TKR TKR 4/6 pain lifting bent leg

[Roy Gardiner]

it’s so frustrating having family and friends tell me I should be further along

Ask them (as politely or not, as you please) what are their qualifications for holding that opinion.

Of course he listens to them and not to what I have read here.

Ask what is the reasoning for painful exercises. Require a specific answer. They won't have one. BoneSmart has no issue, of course, with stretching or posture or indeed any exercise that does not cause pain.

To train, you make your muscles hurt as much as you can bear. But you are not training, you are recovering.

 

[Ginger1210]

Same here gardenplotter i can use stationary bike fine but walking still causes swelling and discomfort. I look for the little victories i can stay on my feet a little longer each week even if its just a couple of minutes extra each week. I keep reminding myself i now have metal and plastic instead if bone and cartilage and my knee and body needs time to get used to it. I still limp slightly and get tired super quick.

 

[Jobiwan]

@Gardenplotter how long ago was your surgery? Mine will make 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm still on a.walker. Very discouraging!!

 

[Gardenplotter]

I am disappointed, I tried riding a regular bike outside today (Trek hybrid) and couldn’t do a rotation.
Not enough ROM yet.
I can do it on a stationary and recumbent bike, but not in real life.

 

[Sisterpat]

In time you will do it

 

[kneeper]

Thank you all for your great advice, it makes sense to me. I will take it easier and let go of the squats, just ADL and some bike if I feel I was too lazy.
@kneeper, I am going back to work in 10 days, and my job is somewhat physical, does involve lifting of boxes, moving pallets with a pallet jack and moving rolling equipment weighing hundreds of pounds. But that is not all the time, there is also data entry and office work involved. I would say the physical part takes up 15 % of the day.
I should be able to do it, as long as I can walk.
Thank you all for the pep talk, I needed it.

If you can split up those more physical tasks with your desk tasks you should be ok. Will you be able to ask for help if you need it at first? You may find you're pretty tired when you first go back to work, so coming home and "crashing" on the couch is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Gardenplotter]

Yes I am a little nervous about going back to work, but I just will have to work smarter not harder. My coworker that is with me there on day shift has physical issues of her own and I wouldn’t feel okay pawning the heavy lifting of on her.
But once the other shift comes in, there are 2 younger individuals and I am sure they will help if necessary.
Hopefully I will be able to just relax when I get home, but pretty sure that the task of cooking will still be on me. I am planning on cooking in the morning before work, that way it will be ready when I get home.
I really need the other knee done also, but I will try to wait until I am retired, so that at least I do not have to worry about going back to work.
I‘ll let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed.

 

[Arrangrl]

Hi all, I just wanted to say how grateful I am to have found this forum. I just wish I would have been better informed before my surgery, I kind of went in blind, thinking it was going to be a breeze, since I am relatively young for a knee replacement. Well, boy was I wrong, this definitely is a hard and long journey.
I am now 10 weeks post OP for TKR for my left knee. I have only seen my surgeon twice, once to make the appointment and then the 2nd day after surgery. When I asked him how the surgery went and if there was anything unusual he said everything went well and the rest is now up to me. I saw his PA at 3 weeks and she also said everything was great by looking at X-rays. My next appointment with the surgeon is in 2 weeks. So now I am wondering if I didn’t do enough or did too much because I have this pain when lifting my leg with a bent knee (for example at night adjusting the covers). When I lie on my side, operated leg on top with the leg extended and knee locked I am able to do leg lifts without any pain or discomfort. But when I bend the knee and try to lift the leg I can’t do it at all, just too painful on the outside of the knee and down the outside of the calf. Has anyone else had this problem?

Hey there
Ditto going in blind!
No one I had heard of who had had this surgery had any thing negative to say about TKR! Just how much it had changed their life for the better !!!
So, talk about a rude awakening !!!
I have learned from this group to listen to my knee .. I’m sure your pain will improve

Jan x

 

[FourCats]

Crock pots were my best friend! Before my surgery I did a lot of cooking and freezing. Now I tend to spend Saturday cooking and often have both crock pots going.

 

[Gardenplotter]

Hi all, I almost made it through the first week of work. I am actually getting ready for work just now, but thought i should update my entries. I am now almost 15 weeks after TKR.
So far so good, no unexpected pain, just aches, stiffness and I am extremely tired when I get home. I don’t have the energy or the desire to do any additional exercises. I will try to make up for it on the weekend.
Walking is very slowly getting better, still limping just a little, have to walk very deliberate heel to toe. And I still have a popping, clicking feeling —now at the back of the knee (before it was on the outside). So I’m guessing this is my soft tissue still adjusting to everything.
Still have the problem I first mentioned with doing a side leg lift when the knee is bent.
This too seems to be slowly getting better, I can now lift it just a little, before not at all.
So I guess overall there is improvement but ever soooooo slooooowwwww!

 

[Ginger1210]

Your doing great gardenplotter going back to work is not only physically but psychologically challenging i still limp a little as well and it usually gets worse near the end of the day when my leg is tired and muscles begin to weaken. I am averaging 3-4 good days then i will have a bad day and my knee is not happy at all. I have had to wear new shoes which has been a challenge but as you say slooooooooow progress.

 

[kneeper]

Hi all, I almost made it through the first week of work. I am actually getting ready for work just now, but thought i should update my entries. I am now almost 15 weeks after TKR.
So far so good, no unexpected pain, just aches, stiffness and I am extremely tired when I get home. I don’t have the energy or the desire to do any additional exercises. I will try to make up for it on the weekend.

Sounds like things are going well. If you mean by "making up for it" on the weekend, doing a few gentle ROM movements, that sounds good. But don't go overboard. Just keep listening to the knee including giving it its own weekend.

 

[Jockette]

I am now almost 15 weeks after TKR.
So far so good, no unexpected pain, just aches, stiffness and I am extremely tired when I get home. I don’t have the energy or the desire to do any additional exercises. I will try to make up for it on the weekend.

Being tired after a day of work, at your stage of recovery, is very normal.

There is no need to make up for not doing your exercises, at 15 weeks post op, you don’t need them anymore, everything you do in your normal day, including going to work, gives your knee all the movement it needs, and is what I like to call “natural PT”

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.

Still have the problem I first mentioned with doing a side leg lift when the knee is bent.
This too seems to be slowly getting better, I can now lift it just a little, before not at all.

Is this part of your list of exercises? If it was me I wouldn’t do it. You will recover fine without doing that.

 

[Gardenplotter]

@Ginger1210, it sounds like we are on the same path of recovery. A few good days and then a little setback, but yes overall we are moving forward.

@kneeper, I will see how tired I am on the weekend, but I meant just some form of exercise other than ADLs, really would like to ride a bike outside if I can get around with the pedals, even if it is just up and down the street.

@Jockette, that leg lift was not part of an exercise or PT routine, it’s just something I noticed when I tried to adjust the covers at night. You know when you lie on your side and you kick out to get the covers over your feet. When I realized I couldn‘t do it on my TKR side, I tried to figure out what movement was involved, and now I just try it once in a while to see if I can.

 

[Ghostpipe]

Hi Gardenplotter.

just try it once in a while to see if I can.

I liked that line, I too have stressed over things that I couldn’t do, rather than celebrate the improvements. I too have settled into trying challenges periodically rather than “working” on them, which isn’t effective.. it all eventually comes together.
After 18 weeks, my attitude has matured finally, get on with normal life, try it, if it still hurts don’t do it.
Still can’t entirely get rid of that niggling guilt that I am not doing enough though, shaking off the indoctrination of “you must do the exercises “ is nigh on impossible.

 

[Sisterpat]

Nigh on, but not completely impossible! Sounds like you are doing a good job in shaking off outdated theories!

 

[Gardenplotter]

Coming up to the end of week 17 (4 months).
My husband, my son and I went on a weekend trip to look at universities for our son. It went okay, i was really stiff after driving for 5 hours (with breaks in between). But going on a walking tour of the campuses wasn’t happening after that. I took my cane with me and that helped, but I was just too slow to keep up with the group. I decided to hang out at a Starbucks, having a cappuccino and wait for them to get back.
And some advice for others that are going on an overnight trip, I forgot, but I should have requested a room with a handicap accessible bathroom at the hotel. I don’t know if it’s just me, but those toilets are so close to the ground, that my knees are almost at my chest when I sit on them. Maybe I just have really long legs. I had a heck of a time getting back up.

 

[Ghostpipe]

The toilet issue is one that’s bothering me. I have to go to the U.K. soon, and the thoughts of travelling whilst being unable to adopt the schuss position is perturbing.
The little bag thingys that ladies take to music festivals etc. are not available here.
Scary!

 

[Jockette]

And some advice for others that are going on an overnight trip, I forgot, but I should have requested a room with a handicap accessible bathroom at the hotel.

This is the issue that caused a major setback for me right at 4 months post op. We visited friends for a weekend and it was a very painful weekend and it literally took me a month to recover. There were also stairs that I had to do more than once a day, and I don’t have stairs at home.

So, after I got home from my friend‘s house, I ordered a portable raised seat from Amazon and it was one of the best $18 I ever spent!

At 9 months post op we had to travel from Delaware to Ohio for my daughter’s wedding, we were there 5 days, and we specifically asked for a room with a handicap bathroom and were assured we’d have it. When we got there, there was a walk in shower, but the toilet was the standard low height. There was a bar attached to the wall next to it. In my opinion, that does not make it handicap accessible. It’s a good thing I had my portable seat with me. We did complain, but they said that’s all they had, and offered us a free breakfast every day. We we’re not impressed.

 

[kneeper]

Coming up to the end of week 17 (4 months).

And some advice for others that are going on an overnight trip, I forgot, but I should have requested a room with a handicap accessible bathroom at the hotel. I don’t know if it’s just me, but those toilets are so close to the ground, that my knees are almost at my chest when I sit on them. Maybe I just have really long legs. I had a heck of a time getting back up.

Good tip!