PKR Stalled PKR recovery

Jacobus2

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Hi all. When I was 19 the cartilage in the medial compartment of my left knee was removed. I remember the surgeon telling me I don’t really need that cartilage, not to worry. I have enjoyed a very active life since then - skiing, hiking, mountain biking, etc. But of course the lack of half of the meniscus caught up with me eventually and a half century later, on June 10, 2022, I had another surgery to hopefully fix the damage triggered by the first one. I had a PKR in the medial compartment of my left knee. The first two months of my recovery went very well indeed. It seemed like every day was better than the one before. By mid August I was out doing 10 mile hilly bike rides and doing shortish but strenuous hikes. Clearly, the bone on bone problem in that part of my knee was fixed! I was thrilled. But… (you saw this coming, right?): I seems that my recovery has stalled for the last 2 months or so. Stalled at a pretty good level, to be sure. But my goal is get back to what I enjoyed doing 3 years ago, which included hiking, say, 12 miles with 3,000 feet of climbing. Maybe skiing again. I couldn’t do that now. Will I ever be able to? My knee tends to be sore and stiff, and there is usually pain around my kneecap now, sometimes making it uncomfortable to walk up stairs. No improvement in the last 2 months. I’m starting to wonder if I might have patellar femoral problems that didn’t appear on x rays. Or might the recovery resume at some point. Thoughts?
 
Hi and Welcome!

You are still early in recovery, and if you back off some of this activity, temporarily, and give your knee more time to heal, you should be able to get back to the things you love to do. Healing takes time, an average of a full year, even for a partial. I have a Patellofemoral partial and mine took well over a year!

I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

If you want to use something to assist with healing and scar management, BoneSmart recommends hypochlorous solution. Members in the US can purchase ACTIVE Antimicrobial Hydrogel through BoneSmart at a discount. Similar products should be available in the UK and other countries.

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​


4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Perhaps I should elaborate a little. Naturally it occurred to me, and was also suggested to me by PT, that I might be overdoing the exercise, and that’s why my knee is sore and stiff. So I have experimented with that. About a month ago I took a week off of strenuous exercise, and just did a bit of ROM maintenance. It didn’t help a bit. In fact, it feels like the less I do the more it aches. That’s why I am confused about what’s going on.
 
About a month ago I took a week off of strenuous exercise, and just did a bit of ROM maintenance.
Only one week off? That knee has been through major trauma. Please give it a chance to heal before you head back to aggressive activity.

Are you icing and elevating? That knee is sore and stiff due to swelling. Ice will help decrease this.
 

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