MUA When do you start getting optimistic

[Josephine]

Remember that How To place? Every time you need to know how to do something, go and look in there.

On this occasion you need this one Uploading a Picture in a Post

 

[tkrme]

the surgery was hard on me also and on everyone else too. It is a major surgery that requires major recovery. Read the articles and follow what Josephine says. It is what got me on track to recovery.
Get a different pain med. there are quite a few. Many take percoset . I took Nucynta (forget how it is spelled) for two weeks then tramadol. Still have tramadol. The muscle pain is possibly caused by all your muscles, and other things in your leg adujusting to your new knee that has created more space between your bones, therfore having to stretch and lengthen. I have the same. The muscles are about stretched now.
For about four weeks it took. I could not walk due to the pain. With gentle stretches, icing, tramadol, and 800 mg of ibuprophen three times a day, it is much better. It will get better dear. You just need to understand it takes time.
Depression is part of the journey also. I also have paronoia everytime I feel a new twinge or see a new color spot. Reading here always helps.
Remember You are on a journey, not a race. Wishes and prayers for you.

 

[tkrme]

P. S. When I first started the bike, all I could do was rock back and forth. When I was able to go around, it was backwards only. Keep rocking you will get there

 

[Birdiegirl123]

 

[Birdiegirl123]

here are the photos. I tried to originally upload the file and couldn't. That's why I asked you how. It turns out that i couldnt do it on the google browser.

 

[Josephine]

LOL! No you can't! I also cropped your pictures to remove all the personal information for you.

They look fine and he seems to have chosen a good fit for you.

 

[referee54]

I had a BTKR going on five years ago this November 8th. Recovery, without a doubt, was the most frustrating thing that I have ever gone through. I kept asking myself when I would eve be "normal." At eight weeks, just after Christmas, I returned to the classroom---I was very excited to do so, but it was much too early. I walked with a slight limp---one of my very good friends and colleagues called me "Festus" from the TV show, Gunsmoke.

I still had a limp for almost five months---and, at the end of a school day, you could take your pick of which knee would be stiff and sore---and, not to mention, I was exhausted! I would wonder when I would return to "normal" and when the stiffness would go away.

I umpired my first baseball game post-BTKR the week after I was released from PT, and one of the coaches noticed my ever-so-slight limp. It ws still wondering if---and when---I would be limp and stiffness free.

Then, magically, everything resleoved itself and my limp and the stiffness went away. I would say that at about six months I was at about 80%-85%; at eight months I was close to 90% to 95%. It was very trying to me---in term of what my patience could endure, but i got thorugh it and the rest, as they say, is history.

I now know what i did and why my body was doing it---the surgical trauma and recovery can be very frustrating and much slower than we would like it to be. In the end though, and I can certainly attest to this---it is very much worth it!

Patience, Grasshopper, Patience!!!

 

[kneeper]

Yes, it can take what feels like a long time. I was a bit of a tortoise myself but gradually it improves. But remember the tortoise wins the race. Finding a balance between doing your exercises and making sure you ice, elevate and letting things heal can be tricky. The knee is in charge.

 

[Jebsw]

I refer to the speed of recovery from this as a glacial pace (discounting global warming). I had my second TKR about a week after your surgery. When I get on the bike at PT, the most I can do at first is a bit of rocking back and forth. Eventually I'm able to go backwards, and the finally forwards. Getting there takes about five minutes.

I'm really sorry you're having so much pain; the advice to ask about a different painkiller is important. You'll find lots of people on here needed to switch before finding one that worked for them.

Remember that our bodies are all different, so our healing and recoveries are also different. I have found that I'm a very slow healer, which is not what I anticipated but what is. It's hard. Talking to others, who know the extent of this journey like us, makes it a bit easier.

 

[Birdiegirl123]

I don't really have a lot of pain when I go to PT. I actually enjoy the strengthening cause it makes me feel like I'm on the mend. I actually don't have a ton of pain unless I go walking or keep my leg unelected. yesterday I went to the supermarket for 20 minutes and I was almost crying from the pain. But as I mentioned before, there seems to be some really bad stiffness just on the right side and that will be investigated tomorrow. I suspect it must be scar tissue.

 

[Nyland]

Hi Birdie,
Like Janet, I still ice and elevate. I will be 3 months tomorrow. I swelled so much, that when I went for my 1 week check-up I scared my OS. He wrote up orders to the home and outpatient PT...ONLY GENTLE STRETCHES. No machines, no bikes, just gentle stretching. I asked my PT about those orders on Monday. he said that will probably change after I see my OS next week. My ROM is 115 and my extension is pretty bad. I'm nervous that the OS will be upset about that. It ranges from -7 to -10. MANY of us felt depressed at 7 weeks. Many more that you will ever know. I've not been on any pain meds for many weeks, so i think it is just our body's reaction to healing. Bless your heart for going through an MUA at 7 weeks. I still baby my knee with pillows so that my 7 pound poodle doesn't walk over it. You are a very strong woman. Thinks will get better, I promise. I still do not have any feeling on the right side of my scar. It's coming back very, very, very little by little. Take care my friend!

 

[Birdiegirl123]

Ty for,the encouragement. it's hard. Yesterday after therapy I went to the grocery store for 30 minutes then visited my grandchildren for 2 hours and today I am tears and in bed icing. Just wondering when it ever gets better. The manipulation was not too difficult but my knee is actually no better. Scary.

 

[Josephine]

Not necessarily. It is more likely to be tendinitis of some kind. So let's get down to where this pain is. I have a chart here where you can point out the painful places by quote the appropriate number and letter. Let's start with the front view...

 

[Birdiegirl123]

Okay Ty. Pain and acute stiffness is in a U shape. R1C. R1D R2D

 

[Josephine]

Well, that's fairly simple - it's classic for ITB or Ilio Tibial Band tendonitis...

You need to do some exercises to ease this. Have a look here Ilio-tibial band (ITB) issues and pain: exercises.
Other things you can do is apply NSAID gels like Ibuleve or broken link removed: https://www.voltarengel.com/consumer/default.aspx. Since this is a very superficial tendon, it is very easy for these gels to penetrate.

Other things you can try is to use a TENS machines or use acupressure yourself. To do this, make a fist and knead the area, starting off with some pressure then gradually increasing it until it's about past the point you can bear! Sounds cruel but you will feel the benefit when you stop! Do it for about 5 mins a couple of times a day and repeat as you wish. Finally, the other recommendation is seeing a chiropractor.

It can be a stubborn condition and yours has been with you for a little while so expect it to be difficult to budge. It will resolve but it often takes time. Just keep at it.

 

[Birdiegirl123]

Oh wow. I will get on it right away. Ty I don't know if you received my other numbers fron the charts regarding my band of pressure. When I bend my knee, I get this wall of pressure around the my quad stretching from R1B to R4 B

 

[Birdiegirl123]

Josephine would it help me to take an anti inflammatory orally.

 

[karmigirl]

Birdie,
Since you are in therapy you might ask if they can do some ultrasound on the IT band pain. That worked well for me 2 treatments and it was gone. Just a suggestion.

 

[Birdiegirl123]

Ok going on Friday will ask will also ask the doctor tomorrow about tis tendinitis.

 

[Josephine]

Do take them orally as well, but remember to add up the total you are using. It shouldn't be more than 3,000mg per day.

And that other pain across the top of the knee cap could be referred pain from the ITB or patellar tendonitis. Same treatment applies.