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MUA Sleeping on my side, 5 weeks post TKR

@Andypandy I was told I did not need to wear compression stockings after either of my knee replacements because I was taking blood thinners. Just advised to elevate throughout the day and to get up and walk a bit every couple of hours.

How long did your surgical team advise you to wear them? Can you reach out to the office and ask if it's okay to stop wearing them?
 
Was advised 24hrs until staples removed on 23rd December. I perhaps need to moisturise more, but very confusing when there are many who say shouldn't be worn at night. Obviously makes it worse when I get a couple of hours sleep at night and it gets hot. Still only got a 4 tog on but that's enough. Good old ice helps. Thank you
 
Hi Andypandy, I only wore one compression sock on the non op leg for the first 2 weeks as they couldn’t get one up on my swollen op leg! After 2 weeks I took the other one off as it was causing deep red welts on my leg. They just weren’t big enough I reckon. I think doing a few simple lying down exercises like ankle flexes and a walk around should help to keep the dreaded DVT at bay, but I’m not a doctor. You will need help from hubby for those first few weeks, just relax and go with the flow. I stayed with my sister at first and her husband would empty my overnight commode every morning - now that’s embarrassing! Things will get better - I’m now at 3 months and I’m doing so much round the house and I’m driving short distances. I’ve still got swelling and some pain so still icing and taking co-codamol regularly but feeling so much better than before. You will get there my dear.
 
RTKR 11 Days today and just praying for swelling to go down. Just can't bend and getting myself in such a state. Using the ice machine and walking around the apartment regularly, am I expecting too much too soon. Hubby says he can see it is slightly going down. Should I be doing anything else. Weird tightening , stinging sensations
Sleep is a nap here and there, so hard to get comfortable. Any tips appreciated and wish you all a healthy recovery.
 
Hi Andypandy,
In reality, what you're experiencing is normal. Swelling can last for weeks, to months, to a full year for some, slowly easing over time. Icing and elevation will help. Follow the instructions in the articles on ICE and ELEVATE in the Recovery Guidelines. Eleven days is very early into the healing process.

Small sensory nerve fibers are cut with the incision. The stinging is a temporary sensation that normally resolves over a period of six months to one year post op. While healing you may experience sensations of tingling, pins and needles, itching, burning and even the feeling of a minor electrical shock. These are usually good signs that the nerves are spontaneously firing through the regeneration process.

Sleep can be hard to come by early on, you're not alone. Check out this article from the Recovery Guidelines if you haven't already and sleep when you're able. It will get better!
bonesmart.org

Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

Time and again members complain about not being able to sleep and after a while, that it gets to making them feel frustrated, despairing, depressed and even ill. I thought perhaps a short treatise on the reasons for disturbance of sleep patterns was long overdue. It won't help you to sleep but...
bonesmart.org bonesmart.org

Wishing you a pleasant weekend, Andypandy!
@Andypandy
 
I was blessed by my doctor not requiring them. Some doctors do, some doctors don't.
Andypandy said:
Sleep is a nap here and there, so hard to get comfortable.
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It doesn't matter where or when you sleep, as long as you sleep. In my early days, I took a morning, afternoon and evening nap for the first 3-4 weeks. My sleep at night was the same, a few hours in my bed, then a few hours in my recliner. The important thing is to sleep.
 
At less than two weeks post op, a brief hourly walk during normal daytime hours is all the activity you should be doing!

The tight band feeling is pretty much universal after knee surgery and is partly swelling, partly the beginning of subcutaneous tissues healing. This sensation will likely be your companion for a few months before it starts slowly diminishing.

Stinging is one of the possible feelings we experience as tiny not sensory nerves that were cut or traumatised start waking up and regrowing. Different people can experience different odd sensations (stinging, cold, burning, itching, wetness, friction...).
 
Andypandy said:
Was advised 24hrs until staples removed on 23rd December. I perhaps need to moisturise more, but very confusing when there are many who say shouldn't be worn at night. Obviously makes it worse when I get a couple of hours sleep at night and it gets hot
Click to expand...
You may be surprised to find out you don't need to wear them as often through a simple phone call to the OS's office. Especially if you're fairly mobile and up walking often enough. My surgeon's PA told me they set the bar high, knowing many will not wear them as often, or for as long as prescribed. Give them a call, what do you have to lose, but the misery of wearing the dreadful things.
 
Thank you for for valued advice. This is so different from my pkr 5 years ago.
 
I didn't wear them at night and would have found it unpleasant to do so. My leg wasn't that swollen though and I didn't have any particular risk factors.
Can you check with your surgical team if there is a reason why you have been told to wear them at night?
 
25 years ago I had an unexplained dvt, any surgery I have had since has always had precautions in place but the compression stockings are a norm now for the majority. Also I have blood thinning injections which I finish tomorrow evening. Monday afternoon I am going to have the staples removed and I believe I can then leave the stockings off. It's so confusing when you read that they should not be worn during the night and a very good explanation as to why is given. Always grateful for advice and of course appreciate the care that is put in place.
 
This is what my one compression sock did to my non op leg. I am chubby and it probably was too small, so after 2 weeks it went in the bin!

IMG_3224.jpeg
 
Understandable why those precautions are in place, Andypandy.
Good things to come over the next couple days. Stop the blood thinner. Staple removal and no more stockings. Awesome! An early Christmas present.
:presents-under-xmas-tree-smiley-emoticon:
Merry Christmas!
@Andypandy

I yi yi! Ouchie! Hateful things aren't they? Burn worthy...followed by a celebration. :wink: :cheers:
@ouchie!
 
2 weeks today Rtkr. Car journey to hospital for removal of staples, not nice. Getting in the car really stressed me and one wrong move ended up in horrendous pain. Arrived and I didn't look great so they got me in a wheelchair and took me into the room , whereupon I just sobbed. I can't ask for better care, treatment and advice. Basically told me to stop beating myself up, at 2 weeks doing OK. The wound looks good, they were very pleased. My own worst enemy I know, just want to be able to bend this knee. So, good old ice machine along with my walks around the apartment and try to slow my mind a little. Are there others like me. Also I have that plantar facitis, think the spelling right, and it's certainly not helping my mind. Using ice on that also. Sorry to be a moaner, I wish everyone a speedy recovery.
 
You truly need to slow down, respect that above all else your knee needs "tincture of time" to heal, and heed these wise words from our staffer Roy Gardiner:
"When you are icing and elevating and watching telly you are not 'dossing around' you are 'engaging a carefully considered proactively designed heuristically programmed dynamically structured recovery programme'."
 
Andypandy said:
Arrived and I didn't look great so they got me in a wheelchair and took me into the room , whereupon I just sobbed.
Click to expand...

Andypandy said:
Are there others like me
Click to expand...
Yes, many of us were just like you. I had a major melt down on day 11. My husband just held me and said, “we’ll get through this.” He said “we” not “you”! :roseshwr:

bonesmart.org

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Post op blues is feeling depressed, weepy, nervy, shaky, fearful of the future, anxious, overwhelmed by what is happening to you, convinced it's never going to get any better and finally, uttering that most intense of all cries "I wish I never had this done!" It arises out of a variety of...
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Those early car rides can be difficult for sure, especially the long ones. Sorry it was so stressful. It will get better.
Awesome news that your wound looks good! Don't worry about venting here, it's okay. We all understand the discomfort, pain, mood swings, boredom, frustration...you're not alone.

Try to occupy your mind at home to take it off recovery. I think it will help. Some of the activity that helped me get through the slow, boring days of early healing were things like - magazines, books, crossword puzzles, word jumbles, adult coloring books, playing online games, watching a Netflix movie or series. Calling friends or loved ones can be a great mood booster, there's nothing like the support of those we hold dear when we're feeling, lonely, isolated or bored. Invite someone over for coffee and dessert, plan a vacay, collect some new recipes...to name a few. It is early days and hopefully you feel stronger with each passing week.
Have a happy Christmas, Andypandy!
@Andypandy
 
Andypandy said:
The wound looks good, they were very pleased. My own worst enemy I know, just want to be able to bend this knee.
Click to expand...
It's good news about your incision. Just remember that the outside might be healed, but it will take up to a year or more for the inside to heal. Think of your knee as a newborn baby. That is exactly what it was and should be treated like you would treat a newborn baby.

You can not exercise your knee to make it bend better, it's a time and swelling thing. As you heal and the swelling decreases, you will see your knee naturally bend better. Trying to make it bend past where it is ready to be bent will only cause more swelling and your bend will worsen. Take short walks around your house and ice and elevate the whole time you are sitting or laying down, just make sure you are a cloth between your knee and the ice source. This should be enough to do in your early recovery. As you sit, you can do ankle pumps, butt and quad squeezes. These are gentle exercises and keep your leg and knee moving.
 
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