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TKR Trouble Sleeping

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You shouldn't be in pain after therapy and three times a week seems a bit intense. Your knee really need some down time to heal. As for the weights, that's a bit much to start with I think, I had a PKR 3 months ago and I am just up to 10lbs because my physical therapist feels there is no need to put undue stress on a healing knee.

If I were you I would definitely find another physio therapist, yours seems brutal to me, there is absolutely no need of putting you through all this pain.
 
^What she said.
 
I had my TKR on 10 July and as I have progressed with my PT, I have found that I feel the need to stretch my leg and my quad pretty often. If I am laying in bed watching tv, I find myself stretching and the leg and my quad gets tight. Has anyone else ever felt the need to do the same thing and is this something I should be avoiding?
 
I have certainly felt the need to do a lot of stretching, especially in my hamstring and calf. Would love to stretch the quad but at only 12 days out from surgery, haven't figured out a way to do that. How are you stretching your quad on the surgery side?
 
I have two answers for you
1. stretch away, you'll not do yourself any harm and stretching is good for that leg anyway!
2. it's a manifestation of post-op pain and should be treated as such. Often people relate post-op pain to pre-op pain and don't realise that with the pre-op pain gone, anything left is also pain and needs to be medicated.

Here are some articles for you to read which I hope will help in your recovery
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
How Long Does Healing Take ......
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevating your leg to control swelling and pain
Using ice
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Progression of activity for TKRs

Knee Replacement - Where Am I in Recovery?
So What Is It Going to Take? The Five “P’s” of Knee Recovery
Work “Smarter” and not “Harder”
About recovering a knee - from one who knows!
Some suggestions for home physio (PT) and activity progress
Myth busting: The "window of opportunity"

MUA (manipulation under anaesthetic) and adhesions
It's never too late to get more ROM!
It's Worth the Wait for ROM
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
 
btw, I have merged your three threads as it is important for me to see the whole story when you post and not have to waste time searching for other threads. It also helps readers who want to read your whole story and won't know how to find your other threads. It would help if you would keep to this thread now for your recovery posts.
 
Well, 5 weeks post-op and my doctor has cleared me to stop using the walker and start to use a cane, discontinue the cpm, and allowed me to drive. In one more week, I can discontinue wearing the compression socks. I don't see him again until 12 Dec. Says I am doing great with my physical therapy and in Dec we will discuss when to do the left knee.
 
[Bonesmart.org] Trouble Sleeping
Greeny! Great report. Things are moving right along. Just don't get carried away because you're feeling so much better----that knee will swell up on you and hurt if you don't continue to take good care of it. Keep us posted. We care.
 
:umm:I thought this about not sleeping well!?! Anyways, I had my TKR on 6-4-12 & I still don't sleep without waking up at 3am. I usually take 1 Percoset when I go to bed (10-11pm) & I do quite well, till around midnight when my husband comes home from work & goes to bed. I take another Percoset then & hope for the best. At about 2:30am, I'm rolling around, waking up, listening to my hubby breathe, (CPAP machine whistles & blows out air, so that bugs me), flipping my pillow, trying to cool off, trying to get comfortable, moving my knee around, etc &etc. I usually get up to go the bathroom, and I may take another Percoset. I don't like to take 2 Percoset at bedtime because I have the most random dreams (not at all scary, just so odd they're funny, but very realistic!) By 4 am I may or may not be able to sleep, mainly because of the huge, stiff feeling I have. If I have the energy to take another 1 at 4 am I may do that. I notice that I sleep better when taking the 2 Percoset, but, I don't care for the dreams. My hubby even commented last night, "Take your drugs so you & I can sleep!" Frustrating! I understand! I do take a nap during the afternoon sometimes.:yawn:
 
Anybody use Voltaren Gel cream for leg cramps? I mentioned before that I tend to sleep with my leg bent and when I wake up, I fight to straighten up my leg and stretch it out. Well when I am stretching, my calf muscle cramps up and then it stays sore the remainder of the day. My wife put the cream on it the other day and within minutes the pain cleared right up. I just wonder if it is safe to use around my TKR. Would appreciate hearing from anyone that has used it.
 
Hello Everyone,

I had a LTKR on July 25 and am so happy that I found this forum. Yesterday I left PT in tears because I could only get an 85 degree bend and have been really striving for a 90 at this point in the game. My knee is really stiff and swollen and I just asked my surgeon if I could go on an anti-flam drug to aid in the swelling. Is it okay to not have that 90 degree bend being three weeks out? I'm getting really frustrated.
 
Kneeteacher, it's more than okay not to be at 90 degress---but you could probably easily get there if your knee was not swollen. You need to address the swelling by stopping all this PT,start resting, elevating (toes above nose) your operated leg, and ice, ice, ice that knee. This will help the swelling more than an anti-inflammatory.

You have just had major surgery--your knee as suffered major trauma to the bone, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissue. This recovery you have started on is going to take a full year to complete. So three weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things. You have a long, long way to go---and you need a lot of information. So please start your own thread in the knee replacement recovery area. You will see a black oblong at the top right hand side of the page that says "Post New Thread"--when you click on it, it will open a title box. You determine the title you want for your thread and then to down to the dialogue box and proceed to tell us a little about yourself or you can copy and paste what you have written here.

The advantage of having your own thread is there is a place for you to express your concerns and ask your questions, and all us other BoneSmarties can respond directly to you there and can always find you to post to. Members who have questions about sleeping problems are the ones most likely to visit this thread, and you will not get the attention you need and deserve.

Looking forward to your first post in your thread where I can give you links to Library articles that will answer so many of your questions.
 
bottomshollow said:
Kneeteacher, it's more than okay not to be at 90 degress---but you could probably easily get there if your knee was not swollen. You need to address the swelling by stopping all this PT,start resting, elevating (toes above nose) your operated leg, and ice, ice, ice that knee. This will help the swelling more than an anti-inflammatory.

You have just had major surgery--your knee as suffered major trauma to the bone, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissue. This recovery you have started on is going to take a full year to complete. So three weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things. You have a long, long way to go---and you need a lot of information. So please start your own thread in the knee replacement recovery area. You will see a black oblong at the top right hand side of the page that says "Post New Thread"--when you click on it, it will open a title box. You determine the title you want for your thread and then to down to the dialogue box and proceed to tell us a little about yourself or you can copy and paste what you have written here.

The advantage of having your own thread is there is a place for you to express your concerns and ask your questions, and all us other BoneSmarties can respond directly to you there and can always find you to post to. Members who have questions about sleeping problems are the ones most likely to visit this thread, and you will not get the attention you need and deserve.

Looking forward to your first post in your thread where I can give you links to Library articles that will answer so many of your questions.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks so much for the words of encouragement, I did create a new thread titled ROM
 
Greeny said:
Anybody use Voltaren Gel cream for leg cramps? I mentioned before that I tend to sleep with my leg bent and when I wake up, I fight to straighten up my leg and stretch it out. Well when I am stretching, my calf muscle cramps up and then it stays sore the remainder of the day. My wife put the cream on it the other day and within minutes the pain cleared right up. I just wonder if it is safe to use around my TKR. Would appreciate hearing from anyone that has used it.
Click to expand...

Greeny,
I used the Voltaren gel on my knee for awhile after surgery but you need to be sure there is nothing still open on the incision (don't want anything in there to cause unfection). I would put the gel on on the sides but not directly on the incision. It did help some but dont expect it to relieve all the pain, what it helps with is the inflammation in the knee.

PS Could you please create a signature for your posts to let us know your surgery date etc.
 
I wake up in the morning and find that the lower part of my knee is always red and feels a little warm. Even my PT has noticed it when I show up for therapy a couple hours later. He doesn't feel it is infected since it doesn't look swollen. Anybody else have this same thing go on 6 weeks out after surgery?
 
All us TKR folks have a sleeping problem for sometime after our surgery. There is a link provided by our wonderful admins that addresses this issue. Things I had not even considered, but make perfect sense. So much wonderful info here!
 
Well, I seemed to have figured out my sleeping issue. My OS had taken me from Vicodin to Ultracet with Acetaminophen. My wife was the one who finally caught the correlation between my switching meds and the sleeping problem. I switched back to the regimen I was on for my arm and hand before my surgery. (2 Neurotin and 1 Ultracet (3 x a day)). Now I sleep all night except for bathroom breaks. Now I have a question to see if anyone has had numbness on the front of their knee. I am 8 weeks post surgery. I am walker and cane free and therapy 2 times a week. I can do stairs but my surgery knee still is a bit weak. I just take it slow. Glad to have the friends and advisers on BS.
 
I think we all have a numb bit on tkr knee, mine is front and outside. It may lessen but probably not go away. 7 months on I also still have a hot knee at times
 
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