TKR Swimming Query

Getting your staples out will make you more confident, and you'll soon not feel that your incision will burst open if you try to gently bend your knee that little bit more.
All in all, you seem to be absolutely normal with your recovery ,(apart from your infection)
Everything will come right, but you have to be patient, it's a long journey. I'm 5 months out from my second TKR, and without any effort (but yes, a bit of pain/discomfort) things progress steadily. I've still a bit to go, it still gets stiff from time to time, but I do abuse it
Us Brits are famous for our stiff upper lip, aren't we

PS, the British approach to PT is nearly always the gentle approach, as per Bonesmart. Hopefully, you'll just get advice and encouragement.
 
Thanks Tykey,
It is difficult to be patient isn't it.After my first op at 28 days I was allowed to drive and could walk reasonable distances without pain unaided, which was great.So this is my goal for knee number 2, but it may not be the same.
I was told before I left hospital that I need to wear the TED stockings for 6 weeks and I find these quite uncomfortable, but maybe they will not be as bad after staples and dressing removed.
After the first op I do not think anyone gave me advice about how long to wear them for so I discontinued them after 2 weeks.
I will be good this time though and follow the advice I was given
 
Aries, my first TKR was Feb 28th 2019, second was January 31st 2020, so close to yours.
i think my staples are due out same time as yours. I find getting the stockings on and off a pain, but don’t mind them once they‘re on.
i think I started driving short distances at 4 weeks as well. Follow up with surgeon is on March 6th. Sleep well!
 
PS, the British approach to PT is nearly always the gentle approach, as per Bonesmart. Hopefully, you'll just get advice and encouragement.
Unfortunately, it's not always like that. A lot depends on the individual surgeon's protocol.
 
The current NHS protocol recommends going home and doing your own exercises. No reference to window of opportunity, MUA Etc
 
Hi,
I am 6 days post left knee replacement.
Everything seems to be going OK at the moment and I am trying to complete exercises 3 times a day. Knee is very stiff and swollen so heelslides are extremely challenging. Not too much pain though which is good. Just wondering how much walking I should be doing at the moment and how other built up walking outside after kneexreplacement.
Findig it difficult to focus on anything and even struggling to follow inane TV programmes. I am blaming the drugs which I was given in hospital.
Also, incredibly thirsty a lot of the time and I am also blaming this on the drugs.
Poor hubby is already getting exhausted bringing things up and downstairs.
Hi there I am 10 days post tkr had my first replacement March 2018. I’m doing exercises but not three times a day more like once a day I’ve been in a lot of pain . What meds are you taking I see your in Uk and same age as me .im having clips out this thursday onwards and upwards regards gerry
 
Hi Gerry,
good to hear from you. I had surgery on 31st January and due to have staples removed on 14th Feb. Really looking forward to that. Hopefully, leg will feel more comfortable then.
I am managing pain with paracetamol and ibruprofen. I am also using ice as much as possible. I purchased a new ice wrap from Amazon yezterday which is very helpful.I find the stronger pain meds just knock me out and make me feel awful.
Hope that your recovery is going well.
 
Hi Henrietta, I did not realise that your surgery was the same date as mine.
My first knee replacement was August 2015 and at that point, the other knee was fine.Sadly, over the last couple of years it started to cause problems and after trying physio steroid injections,N Stride injection and a knee brace there did not seem any other options left apart from surgery.
Exercises are going OK apart from the heel slides. I think I maybe about 90 degrees. My consultant said that everyone gets there in the end so I am not getting too worried about it.
 
Hello Aries, I tried all the usual, glucosamine sulphate, turmeric, devils claw, and most of all, 5 Loxin, and I still take krill oil. Also cortisone injections, (in England) and (in France) hyaluronic acid. Then when I heard of something else I saw the surgeon here in Libourne and he said, no your knees are stage 3 and need replacement. I have nothing but praise for the french system and my new knees.
(what’s an N Stride injection?)
i think you’re right not to worry about the ROM. I didn’t even know what that was, last time, till I started reading this site. Heel slides are hard! I do them sometimes when I think about it but don’t yet have a set routine. I will try a bit harder now I feel a bit more mobile.
Best wishes to you, it sounds as if all is going well.
 
Hi Henrietta,
N Stride injections are fairly new and a few orthapaedic surgeons are offering them in UK. They are only available privately and I had to pay £1,000 for this injection. Basically, blood is taken from your arm and then it is placed in a centrifuge and a small concentrate is injected back into your knee. It is supposed to help with early to moderate arthritus. There is a very scientific explanation online about how it works. Basically, I think that it is supposed to reduce imfammation in the knee. It is supposed to delay the need for knee surgery. It did actually help to reduce pain for probably about 6 months and I had a couple of holidays planned last Summer and it helped me cope with those, but then the grinding pain returned, so as the first knee replacement went well I decided to go ahead with the second.
I have always heard that health care in France is good. How long have you been in France and what made you move there?
I seem to be watching a lot of TV programmes at the moment about people from UK moving to gites or chateaux making a new life for themselves. It always looks a lovely way of life.
 
Yes! As I thought, the N Stride injection is the reason I went to see the surgeon, as he does them and having only just heard about them in 2018 I went to ask if he could do them for me. He said I needed the TKR op, which I accepted. We are part of the french health system and also pay monthly to a ‘mutuelle’ so the cost would have been much less than in England. Wish I’d enquired about them sooner, but like you, I’d still have ended up with the operations i think. We had a holiday home built in the Dordogne 10 years ago, then on retirement in 2013, gradually moved here full time. Ideal for retirement, slower pace of life, beautiful countryside, still enough to do.
Are you over that UTI yet? Sleeping better? Hope so.
 
@henrietta A tip to help with the stockings - put a small plastic bag on your foot, slide the stocking over it and past your heel, and then peel back the toe part of the stocking to pull the bag out. It worked beautifully for me last year, but protocol changed in hospital this year and we had no Teds and no injections, just soluble aspirin - so much easier!

@aries Re the heel slides - I really struggled last year and found it better to just do 2 or 3 every hour or so rather than 10 in one go. It seemed to help avoid my knee becoming very stiff and they gradually became easier.
 
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Lindylee thanks for advice regarding stockings. Yes we do use a plastic bag and most of the time they are OK. I do not have a problem with the one on the operated leg but I have a longer one on the operated leg and that sometimes feels tight and uncomfortable. Maybe it is when my leg becomes more swollen. I am intrigued to.know how an elderly person living by themself manages to put them on as I have to rely on hubby.
Heel slides are still not great but when I have staples removed tomorrow I will put more effort into them. I noticed yesterday,that after a period of elevating and icing, they are so much better. I think that when the swelling subsides, they will be OK.
I did a short walk yesterday and it was nice not to have the grinding pain inside my knee. There was quite a lot of muscle soreness though.
I am mystified about the UTI because I have just rang GP to find out about the results from sample which I left with them and they said that results were normal.So now I am unsure as to whether I did have an infection or not. Receptionist is going to speak to doctor to clarify why they gave me anti biotics. I am still waking up every couple of hours yo go to the bathroom though and it is so annoying.Also, I have to take pain killers during the night because I keep waking up with head aches
I have suffered from head aches before after having had a hip operation so I am thinking that it may be some reaction to anaesthetic or some other drug I was given.
 
Hi Henrietta
Yes I am really pleased with my first knee replacement. I have a few minor niggles but it gave me a new lease of life because my husband and I were planning to travel after we both retired from work, but as my knee was so painful, it was becoming impossible, because walking anywhere was a night mare. So I did a lot of research about the best surgeon in our area and in the end decided that I just had to go ahead with the operation and live with the consequences, if it did not go well. Fortunately, it proved to be a great success.
It must be lovely to live in the Dordogne area, it always like lovely.
 
Thank you, so pleased you were happy with your first TKR. I am too.
sorry to hear about the confusion over the possible UTI. Surely there must be one, if you’re going to the loo so often? Also sorry to hear about the headaches, horrid. Hope they will go soon.
i went to a ladies lunch yesterday, very nice, and although I had my crutches I could get to the ladies nearby without them. Needed a rest when I got home of course.
 
Hi Henrietta,
Glad that you enjoyed your ladies lunch. It is nice to be able to get out and forget about your knee for a while. I had a friend call in yesterday unexpectedly and it was nice to have a chat and not focus on my knee.
Very strange about the UTI. Apparently, I was given anti biotics ' just in case as' I was other 65. I am pleased that I did not have a UTI but annoyed that I took a course of antibiotics for no reason!
I did have a slightly better nights sleep last night and managed to sleep until 4 but still woke up with a head ache. I think that it may be a delayed reaction to the anaesthetic or medication I was given in hospital. I will speak to hospital again after week end if there is no improvement.
Just had staples removed. Leg does not look a pretty sight but nurse seemed happy with it. Had a wonky staple which bled slightly.
 
It's great to have those stitches out. I had 35 and had a few bleeds. It was almost 3 weeks before I got mine out and the skin had grown over most of them.

Good that you had no UTI!
 
Yes it is slightly more comfortable.
I had a staple which was crooked and this caused a slight bleed. The nurse put a couple of steri strips on it. Hopefuĺly, it will be OK
 

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