TKR Second knee done

[My knee Charlie]

I have a question about pt. my home pt basically does vitals,pain levels , measures, watches me do some of my exercises and evaluates my walk and offer suggestions. We have also gone for a walk outside when the assistant pt came instead. Seemed fine.
So what should I expect at outpatient pt. I remember last time. I did the bike for a few minutes. Up and down on a step, laying on this machine and doing leg pushes and worked on standing on one leg and then putting a stretchy band around my leg and walking sideways. Then they would ice it. Does that kinda sound like what others do

 

[Celle]

Most of those exercises will come in time, but you shouldn't start by doing them.

 

[My knee Charlie]

I won't start them til I go to the outpatient therapy. I was just wondering if that seemed to be what others do at outpatient. I did find after a while I did not have complete 1:1 with therapist. pt was partially working with another pt while he set me up on bike or other exercise then would comeback or and aid would help me get started on thenext exercise

 

[SarahJane]

You may want to check out the Bonesmart library. There's a lot of useful information there. Some people end up with physical therapists who are really aggressive and push you to build up muscle strength by doing things like working with weights and doing multiple sets of exercises each day. And other people -- the lucky ones -- have physical therapists who realize that the most important task for us during the first weeks and months out from surgery is to have our knees -- and the tissues, tendons, ligaments, muscles, etc. -- heal. Working to build up strength can come later. It'll actually be counterproductive early on, causing a lot of swelling and discomfort. I hope your outpatient physical therapist will work with you in a way that promotes healing, not retraumatizes your knee
Are you going to the same physical therapy office that helped you after your first TKR? If you are, and liked how they treated you, then it'll be fine, I'm sure.

My PT experience was generally positive. There was one glaring mismatch, however.

The first outpatient physical therapist I saw was a physical torturist. She had me do a heel slide and measured the angle. Then she gave me one of those bands and put it around my shin and asked me to pull my heel closer to my body. Boy, did my knee ache. At the end of the torture session, she took me over to the exercise bikes and told me to ride for five minutes. I flat out refused. There was no way I could have done that. I did get on the bike, though, and rocked the pedals back and forth slowly. I didn't attempt a full rotation.

I asked to be transferred to a different physical therapist for my next appointment. His philosophy was in alignment with the Bonesmart mantras, thankfully. We got along famously!

Good luck!

 

[Celle]

So what should I expect at outpatient pt. I remember last time. I did the bike for a few minutes. Up and down on a step, laying on this machine and doing leg pushes and worked on standing on one leg and then putting a stretchy band around my leg and walking sideways.

I won't start them til I go to the outpatient therapy.

I meant that, even at outpatient therapy, you shouldn't be starting most of those exercises until you are further along in your recovery.

Sitting on the bike and moving the pedals back and forth is OK, but you won't be able to do a full revolution yet, and shouldn't expect to.
You may practice going up and down a step, but shouldn't be doing it as exercise yet.
Lying on a machine and doing leg pushes is for strengthening, which shouldn't start until about 3 months and you should never push against resistance or weights.
Standing on one leg for balance can wait a while.
The stretchy band thing is also for much later.

All you need to do at first is Heel slides and how to do them and a little bit of walking.

 

[My knee Charlie]

Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted on my own thread in a while! My brain tells me I am good togo and my dang knee says. No your not! I decided to go to a few stores today and oh boy. I went to the dollar stor walked around leisurely and it is I not seem too bad. Then I wanted a few things at michaels. When I got there I saw they had a scooter. Yeah. Now I can explore the whole store! By the time I got home after being out for nearly 5 hours. I hurt. Tomorrow I am grounded. The only upside is that I realize I am not ready to be back at work so quit feeling guilty.
I also saw that my pool is still open I had heard rumors they were going to stay open all year but with shorter hours. Normally they close from nov thru March. Weather report says 66 on Friday. That's good enough for me the pool is heated to about 88. I see my doctor on Friday so as long as he okays it I may give it a go.

 

[My knee Charlie]

So I finally got around to picking up some Tylenol PM. It worked quite well and I had a good nights sleep. Yay for me! Today i go to my Follow up with my surgeon

 

[Thesoutherncook]

Oh, yes! The knee Will let you know who is boss! I did much the same thing at about your place.... Went to Atlanta (2 hr ride) for granddaughter's birthday party, to Costco ( on a scooter), out for dinner and back home in one day! Ouch! I paid for the next week!
Try to be patient.... It will pay off in the long run!

 

[My knee Charlie]

So I saw my dr today and he said everything looked good. I told him about my knee still feeling unstable and he said it is weak. I need to build up the strength in my quads Then jokingly said when I go to PT tomorrow. Ask for the Swartzeneggar program. See you in six weeks

 

[My knee Charlie]

So I had my first outpatient PT yesterday. The first visit is an evaluation. She seemed very knowledgeable and I look forward to working with her. She said her first focus is getting the swelling down. She gave me some lymphatic breathing to do and then some massage. She wants me to continue walking but stop before I feel like I need to so I don't continue to inflame my knee. She said I have enough bend that a I could probably do a recumbent bike but does not want me on a bike yet because she said it will put too much pressure on the knee for now. Once we get the inflammation down then we can work on strengthening the quad and hip. She also said when I get home from an outing to ice and elevate. She also said I could go in the pool and do some walking marching in place and squats in chest high water to help with balance. I like her treatment plan as it seems to go along with the bonesmart philosophy as opposed to the no pain no gain method!

 

[kneeper]

Yes, that "stop before you think you need to" is good advice.

 

[My knee Charlie]

PT update. Not sure what I was thinking scheduling therapy at 8 am. 45 to 60 mins away with traffic. Most of the time was spent with her massaging my scar. Then the calf then the hamstring. The calf was fine but the hamstring was not as good. But really no worse then how sometimes a regular massage hurts. Then did some exercises withe bio feedback machine on. I registered at about 4 to 7. And she said a normal muscle should read about 40 to 50.looks like I have some work to do yikes. She sent me home with some new stretching exercises for my calf and hamstring along with some Ace bandages to wrap my leg at night to help reduce the swelling. More ice and elevation for me

 

[My knee Charlie]

Had pt again today. The ace bandages don't really seem to help with the swelling. My flex was about 112 today and extension started at - 12. Last week then was -7 today and about -3. After she massaged my muscles She gave me more stretches to do and to work on evenly sharing my weight on both legs basically I need to tighten my thigh muscles and go from sitting to standing she used the biofeedback again and I did much better Last week it registered a high of 7 and today it actually hit a 20. Very satisfying to see actually numbers track your improvement
Today marks 7 weeks and I wish I had more stamina than I do. I feel like last time I was further along but it could be my faded memory lol. I trip around a supermarket and I'm done!

 

[Slainte]

That's neat that they measure the biofeedback. I wish my PT did that. The stamina is a problem. But just give it time, we will get there.

 

[My knee Charlie]

Knee is coming along pretty well. Sleeping pain is getting better but the tossing and turning and ability to fall asleep is not. Oh well. Tylenol pm and are becoming good friends. Finally made a full rotation on the recumbent bike at my gym. I go to pt this afternoon. I am thinking I will return to work next week. Probably Wednesday so I start with a few days rather than 5. Wish me luck

 

[kneeper]

Full rotation!

 

[My knee Charlie]

Has anyone used silicone sheets on their scar? My PT is recommending it for my scar. Thoughts?

 

[Celle]

I've heard of the silicone sheets. They do seem to work for some people. Is your scar bothering you?

 

[My knee Charlie]

No it's not bothering me but my pay seems to think there are a few spots that might benefit from it

 

[Celle]

If your scar isn't bothering you, i wouldn't do anything to it. Just leave it alone. Time will even out all the bumps and heal all the spots that seem to be a bit behind. Nature's good at that.
There's really no need to do anything to help.