TKR Total Knee Replacement New Girl 10 weeks out

[rubyedith]

Hi, @benne68 did not mean to disappear, just busy. I did go back to original surgeon. We did MRI and bloodwork. Bloodwork fine. MRI showed thickened IT band. He did steroid injection. Knee is somewhat better. He did write orders for me to do PT again to stretch the IT band. I have not gone to PT yet, as I'm waiting to see how much improvement I will get from the steroid injection. I guess my plan is to wait to see the max improvement I get from injection and do IT band stretches at home, if more improvement needed, go to PT, if no better, seek 2nd opinion. If anyone else has been in this place, would so appreciate knowing what helped you. Thank you so very much for your time, insights, attention and concern.

 

[benne68]

Thanks for checking in, @rubyedith. Sorry to read that you are still struggling.

FWIW, I had IT band issues after my first knee replacement. My physical therapist didn't just give me exercises; he did a lot of hands-on work (trigger point releases, etc.) during my sessions and showed me how to use a mini-massager at home to get the most benefit. It took time, but it did get better.

Hope you see improvement from the injection.

 

[rubyedith]

That is certainly great news, @benne68 ! Thanks so much for the encouragement!! May I ask at what point did you feel your first knee was where you wanted it? I certainly welcome any other IT banders to chime in. Thanks!

 

[benne68]

May I ask at what point did you feel your first knee was where you wanted it?

Sometime in my second year, I reached a point where I wasn't thinking about it all the time. The joint itself was fine earlier than that; it was soft tissue problems that hung on. Many of our members report that they continue to have improved in that second year.

I don't think our surgical teams warn us to expect all the soft tissue trauma that we have to deal with in recovery. The longer we've limped around, favoring that bad knee, the more the muscles, tendons and ligaments have adapted to a "bad" structural alignment and the longer it takes to set things right.

I would encourage you to find a PT who will really customize his/her treatment to your specific needs and won't just prescribe standard "hip replacement" exercises. It may take some searching to find the right therapist -- someone who takes a "whole body" approach rather than a joint-specific approach.

Let us know how things go.