United States
Hi,
Thank you for all this helpful information; what a great resource!
I am 61 years old and had TKR on my right knee on September 15, 2020. The surgery went well. The only unusual thing was that I was not prescribed Celebrex anti-inflammatory which my surgeon likes to prescribe, since I have had ulcers in the past. Otherwise, very standard.
2 Weeks after surgery: I was doing way too much PT and having a lot of pain, and then I found this website! So I backed way off to just minimal stretching twice a day, once a week PT, with stretching that I was comfortable with. That helped a lot. I closely followed the protocol of lots of ice, elevation, rest.
5 weeks after surgery: Things were going along pretty well. I had stopped using my cane; was walking one to two times a day for 20 min, and I was doing minimal tasks around the house. I still had moderate swelling many days, not necessarily tied to my having done anything different, but overall, the pain was mild to moderate. My range of motion was 0 degrees and 108 degrees. I apparently overdid it one day walking around to do some shopping and light chores and using the exercise bike for 15 min with no resistance. The next day it was very swollen and I had severe pain on the outside of the knee joint whenever I bore weight on the leg. I backed way off, called the Physician's Assistant, who said it sounded like tendinitis and told me to take it easy and to freeze whole cups of ice and do ice-massages. This did seem to help.
6.5 weeks after surgery: I was still icing, not doing any exercise, not taking walks, and was back to using a cane, just doing daily activities, and it was much less painful. I saw the doc for a 6-week check up and he said that I am having inflammation issues, that these are not uncommon, possibly related to my not being able to be on an anti-inflammatory after surgery? Anyway, he wanted to see me again in 3 weeks. Regarding PT, he wants me doing the bike, with no resistance. I was not able to do the bike without pain, so I have not been doing it or any PT. With this total slacking off (only daily activities, minor housekeeping), and lots of ice/elevation/rest the swelling and pain did get quite a bit better.....
8 weeks after surgery: It has been 8 weeks now, and while the pain and swelling are indeed better, I have lost SO much range of motion! Currently it is about 87 degrees. I use the cane most of the time, and I feel like I have backslid so far. If I try my stretching exercises at all, there is pinching, sharp pain at the outside front of knee joint, and swelling.
My questions: Is it ok that I reached 108 degrees by week 5, but then by week 8 I am back to 87 degrees? Should I just keep resting mostly to keep pain and swelling down, and trust that the ROM will return when the swelling finally goes down? (As I read over and over on this forum!) Or should I try the stretching a little every day even if it triggers the inflammation/swelling/pain...so that I don't continue to lose ROM...?
Thank you!!!
Thank you for all this helpful information; what a great resource!
I am 61 years old and had TKR on my right knee on September 15, 2020. The surgery went well. The only unusual thing was that I was not prescribed Celebrex anti-inflammatory which my surgeon likes to prescribe, since I have had ulcers in the past. Otherwise, very standard.
2 Weeks after surgery: I was doing way too much PT and having a lot of pain, and then I found this website! So I backed way off to just minimal stretching twice a day, once a week PT, with stretching that I was comfortable with. That helped a lot. I closely followed the protocol of lots of ice, elevation, rest.
5 weeks after surgery: Things were going along pretty well. I had stopped using my cane; was walking one to two times a day for 20 min, and I was doing minimal tasks around the house. I still had moderate swelling many days, not necessarily tied to my having done anything different, but overall, the pain was mild to moderate. My range of motion was 0 degrees and 108 degrees. I apparently overdid it one day walking around to do some shopping and light chores and using the exercise bike for 15 min with no resistance. The next day it was very swollen and I had severe pain on the outside of the knee joint whenever I bore weight on the leg. I backed way off, called the Physician's Assistant, who said it sounded like tendinitis and told me to take it easy and to freeze whole cups of ice and do ice-massages. This did seem to help.
6.5 weeks after surgery: I was still icing, not doing any exercise, not taking walks, and was back to using a cane, just doing daily activities, and it was much less painful. I saw the doc for a 6-week check up and he said that I am having inflammation issues, that these are not uncommon, possibly related to my not being able to be on an anti-inflammatory after surgery? Anyway, he wanted to see me again in 3 weeks. Regarding PT, he wants me doing the bike, with no resistance. I was not able to do the bike without pain, so I have not been doing it or any PT. With this total slacking off (only daily activities, minor housekeeping), and lots of ice/elevation/rest the swelling and pain did get quite a bit better.....
8 weeks after surgery: It has been 8 weeks now, and while the pain and swelling are indeed better, I have lost SO much range of motion! Currently it is about 87 degrees. I use the cane most of the time, and I feel like I have backslid so far. If I try my stretching exercises at all, there is pinching, sharp pain at the outside front of knee joint, and swelling.
My questions: Is it ok that I reached 108 degrees by week 5, but then by week 8 I am back to 87 degrees? Should I just keep resting mostly to keep pain and swelling down, and trust that the ROM will return when the swelling finally goes down? (As I read over and over on this forum!) Or should I try the stretching a little every day even if it triggers the inflammation/swelling/pain...so that I don't continue to lose ROM...?
Thank you!!!
