Swelling not going down

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lgobrien

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I am 6 weeks post op and have been doing great up until last Saturday. I'm still doing fine, but concerned with swelling that won't see to go down.

I have been religious about my icing, elevating, PT and resting. Last Saturday, we had our big summer party here on the lake with 50 people (mind you, it's totally pot luck and we just supply beautiful weather on the lake).

However, it wasn't until the end of the day that I finally sat down to ice and elevate. Now, it has been swollen ever since. I've laid off on the daily therapy, but went to aqua therapy on Monday where we still took it easy. I have been really veggin' this week. I go to aqua therapy again today and will discuss with my PT, but I'm trying to decide if I should still be doing my daily therapy or if I'm giving myself too much TLC and waiting till the swelling goes down to exercise.

I know it will eventually come down, but am I doing something wrong?

Laurie
 
My swelling took 5 months to go down. I eventually had to have an MUA on Monday as I just couldn't push through the swelling. I also did all the ice and elevate thing, it just didn't help, just had to play the waiting game for my body to sort it out on it's own I guess. Good luck though, hope your's won't take so long. Sue
 
Laurie,
I'd be careful about letting too much time go by without those exercises.... you can lose progress quickly at 6 weeks....is the pain increased too or mostly just swelling?
Are you elevating above your heart--- not just in a recliner? That makes a big difference in getting the swelling down. Also--- at 6 weeks my PT said it was ok to alternate heat and cold in 20 minute intervals to knock down inflammation/swelling. Do you have a hot tub? Or a hot bath for 20 minutes of gentle flexion then ice it down. Did I send you the lymph drainage massage instructions earlier? That might help too. (if not--- I can send them to you if you PM me your e-mail address..... the file is too big for the forum)

Good luck! Get better!
 
I went to PT this afternoon (after a morning meeting). I just took a snooze with ICE!

My PT didn't think the swelling was an amount to be worried about and she too said to keep up with the exercises, but at a moderate rate.

I told her I wasn't in any more pain than normal, just concerned that I couldn't get the swelling down and it was tightening up my flexing. She measured my ROM after my (90 degree) aqua therapy and I was at 113 (106 a week ago)! So, I guess I'm moving in the right direction, just getting more and more active so I guess I'll probably not always be able to keep ahead of the swelling.

I start back to work on Monday, so she gave me a few pointers to get me thru the day at my desk, but they are things I have already been incorporating into my day... making sure my leg is either under my chair (flexed at least 90 degrees) or straightened out on a nearby chair... making sure I still have my ice with me at work.

So, I guess next week will be a whole new experience for me - going back to work after 7 weeks off. Luckily, I can come and go when I please and don't have to keep any kind of schedule, but I've got some big projects coming up that I'd like to start getting in at least a 6 hour day (I only work four days a week when all is well anyway).

Thanks for all your help during these last few weeks and I will stay tuned daily as I know I will continue to need your support!

Laurie
 
At six weeks, you are still healing from some major, major surgery---drilling, cutting, and sawing. it tooks 4-5 months for my swelling to go down in my knee, and my legs are still a little swollen. As others have said, it takes about a year to be back to "normal."
 
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