PKR Taking it steady

[Scaredycat10]

Hi I am day 18 after rtkr. I am struggling to do the knee extension exercises. My leg when I sit and try to lift doesn't seem to get very high.. the trouble is I don't know how high I should be able to get it at this point.
( I get it about 1 Foot off the floor)
I have only seen a physio 16 days ago no and have an appointment This coming Thursday but am worried there may be something wrong as the pictures on my exercise sheet show a man with his wound covered ( took my dressing off today,) and his leg is perfectly straight and goes up straight to meet his thigh.. I can't do this no way!
I am walking still with crutches 100 steps this morning plus coming down stairs which I do both up and down fine.
If anyone can help I would be grateful for the advice/ comments.
Thanks take care

I sat on my physio's couch today and extended my leg half way up, just a bit more than a foot in height.

She was delighted with me if it's of any help.
She also laughed with me at my quivering quad muscles and remarked how easy it is to lose power, but also how it will come back with exercise.
I am so lucky to have a humane physio.

 

[hawk2go]

Nobody really tells you how to progress, what size steps to take, how fast to walk and a number of other things which probably contributed to my current problem which occurred after leaning on my thigh and getting a shooting pain which now appears on walking, I am back to using a crutch round the house and back on full pain relief.

I am at 10 weeks and had a tough week requiring me to resume my pain meds on a schedule, abandon my exercises and use my cane in situations where I had ditched it. I gave myself a rest and am back to walking around inside without an aid and now carry my cane outside for "security". I'll keep the pain meds on board for a bit longer.

My scar feels tight and dry - does anyone know if I can or should moisturise?

My doctor saw me at 4 weeks and instructed me not to scrub or rub the site for another 2 weeks. At the time, I had a couple tiny scabs where the suture needle entered. Everyone is a bit different but I think if there are scabs, the site is still considered vulnerable.

 

[Carol Anna]

Hi I am day 18 after rtkr. I am struggling to do the knee extension exercises. My leg when I sit and try to lift doesn't seem to get very high.. the trouble is I don't know how high I should be able to get it at this point.
( I get it about 1 Foot off the floor)
I have only seen a physio 16 days ago no and have an appointment This coming Thursday but am worried there may be something wrong as the pictures on my exercise sheet show a man with his wound covered ( took my dressing off today,) and his leg is perfectly straight and goes up straight to meet his thigh.. I can't do this no way!
I am walking still with crutches 100 steps this morning plus coming down stairs which I do both up and down fine.
If anyone can help I would be grateful for the advice/ comments.
Thanks take care

Hi here
This isn't an excercise I have been given to do? I have been given straight leg lifts which I find difficult/painful so I am leaving these alone. After looking on this site this does not worry me as I am sure that I will be able to do more when the leg has had time to heal more, I do the exercises that I can pushing past any discomfort but never past any pain - if it hurts I stop.

 

[Carol Anna]

Nobody really tells you how to progress, what size steps to take, how fast to walk and a number of other things which probably contributed to my current problem which occurred after leaning on my thigh and getting a shooting pain which now appears on walking, I am back to using a crutch round the house and back on full pain relief.

I am at 10 weeks and had a tough week requiring me to resume my pain meds on a schedule, abandon my exercises and use my cane in situations where I had ditched it. I gave myself a rest and am back to walking around inside without an aid and now carry my cane outside for "security". I'll keep the pain meds on board for a bit longer.

I am hoping that having a rest will give me the same results - its a relief to find someone with similar experience.
My scar feels tight and dry - does anyone know if I can or should moisturise?

My doctor saw me at 4 weeks and instructed me not to scrub or rub the site for another 2 weeks. At the time, I had a couple tiny scabs where the suture needle entered. Everyone is a bit different but I think if there are scabs, the site is still considered vulnerable.

No sutures my surgeon used a glue but I do have a couple of scabs so
will wait a couple more weeks.

 

[Carol Anna]

My scar feels tight and dry - does anyone know if I can or should moisturise?

My scar will be a month old on Wednesday and I am happy it's healed over sufficiently to use Bio Oil on it.

I had an a mole removed from my neck a few years ago and used Bio oil on the scar. No idea if it was my skin healing well or the bio oil helping, but the scar is barely visible.
I've bought a new bottle and intend to start using it by the end of the week.

I need to look up Bio oil - thanks for the tip

 

[Indigo_Bunting]

I am at 10 weeks and had a tough week requiring me to resume my pain meds on a schedule, abandon my exercises and use my cane in situations where I had ditched it. I gave myself a rest and am back to walking around inside without an aid and now carry my cane outside for "security". I'll keep the pain meds on board for a bit longer.

@hawk2go thank you for sharing this. I’ve had an increase in pain in the last 24 hours and am back on pain meds. It helps just knowing I’m not alone.

 

[patriciad]

@Carol Anna
Your plan to recover from your setback is a good one. I too had a major setback after my first outpatient Physio which was overly aggressive and put me back pain and mobility wise to my first week post op. I too had sharp pain on standing and walking in the area of the replacement part. My OS brought me in to review and ease my mind. The joint was sound and intact but I had a lot of internal tissue inflammation which took 2 weeks to ease. After the swelling went down I had not lost any ROM or flexion and I was told not to do more Physio but increase normal walking standing etc gradually. I’m coming up for 5 months and happy with progress. You will get over this just take it slow and steady. As soon as your glue comes off and the scar is pink and clear with no scabs you can gently massage the area with lotion or oil of your choice. I use Vitamin E oil now still. Good luck.

 

[BEWITCHED Charm]

@Scaredycat10
Thank you for that. I have probably read and I apologize but how long are you since your surgery? You have put me more at ease. I do suffer anxiety and so tend to panic every so often.. thank you again.

 

[Scaredycat10]

@Scaredycat10
Thank you for that. I have probably read and I apologize but how long are you since your surgery? You have put me more at ease. I do suffer anxiety and so tend to panic every so often.. thank you again.

I am exactly one week ahead of you.

 

[Carol Anna]

@Carol Anna
Your plan to recover from your setback is a good one. I too had a major setback after my first outpatient Physio which was overly aggressive and put me back pain and mobility wise to my first week post op. I too had sharp pain on standing and walking in the area of the replacement part. My OS brought me in to review and ease my mind. The joint was sound and intact but I had a lot of internal tissue inflammation which took 2 weeks to ease. After the swelling went down I had not lost any ROM or flexion and I was told not to do more Physio but increase normal walking standing etc gradually. I’m coming up for 5 months and happy with progress. You will get over this just take it slow and steady. As soon as your glue comes off and the scar is pink and clear with no scabs you can gently massage the area with lotion or oil of your choice. I use Vitamin E oil now still. Good luck.

Thanks for your reponse - that is exactly when and where I am feeling the pain so your experience has put me even more at ease. I was considering calling my OS but the hospital is more than an hour away by car and I am due an appointment in a week or two so I will continue to rest and hope that the pain has cleared up before I see him but if not will mention it then.

 

[patriciad]

It’s a challenge not to get very anxious when this sort of thing happens. I was really stressed and upset as felt I was doing so well for 3 weeks. But it did heal after a couple weeks. Continue to ice and elevate to heal the tissues and do move using an aide. Glad you are seeing your OS in a couple weeks anyway.

 

[Carol Anna]

It’s a challenge not to get very anxious when this sort of thing happens. I was really stressed and upset as felt I was doing so well for 3 weeks. But it did heal after a couple weeks. Continue to ice and elevate to heal the tissues and do move using an aide. Glad you are seeing your OS in a couple weeks anyway.

The sharp pain is still there sometimes on walking and sometimes if I slightly turn my leg to the right or left - should I call the hospital and speak to someone or just wait for my appointment? I am starting to get anxious again and as usual impatient.

 

[Carol Anna]

Called hospital as sharp pain was bad today to be told that I had to speak to ward nurse first who would decide if I needed to see or talk to Physio or OS. Nurse made me feel like it was too much trouble to talk to me and without really asking me any questions told me it was normal and to up my pain relief. When I asked if I should excercise she said yes when I can. Oh well I should see OS soon. I do hope that it calms down by then but it was really painful at 5 a.m. when all I did was shuffle my bottom round slightly which moved the leg obviously in the wrong way causingg a bad piercing pain which lingered for about half an hour. Feeling sorry for myself today - I just want the pain to go - I am concerned that there might be infection or that the replacement is being rejected - I can live with the discomfort and excercise through that but I can do nothing with this pain and I guess I am just thinking the worse. OK moan over - just needed to vent and at least I feel listened to on this site.

 

[Jockette]

At this very early stage of recovery it is very easy to upset our healing knee. Try to be patient with it, it’s trying it’s best to heal.

 

[patriciad]

If you ice is it just as painful? It does sound very similar to my upset knee - if I turned I would get the pain. It was worrying and I know exactly how you feel wondering if you’ve done something awful or not. Try to relax as being tense makes things worse, continue to baby it and eventually it starts to ease. The nurse was a bit dismissive to say the least but you will be seeing your OS soon and he’ll probably do I a set of X-rays and calm your fears ( if not insist on a set). The implant itself is hard to dislodge but all the surrounding tissues and nerves can become inflamed and the whole new knee hurts. Hope you see improvement soon.

 

[Carol Anna]

Hi patridiad - Yes he does sound similar to your upset knee and I am really grateful that you shared your experience with me it has stopped me from worrying too much. I am also taking all the advice about slowing down. I had to laugh at myself the other day - two days after saying I would slow it down for a couple of weeks I thought about pushing some excercises as it was feeling a little better and it felt like I had been following my new slower regime for about a week - I had to pull myself up sharp and remind myself of my promise made only two days before to slow it down and allow the knee to heal. The first week will be up by tomorrow and I might extend my 'lazy' regime for a few more days or even another week and then try to walk more. Really difficult to sum up the enthusiasm to walk out due to worrying about the sharp pain and the cold damp weather. We live a 5 minute walk from the sea but it is down hill and that is still difficult for me but if it was summer hubby would drive me round to the prom and I could walk on the flat looking at the sea - I really miss it. He is taking me out for lunch today to cheer me up might get him to drive back along the sea road. Church tomorrow so will be sat up for about an hour and standing to sing will rest for remainder of day. Monday visiting someone who lives 20 miles up the coast from us - I need some normality but hope I don't do too much. Only time will tell.

 

[patriciad]

I really think you are doing too much while you still have the sharp pain in your knee. My OS told me to back right off of activities and at 3 weeks there was no way I could have been thinking about sitting or standing for a church service. Seriously you need to totally baby that operated knee for now until you can stand and walk with little discomfort.
Please re read all the guidelines for recovery you have been given. The sort of activity you are planning is too much for this point in healing. I know you want to get back to normal but this surgery is major and it takes time to heal all those moving parts. Pray and sing at home and just ice, rest and elevate and your recovery will be quicker in the long term.

 

[Jaycey]

 

[Carol Anna]

I really think you are doing too much while you still have the sharp pain in your knee. My OS told me to back right off of activities and at 3 weeks there was no way I could have been thinking about sitting or standing for a church service. Seriously you need to totally baby that operated knee for now until you can stand and walk with little discomfort.
Please re read all the guidelines for recovery you have been given. The sort of activity you are planning is too much for this point in healing. I know you want to get back to normal but this surgery is major and it takes time to heal all those moving parts. Pray and sing at home and just ice, rest and elevate and your recovery will be quicker in the long term.

Thanks for the advice - I really thought that just going to church would be ok as part of my ADL but I will take you advice and continue to baby the knee. I did go out for lunch today and feel better for it.

 

[Carol Anna]

Can someone change my post title to 'taking it steady'