TKR Severe deep calf pain'^

[skigirl]

I read an article on the net when I had my TKR---I am sorry, that was 8 years ago and I cannot remember where I read it!! But, the writer, a PT, suggested that if there swelling, you would take a weekend in bed with your knee propped up. During that weekend, you would do no exercise and would limit activity to just going to the bathroom and to the kitchen for more ice and some food.

I was as skeptical as I am sure you are!! I also wanted to "work hard" to get my rom. I did try it, however, and the result changed me forever. At the end of the weekend, I could see that the swelling had gone down and really, i could bend my knee more. I became a proponent of the Bonesmart "less is more" club.

Of course, you will not do ---"no exercise" but, you also do not need to do 10 reps four times a day. I did absolutely nothing outside of PT---and I had a very gentle PT who believed that the first two months were to get rid of the swelling so that we could work on strength training for the last two months of PT.

Obviously, what you are doing is not working---so, step back and open your mind to some different ideas and see if any of them work for you. I also went to a lymphatic massage therapist (my PT recommended her) and she was very helpful as well.
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Using ice

 

[Celle]

I hear you I know I saw a post saying they did no pt.I would never do that

That was probably me!
But don't run away with the idea that I did nothing but lie in bed like a log.

My surgeon does not allow any PT at all for the first month after surgery. He says that your knee needs that time to start on its healing journey.
After a month, he allows PT, but only one session every two weeks. At each session, we are shown a few exercises, which we do at home. The PT does not touch our knees and nothing we do hurts at all.
That's what I did after my knee revision.
My surgeon's patients all do well and he has not had to do a manipulation to help with Range of Motion (ROM) for the last 4 years.

Different surgeons have different ideas - that doesn't mean that one is right and all the others are wrong. It just means that there can be several different ways of doing things and it doesn't hurt to try something different.

With my last knee, I did no PT at all. Just because I did no PT doesn't mean that I did nothing. I was up to the bathroom on the evening of my surgery, and using crutches to walk up and down the hospital corridor and climb steps the following day. I learned how to get out of bed and get back in again, and I even had a shower in hospital.

When I got home, I spent most of my time resting, icing and elevating my leg. I took care of my own bathroom needs, I walked around the house a bit, and I made myself hot drinks. I gradually increased the distance I was walking, until I felt confident enough to walk around the garden. Then I started walking up and down our rather-long driveway.
Walking is the best exercise of all for rehabilitating your knee and it worked well for me.

I increased my normal, every-day activity gradually, until I was leading a normal life. I didn't feel the need to go to PT, and my surgeon agreed when he saw me at my 6-week check-up. By that stage, my knee could straighten fully and it bent to well over 90 degrees.

My knees are 5 years old and 2 years old now. They both straighten fully and bend to over 125 degrees. They are strong and reliable. I hardly think about them most days and I can do anything I want to with them. I fly from New Zealand to England and back every year and I don't need wheelchair assistance at the airports. I manage trains and buses, too.
I play with my grandchildren and I can get down on the floor with them. I do all my housekeeping without help. I drive myself.

 

[Josephine]

I know I saw a post saying they did no pt. I would never do that. I had 4 months of pt and continue to do my exercises at home. I am still at 90 flexion and 0 extension. I have some swelling and a tight band feeling around knee all the time. I can't do steps normally and definitely can't ride a bike. I continue to walk about ½ mile a day but I have a strange gait and it's painful. My pt has tried everything. I just can't get that normal gait

All the points I have underlined are the direct result of doing too much exercising! If you would answer the questions I left earlier, I could give you more structured advice.

 

[BBCG]

Hi Sbelsak, I do hope you'll check back in and answer Josephine's questions... She's a highly experienced orthopedic nurse with more experience than anyone I've heard of, and she has information from all kinds of folks all over the world to draw on.... I also had difficulties and answered them, too, and her responses helped me change direction, or recalculate, at least, and I've progressed more since then. I'm still doing too much, on my feet too much, but on the days I don't have to, I don't and I'm continuing to increase my ROM weekly.
Hope to hear back from you!