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MUA Stiffness - hard to do exercises

[Bonesmart.org] Stiffness - hard to do exercises

My knee
 
LINYKnee said:
Getting alittle nervous. I can get a bend at therapy , almost 90 but at home I’m lucky if I get a 50. Flat straight , no problem. It’s the bending.
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Hi! I’m at 6 1/2 weeks post bilateral TKR and also suffer from an inability to bend. Two things that help me loosen up at home:

- heating pad - sit on the edge of a bed or bench with legs dangling and the heating pad on my quads. I’ll reach under it and massage the quads too. It can take several minutes to relax but it happens!
- step-over gait drills - take a rolled-up yoga mat, foam roller, or other tube. Put it in a doorway so it looks like the letter I looking down. Stand right side, bending back left leg to step over, right leg follows, then reverse from left to right. I do this 10 or 20 times - it gets easier with each repeat. The door frame is just there to grab in case my toe catches.
 
4 weeks is early days. We all heal different. Try to relax, it will come.
 
Thank you very much.
have a nice weekend!
 
I’m very serious, try to relax about your ROM. I wasted so much energy worrying about mine and mine even continued to improve well into my second year. When I joined Bonesmart everyone here told me not to worry, but I didn’t actually “get it” until my second year out. At that point I was really annoyed with my medial team for forcing my ROM and causing me so much stress about it. All because of their timeframe, not my knee’s timeframe.
 
LINYKnee said:
Hello
Four plus weeks out. Getting alittle nervous. I can get a bend at therapy , almost 90 but at home I’m lucky if I get a 50. Flat straight , no problem. It’s the bending. Can’t get into The drivers seat of the car. No more walker , using cane now. I don’t even know what to do anymore. Im sorry at times that I did this.
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Don't be nervous! Your ONLY at 4 weeks recovery. And bending will come naturally with time. I understand this is frustrating. But you'll have your full bend when your knee is ready. It will come though, just gotta be patient.
 
It’s because we get all this conficlting information about this recovery! My first year was so hard and so stressful. All because of someone else’s protocol. No one in person told me to relax and let my body heal. All I heard was “do your exercises” and “bend that knee!”

Also, in my case, I had a partial, so I really had unrealistic expectations. I thought my recovery would be complete in 2-3 months, as all I’d read about partials said it was a quick recovery and made it sound like it would be so easy. It was not!
 
@Jockette I agree so much with what you said about being led to believe that a partial was going to be easier. All I heard was “just do your therapy and work on bending that knee”. It never made sense to me that it would be an easier recovery. The bones were still sawed and muscles, tendon and nerves were still cut into and it was still a long recovery. Oh how I wish I would have known about this forum then. I was so stressed and anxious almost my entire recovery. Was made worse by an accident my husband had 5 weeks out from my surgery. He was debilitated with multi bone fractures and I had to be his nurse. God gave us both strength every single day to get through all of that!
 
Still very early days @LINYKnee and there's still a lot of swelling in that knee, that's what prevents ROM. Think of a garden hose tuned up full with a nozzle on it. It doesn't want to bend at all, the pressure has to be released first. That's why early PT can be counter productive, if it causes more swelling you are going to lose ROM not gain it. This really is a 12-18 month recovery and the muscle you need to work the hardest right now is your patience muscle. We all seem to find it very difficult to work on that particular muscle.
 
Thank you very much. You’re 100% correct on all you’ve said. It’s very helpful. Thank you once again
Glad you can relate.
 
Just chiming in on the point that it is early days. The knee will be swollen (even internally where you can't see it) and your muscles recovering so it takes many weeks to get a good bend for most of us. And you can seem to "stall." I had a couple of weeks where I didn't seem to be making progress but as the swelling came down the bend got better each week. Remember that this is an "individual sport" and so everyone is different.
Ice, elevation and gentle motion will get you there bit by bit.
 
Hello
Anyone use a cyro cuff machine ?
and did it help ?
thank
You
 
I used an ice machine (different brand than cryo cuff) and it was the best recovery tool I had. That sucker ran 27/7 for the first 10-12 weeks and then all night after I got home when I went back to work. I highly recommend one. Frozen water bottles work perfect to keep the water cold and last quite a while. I had a rotating set so there were always frozen bottles ready to go.
 
I totally agree with @FCBayern. I bought an Ossur Cold Therapy machine from Amazon, with the specialized knee wrap. Best money I’ve ever spent. It has been my best friend over the last 2+ years through two shoulder surgeries, right TKA and now left TKA (Nov 23rd). I also use the frozen water bottles… Two sets worth and rotate. The knee wrap does not ice the back of the knee, so in addition to it I use a refreezable Clay pack that I put on the back of my knee and then strap it all together so the knee is totally encased. Works like a champ. And, the Ossur is actually made in, of all places, Iceland
 
@LINYKnee - I see that your surgery was six days before mine. There are good days and bad days… As time goes on the good days are starting to outnumber the bad. Would you agree? Onward and upward we go! One day this recovery will be a distant memory...not soon enough!
 
LINYKnee said:
Hello
Anyone use a cyro cuff machine ?
and did it help ?
thank
You
Click to expand...
Just seen this.

All lower limb patients are sent home with an Aircast Cryo Cuff from the hospital I was in. I can't testify to its superiority over any other device but it must be reasonable if this hospital [a very well known private facility] sends their patients home with them.
I was gong to hire a Game Ready but was told it 'eats ice' and I don't have an ice making facility on my freezer.
If you get one, don't bother with shop bought ice packs. I freeze water in cottage cheese cartons. Far more 'user friendly'.
 
Hello and Happy NY Eve to all!
six weeks out here. Saw OS and wasn’t happy with my ROM and suggested MUA.
i get to about 90 at PT, but not same result at home. Tightens up shortly after I leave PT.
Ive been reading about the IT Band. Seems to be my issues. It’s causing me not to be able to bend at this point the way I was hoping for.
PT ( which is not aggressive ) seems to flair it up.
Any input about this would be greatly appreciated. I skipped PT yesterday ( I go 3x a week ) because the IT seemed to be aggravated by the days before PT. It’s kinda a bummer. I just tried to get into my car , but no success. I do all daily living stuff. I walk a lot , laundry , cook, clean, up and down stairs. I also Ice / elevate / and rest when needed. Also do some stretching at home. Thank you for any help with this.
Thank You !
 
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