11weeks tkr post op knee still not bending

It has to be frustrating to be this far at and to only be at 30 degree bend since I was freaking when I was at 100 at 11 weeks.   

Have you talked with the surgeron?  Maybe paying for a private physiotherapist will help....sorry I am not more help.  

It sounds like your swelling may be preventing you from being able to bend your leg more. Maybe your body is telling you not to walk so much...40mins per day seems a lot at 4 wks. Try resting, elevating & icing only for a few days then see if the swelling has gone down. I am 7 wks and my physio has said that my swelling is preventing me being able to bend my knee more. I use a compression ice kit (from Amazon) ...Lumark...

Cost £40 but it does seem to reduce the swelling. Just do those exercises that you can manage. Good luck!

Try some of these...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-rom-work-at-home-620053

To straighten the leg, #3 is a KILLER!!!!

Just note that your situation is the most common.  From so many posts on here, it looks like #2 is "most of the time" very different from #1.  Even for people with simultaneous bilaterals, the two knee recoveries are rarely the same.  The problem for people who had a great #1, is the expectation that #2 will be easy too.  After reading over 4,000 posts on here, that doesn't sound like the way it usually turns out.

Suggestion:  Forget #1...forget expectations and comparisons.  Deal with #2 completely independently and do what you have to do to finish a successful recovery.

You are walking a lot, maybe try less?

Seeing a physio privately sounds like a good idea. Makes sure you get one with a lot of experience with TKR

I used two supports for any walking over ten minutes even at 12 weeks!

I could only walk a tiny weeny bit in the house, literally a few minutes, with no stick or crutch at 8 weeks. I used one around the house for what seemed like ages.

My physiotherapist urged me to stick with using support for as long as I felt I needed it, and I didn't see the point in causing myself needless pain. Instead I focused on improving range of motion and decreasing swelling more than dispensing with support.

My quads were very weak and took a while to activate so I took things slowly.

Reducing the swelling is important. Are you having a lot of pain?

I wanted to reduce pain medications more than walk independently in the early months, so I worked on the principle that if i had pain on walking my knee needed support. It's only partial support anyway, as some weight bearing goes on, just less than your full body weight.

Now I am 14 months post op and all is super...but it's hard for a good six months, so get all the help you can.

You may like to go to my profile by clicking on the image next to my name. I kept a journal of my own knee replacement journey, and I have been told by several people they found it helpful to read, or skim through. There is an abridged version which is shorter as well! It has a lot of useful suggestions and information.

Sorry Kerrie,

At 6 months post TKR I'm only at 83 bend and not good with extension but with too much pain have difficulty in pushing for more. Consultant says thinks I have a trapped nerve so MRI/ pain injections possibly. Not the outcome I hoped for and from being active pre bone on bone arthritis am reduced to an invalid status needing two crutches most of the time. My personal opinion is don't overdo it or beat yourself up about it. I tried to do too much and maybe the cause of the problem.Once your knee swelling has subsided it will be hopefully easier.

Hi Kerrie,

At 4 weeks you really are doing too much walking! Maybe you could with the other knee, but you have found, as have a lot of us, that each operation is different. Your healing is different, you cannot go on how it was the 1st time around! It's a different leg!

Just ease off, ice & elevate, then reintroduce the walks, not so far, not for so long, maybe start with 10 mins a day or less. See how the knee reacts to that & see where you go from there. If ok build up slowly to 4 x 10 min walks a day but probably in a month or so, it all depends how the knee responds.

Do your physio exercises as best you can, quality over quantity, but you  will not be able to perform them too well whilst you are really swollen, so concentrate on getting that down 1st. Make sure you do the exercises to straighten your leg as without a straight leg you will limp!!

Better to do your exercises than walking distances.

Although you only get an exercise sheet from physio, they will be tailored to you & your operated. You may not think the physio is doing much but as you walk/limp into the room they are assessing you, your gait & how you are using that knee.

From memory of my 1st physio session, we had a sit down session where she went through the history of the knee, how the op went & what level of pain/swelling I had. What I expected to be able to achieve, She then looked at both knees & I had to walk & stand, then she got me onto the bed & asked me to do certain exercises to see how I did them. I was told to increase certain exercises & that was it. The next session she took away some of the original hospital set & gave me more slightly harder exercises. More exercises & higher intensity were given at later sessions. So don't worry too much your physiotherapist will be doing more for you. If you've had 1, you should have another 5 sessions to go on the NHS. (Although it does seem to be different in other health areas.)

The knee is in charge, listen to it.

A private physiotherapist is a really good idea, choose one who has experience of post TKR patients.

Patience is the key here, so don't worry, sit back & read a good book, watch daytime tv or listen to music or whatever else will help you pass the time. Pushing the knee will not make it heal quicker, the opposite!

Read Chico's posts & take heed.

Marilyn 

XX

Kindest regards 

Kerrie xx