TKR SkiBum's recovery

[DJL1967]

@SkiBum looks like you are following what your body is telling you and you are mindful of that. Skiing has been a big part of my life and I have not been on skis for 3 years now and this season will be my fourth as I do not feel ready yet. 4 months post op seems early to try but hey you need to have goals and look forward to achieving them, just try not to get too bummed out if you cannot meet them at the given time.

Knee replacement surgery is a roller coaster recovery, I much like you, did very well right out of the gate. By my 10th week I felt great and started to do things I probably shouldn't have done at that stage of recovery. I developed bursitis in my right knee and this took a long time to recover from. It held me back in my recovery and really played on me mentally as I felt defeated and expected so much more from the surgery.
I am not one to sit around and need to be moving and self sufficient so this set back hit me hard. I am 13 months post op BTKR and am now finally starting to feel somewhat normal again. I try to listen to my knees and if they are starting to get sore I stop and rest which is difficult for me. But the knees are improving and I am in such a better place now than I was pre surgery. I look forward to getting back to the slopes some day.

Good job on your recovery to date, always be mindful of your limitations and try not to get discouraged if you fail to meet the expectations you have set.

Take care and good luck.

 

[SkiBum]

Just curious did your OS approve of al of that exercise? I am 9 days post op, and expected to be able to be back on skates at 3 months...but now I hear different. I have my 2 week post op appt in several days, so I will ask then what to expect. Like you, I want to get back to being active, but I also want it to heal well for the long term. Recovery is a longer stretch than I had anticipated!

Just as an aside I looked back at what the OS gave me for PT suggestions as part of the joint replacement program and it' s not far off of what I'm doing muscle wise...the list he gave me is: short arc quads supine and sitting, clam shells, heel slides supine and sitting, standing heel raises, standing hamstring curls, squats, hip abduction, standing marching. These were both for prehab and rehab. I does say to work within my pain free range when doing the exercises.

I'll follow you to see how your doing.

 

[SkiBum]

I should update since I hit the 6 week mark yesterday. I'm walking without a limp... except maybe the end of day a bit. I'm feeling generally pretty good except for the sensitivity on the medial side near the kneecap... I think this is nerve sensitivity....it's feels tiny needles pricking with very light touch of the area.... very annoying. I still get a sharp pain on the medial side with certain movements. Although not like it was when it happened every time I rolled over in bed. The next 4-6 weeks will be the tell... but I'm on track to meeting my goal of skiing sometime in January.

 

[Flashlight]

There seems to be 2-camps on whether to massage your knee incision. After my doctor gave me the ok about 6-weeks post-op I started out slow and now I try to do it twice a day and already see an improvement in my scar and I haven't had any sensitivity issues. I also lightly massaged my lower leg early on for comfort and that also help reduce sensitivity. I first learned about the benefits of massaging the incisional line after my breast cancer surgery. This might help you out as well.

 

[shr]

goal of skiing sometime in January

Best of luck with this. Might want to stick to the bunny slopes at first. As I understand it the ligaments are relatively slow to heal so you might not have much margin.

 

[SkiBum]

There seems to be 2-camps on whether to massage your knee incision. After my doctor gave me the ok about 6-weeks post-op I started out slow and now I try to do it twice a day and already see an improvement in my scar and I haven't had any sensitivity issues. I also lightly massaged my lower leg early on for comfort and that also help reduce sensitivity. I first learned about the benefits of massaging the incisional line after my breast cancer surgery. This might help you out as well.

Best of luck with this. Might want to stick to the bunny slopes at first. As I understand it the ligaments are relatively slow to heal so you might not have much margin.

have been messaging my scar for a couple of weeks now. The sensitivity is decreasing.

I definitely plan on starting slow on skis. I'll do what my body allows and work up from there. I have the luxury of free or deeply discounted lift tickets. I never have to push it to get my money's worth.

 

[SkiBum]

7 weeks PO today.. my PTs are very happy as am I. My range started today at 122 on my own. After a good bit of message my knee was 127. My extension is still a couple of degrees off so we're focusing on the glutes. Stronger glutes evidently helps with extension.

My experience with PT has been great. Have we done things that hurt at the time... yes. Has it created some stiffness afterward...yes. Am I now able to move more comfortably.... go up stairs 1 after the other more easily.... walk normally.... yes, yes and yes. One of the things that make this more aggressive approach work is the fact that anytime I'm given an exercise to do my PT makes sure I'm doing it right. He watches every rep and immediately corrects me if I'm off. That limits the chance of developing strain in other areas because of compensating moves or bad form. Until I build strength back these things aren't easy... or totally pain free, but I can feel that I'm fatiguing my muscles and not straining my knee...so I'm OK with it.

Feeling on the road to recovery.... I hope you guys are too.

 

[SkiBum]

So..... PT told me Dec. is strengthening month in preparation for returning to skiing. He's upped the difficulty on all my exercises. We're working a lot of glute, hamstring, quad, calf, and balance. I'll be 10 weeks PO next Wed. I'm feeling pretty good about everything... I even made an appointment with the boot fitter mid Dec. now that's the ultimate optimism. I expect to be back on skis by mid Jan if everything stays on track.

 

[Bridgy]

Well that’s amazing! I’m almost 11 weeks and still holding on to climb stairs. Cheers to you!

 

[SkiBum]

Well that’s amazing! I’m almost 11 weeks and still holding on to climb stairs. Cheers to you!

Me too.... but it's getting easier. Shallow steps no problem... 8in. high steps are still tuff. In 6 more weeks it will all be that much better. I'm still very achy and aware of my knee right now but I'm walking faster... uneven ground is getting easier... I'm trying to celebrate every little increment.

 

[Bridgy]

I’m surprised how much I have to think and coordinate to walk up and down hills. Gearing up to go to FL in January. Hoping I can walk on the beach and swimming won’t be too weird. Where do you ski?

 

[SkiBum]

I’m surprised how much I have to think and coordinate to walk up and down hills. Gearing up to go to FL in January. Hoping I can walk on the beach and swimming won’t be too weird. Where do you ski?

Downhill is definitely a pita. You'll be fine... I mostly ski at Liberty Mountain , Pa. I do however make my way around to other resorts.. I try and do at least 1 or 2 western trips as well.

 

[SkiBum]

I had a new experience today in PT. My knee constantly aches especially when exercising and I have a solid stop point in flexion... knee only goes so far before it reaches an endpoint. It's not particularly painful.. just stops bending. So today I had both scraping (Graston technique) that promotes blood flow... and dry needling. Neither modality is particularly comfortable... but I had less pain after and more fluid motion in the knee. Really cool stuff. In 2 weeks I'm going for a boot fitting. I'm not ready to ski yet... I have more strengthening to do first... but mid to late January here I come.

 

[SkiBum]

Today PT told me my range is good and my strength is almost there. I do have chronic aching and some exercises still hurt but nothing causes any prolonged increase in discomfort. He said I could start skiing when I feel ready....he also cautioned that I will hurt afterward....LOL I already knew that. I'm strangely not afraid of it. I haven't been able to see the bootfitter yet due to some family issues...but after that all bets are off.

 

[Jockette]

I hope it goes well for you!

 

[Layla]

Happy Three Month Anniversary!
Let us know how your first time back on the slopes goes.
Stay safe and enjoy!
@SkiBum

 

[SkiBum]

Well last Sunday Jan. 8 I put my skis on and slid for a few runs. The good... I could click into my right binding which requires good extension to do. I could load and unload a low chairlift which requires flexion. I had a lot of trouble doing these things at the end of last season. The not so good but expected.... it hurt and swelled for a couple of days afterward. The feeling of gliding again was worth all of it.

 

[Bridgy]

Looking good! Sometimes it is worth doing something you love if the consequences aren’t too bad. Smile.

 

[sistersinhim]

Wow, that is amazing! Great photo, too!

 

[SkiBum]

Looking good! Sometimes it is worth doing something you love if the consequences aren’t too bad. Smile.

Wow, that is amazing! Great photo, too!

Thanks..... positive thinking with a willingness to push things beyond what's comfortable has me on track. I will continue to ski a little every week until I can do a whole day on the hill. I'm going to skip the holiday weekend for safety purposes. I'll hopefully get out mid week if weather is good.