can't wait to be normal again. I expected 2 months at the most.
Click to expand...
And there lies much of your problem!
No one warned you before your surgery that this recovery takes a long time - as much as a full year for complete recovery.

Consequently, when recovery didn't happen fast, you grew worried.
Pontoon said:
My only remaining complaint is my banding. It still strangles my knee cap. I keep thinking it's scar tissue, but my OS feels otherwise. I'm at 115 ROM on my own, can push it further.. I do still have a fair amount of swelling, which my OS feels is.part of my banding .
Click to expand...
I think your surgeon is correct. You don't have scar tissue.

Concentrate on trying to reduce the remaining swelling, with lots of rest, ice and elevation.
[Bonesmart.org] Rubber band feeling'
 
Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. It is a good life. I was at physio and the pool this morning. Flexion now at 112 degrees on my own and 120 with "help" from the PT. I think I have pushed it a little too hard this week.Stiff and sore. PT says this is normal when you enter new flexion and extension territory. Will back off for a few days.
 
Does it wear off a bit as you walk? I have this feeling too but it goes away as its lubricated by synovial fluid.
 
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