TKR Too early?

Zusanna

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Hi everyone. I am so happy I found this forum! Information out there regarding TKR is all over the place. My biggest issue(s) are stamina and swelling. My boss pleaded with me to come back to work 3 weeks postop. I could just be at my desk. Well, that wasn't prudent and I see that now. My surgery was on 8/14/2020 and I had it as an outpatient/ same day surgery. I am still fighting for stamina and by the middle of my day my entire leg is swollen and painful. PT 2x a week for 80 minutes and at home throughout the day. Sleep escapes me because I can't get comfortable. Am I pushing too hard? Oh yes yoga 3 times a week as well. Thank you!
 
@Zusanna, welcome to Bonesmart! You will find many who have been in the same shoes you are in and are here to offer help and a shoulder.

First off, it sounds like you are doing way too much PT. 80 minutes, plus all throughout the day is WAY too much on a healing knee. You are not in training, you are healing from a very traumatic surgery that takes on average a year to heal from. '

The following are our basic guidelines and should help get you started. As you read more on other members' recovery threads, you’ll get a better perspective of what to expect and what not to do, especially regarding PT.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Many of us never took formal PT or did any exercises. I am one of them. I had 12 knee surgeries, 2 of them kneecap removals, and 1 tkr. Even after those I never took formal PT. But, I didn't just sit around and do nothing. I used my knee as it was intended to be used by walking around to take care of my daily needs. As I healed I was able to do more. Icing and elevation were a huge part of my recovery.

Listen to your knee. It will tell you if you're doing too much by increased pain and swelling. When that happened to me, I found that resting, icing, and elevating helped. Your knee knows how to rehab itself without being told what to do.
 
Zusanna, welcome and I will now have to quit complaining that I had to back to work at 6 weeks. It was supposed to be light duty, but that is a fairytale if you have a busy job. It really does hurt your recovery. I admire how much you are doing, but it’s taking its toll on you. I personally would drop everything , except work and just doing your daily activities. My recovery has been prolonged due to my going back to work to early, way to much PT, etc. Try an ice bag & elevating your knee at work to take the edge off. Good luck and I hope things get better soon.
 
Hello and welcome to bonesmart. The short answer is that of course you are doing too much. You already know that and if not you than your knee and your body definitely know that.

This is a major surgery with some very major carpentry being done. This all means that our knees and our bodies both have to recover. I returned to a desk job part time at 6wks and that was tough and extremely tiring even with icing and trying to elevate my leg at work. I did almost nothing else besides that. Try to step back and give your body and your knee time to heal and recover more before pushing with all those activities.
 
PT 2x a week for 80 minutes and at home throughout the day.
Even for a normal non operated knee, 80 minutes of PT is way too much :flabber: on top of that you are doing yoga 3 times a week, no wonder your knee is painful and swollen, you are still in the early part of recovery, all your knee needs is daily living activities, as you are back at work, which at 3 weeks was very early in your recovery.
I would suggest backing off on your exercises for a while and allow your knèe yo rest and the inner tissues to heal.
Like sistersinhim, I too did very little exercises and fast forward 1 year I have a stable and a very happy left knee xx
 
Wow! Totally agree its way too much. I was in rehab after my tkr and even they only did 15-20 minutes a day during the 2nd and third week and most of that was explaining the exercise. Ice was the key for me too. Best of luck with it.
 

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