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Do's and Don'ts after a TKR: A Typical List

Posted , 19 users are following.

CHICO_MARX
CHICO_MARX

This is a typical list of do/don't activities following a TKR...

Allowed activities: • Walking • Slow dancing • Stationary or non-stationary bicycle • Bowling • Golf • Low impact aerobics • Croquet • Swimming • Shuffleboard • Horseshoes 

Allowed activities with some experience: • Hiking (mild to moderate) • Rowing • Cross Country skiing • Stationary skiing (Nordic Trac) • Faster walking • Tennis (non-competitive) • Certain weight machines • Ice skating

Activities not recommended: • Handball • Squash • Rock climbing • Soccer • Singles Tennis • Volleyball • Football • Gymnastics • Lacrosse • Hockey • Basketball • Jogging • Running

Probably not recommended: • Roller Blading • Inline skating • Downhill skiing 

Shuffleboard?  Really?  Just shoot me now...

Notice that all the non-recommended activities involve high impact to the knee as well as the potential for severe twisting of the joint.  For most people, this is no problem.  However...

For those of us with athletic, and especially competitive, inclinations, it's like a death sentence.  I know.  I played competitive hockey for 44 years.  After a hip replacement, four fused vertebrae and now the TKR, well, obviously a game winning slapshot goal from the "point" ain't gonna happen again...ever.  I'm not even supposed to get on my rollerblades again (screw it...I'm doing that...I don't care...it's my reward at 1 year post op).

If you used to run, now you have to walk.  If you used to play singles tennis, now it's only doubles.  Get the idea?  That old competitive life is gone...goodbye.  And why?  Because that new knee with a 15-20 year potential lifespan will disintegrate in THREE if you go back to your old "weekend warrior" activities.  Oh...I'll just get another knee.  WRONG!  Really bad idea.  A revision is NEVER as good as the first one...ever.  And do you really want to deal with all that pain...for the rest of your life?

Put away the pride and vanity.  Remember what happened to the evil Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...

"He chose poorly." - The Grail Knight

I think the old guy put it perfectly...

 

11 likes, 45 replies

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  • Irish_Al
    Irish_Al CHICO_MARX

    Posted

    Thank You Chico.

    But I have to say individuals are individuals.

    Different people achieve different things and different levels. Thank God we are all different.

    Let's stay positive.

    Take care,

    Alan

    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX Irish_Al

      Posted

      I agree about individuality.  However, TKR patients now have a 2 1/2 pound mechanical device sitting inside their body.  That device has certain physical limitations...and I mean "physical" with regards to the physics of the device itself plus the glues and screws associated with it.

      The device was designed to eliminate the underlying disease state and enable people to walk again with full range of motion and no pain.  It was NOT designed to meet the strength or lateral g-force demands of cometitive sports...it just wasn't.  And anyone who thinks it was is just fooling themselves.

      In the end, everyone will make their own individual choices...I intend to drink from the right cup...  

    • Irish_Al
      Irish_Al CHICO_MARX

      Posted

      Thanks for the physical/mechanical explanation Chico. I just believe and know how difficult TKR can be, I believe in positivity and encouragement. My replacement knee weighs 1.5lbs.

      O intend to drink fromantic my own cup, I hope others do the same. I'm not sure there's a right or wrong cup.

      Take care & God Bless,

      Alan

    • Irish_Al
      Irish_Al

      Posted

      Apologies for typos
    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX Irish_Al

      Posted

      I absolutely agree with positivity and encouragement for people who are in the middle of a TKR recovery.  Worst op of my life.  Right now, I've got 4 1/2 pounds of titanium in me...docs are trying to turn me into a Terminator!

      However, to encourage people to ignore the doctors and specialists who warn about high-risk, post-TKR activities would be doing a disservice to those individuals.  Yes, everyone gets to make their own decision but urging people to pursue competitive sports in direct contradiction to all sane advice to the contrary is something I can't do.  It's like you haven't been warned of the consequences.  If someone wants to do it, go right ahead.  Just don't cry when that word "consequences" is hung before your eyes by the ER doc who's examining your ripped up knee.

      Personally, I just see it as an incredibly foolish choice...but then again, we're human and we all make those kinds of choices every day... 

    • david_61958
      david_61958 Irish_Al

      Posted

      Hey Al, how's the energy levels,I m up then I m down is this normal?

    • Angie65
      Angie65 CHICO_MARX

      Posted

      I agree it will be a experience for all of us but somethings we cannot do I was told the same thing 48 hrs till my tar I'm nervous but I have peace and I trust God to help me see the light

    • Defender
      Defender CHICO_MARX

      Posted

      I am due for my T K R next week and have found your advice very frightening and encouraging at the same time.

      You say it as it is so i am certainly not expecting it to be a easy recovery but i like to think myself as a very determined person.

      Having said that we are only human after all.

      My right leg which is the one i am having T K R is the one which had every bone broken and my knee suffered a high impact back in 1971  has been troubling me these last few years has finally gone even the guy that took the x ray said wow that is bad.

      My other knee also has some osteoarthritis has been taking all the strain for 6 months while waiting for surgery and i guess will need some surgery at a later date.

      Many thanks for your posts of advice my T K R is due 18 April and i am now at the stage of feeling excited and terrified guess that's normal. confused

    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX Defender

      Posted

      Wrote this on pre-op expectations...

      https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-pre-op-expectations-622045

      Simple...it's gonna hurt, you do the work, have patience, you'll be fine.  See?  Easy.  Just be prepared...none of us were and were smacked in the face by all of it.  Just know that it will be tough for a while and then it gets better.  In the end, all worth it...  No need to be frightened.  Stay strong...

      https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-and-ptsd-569521

       

  • mary_ann60812
    mary_ann60812 CHICO_MARX

    Posted

    Awesome!! That just about sums it up. If you've been through this surgery, why would you want to risk damaging the knee again? And I'm with you Chico, that you adjust to what you can do and GO ON LIVING !

  • Oldfatguy1
    Oldfatguy1 CHICO_MARX

    Posted

    You didn't mention some of the common things like windsurfing, sky diving and kinky s*x. What kind of advisor are you.

    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      Hmmmmm....  Yeah...especially the last one.  I'm 68...I'm not dead.........yet.....

  • suetkr12
    suetkr12 CHICO_MARX

    Posted

    Wow, that is a pretty negative outlook. Ive been having a rough time the last 3 days post trk, right knee. I have 2 replaced hips and now slugging through recovery on rt knee replacement but I think back to life before my 1st replacement . I was early 50s and thought life was over. The replacement gave me my life back, my ability to walk again. I am so terribly grateful. I may not play volleyball again but I'm hoping to hike again and walk without a cane; get in and out of the car without groaning and the day I can walk without pain. Once you get over your bad mental health day, change you goal. Be competitive using the possible activities. You're lucky to have your limbs, think of a new way to help others use their limbs. Good luck on your journey.

    • CHICO_MARX
      CHICO_MARX suetkr12

      Posted

      Negative?  "I may not play volleyball again..."; and you are so right, just like I'll never play hockey again.  But now, 7+ months post-op, I walk without pain or cane.  If people want to go back to a competitive athletic lifestyle after a TKR, they do so at their own peril.  Personally, I'll just stick with the "approved" activities...minus the stupid shuffleboard.  At 68, I don't have anything to prove by being athletically competitive.  I'll get my satisfaction on stage playing blues bass with my band...my knee loves the music.

      PS: I didn't make up the list...it came from The Mayo Clinic.  Don't say the docs didn't warn you...

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