Anyone else put off PT, till it’s actually useful?
It's a good idea to postpone PT until your knee is calmer. Doing that should decrease your pain, too.
Your knee doesn't need much exercise this early in recovery. All it needs is the exercise it will get as you walk around your house. And keep using your walker. Walking with just a stick is putting too much strain on your new knee. It isn't healed enough for that yet.
You won't develop bad scar tissue (adhesions) if you stop PT. You're more likely to develop those if you continue to overwork your knee.
My surgeon doesn't allow any formal PT at all for the first month after a knee replacement. He says your knee needs that time, to start on its journey of healing. For that month, we rest, ice and elevate our leg, and walk around the house. The walking is our exercise and we increase it a little each week.
After that month, we just go to PT once every 2 weeks, where we are shown a few new exercises to do at home each day.
His patients all do well and achieve good ROM, as I did, and he hasn't had to do a manipulation to help with ROM for the past 4 years. I think that speaks for itself.
I have had 3 knee replacements and I followed my surgeon's protocol each time. I had (and still have) no problems with my knees.