3 months post TKR
Posted , 5 users are following.
I had my right TKR in early December and made really good progress My range of movement is good and I am not experiencing any real pain. My problem is that whilst waiting for my left TKR, I am unable to walk very far at all. I am just wondering what exercises I could be doing alongside the basic ones I was given by my physio. I have tried to use an exercise bike, but can only do short periods of time due to pain in my left leg. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
0 likes, 6 replies
JojoKalma71 gillyb65
Edited
do you have regular treatment? how does your joint function? you need to perform physiotherapy and stretch the joint before you go somewhere to stretch and do it a little bit!
hurry and load the joint can not be as it can have a bad effect ! take a small dumbbell cling to it and lift it a little bit
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lynda49844 gillyb65
Posted
Have they given you any indication when the left will be done? I had my left done January 2019 and my right January 2020. They were going to do them 4 months apart, but I had a lot of pain with my left and I opted to wait longer.
How far are you walking now? I could only manage 20-30 minutes without a break before the second knee was done and am back to that at the moment, hoping to be able to improve on that now.
Swimming is supposed to be good or even walking and exercising in a pool as it's less pressure on the joints. Otherwise I'd say continue with what you're doing but maybe more frequently during the day. If you can only walk for 5 minutes, do it every hour. Same with the bike, perhaps do 2 mins or whatever you can and do it several times during the day. Good luck and I hope you get the other knee done soon.
Cuda71 gillyb65
Posted
It all just takes a lot of time and patience. I am 48 and had right knee replaced at 46 and lefts 1 year ago at 47. I was the exact same situation but as time progressed with walking I've slowly got better. I can know walk 5 miles without a break and actually feel good when I'm done. I don't think we realize what this surgery does to our muscles. Keep walking and stretching and I'm certain you will keep improving, patience is the hardest thing to deal with after knee replacement.
Cuda71 gillyb65
Posted
It all just takes a lot of time and patience. I am 48 and had right knee replaced at 46 and lefts 1 year ago at 47. I was the exact same situation but as time progressed with walking I've slowly got better. I can know walk 5 miles without a break and actually feel good when I'm done. I don't think we realize what this surgery does to our muscles. Keep walking and stretching and I'm certain you will keep improving, patience is the hardest thing to deal with after knee replacement.
CHICO_MARX gillyb65
Posted
For a TKR recovery, walking time and distance are irrelevant...what matters is the number of STEPS as they put the load on the knee. Get a pedometer and use the tracking software to see your progress. It really helps.
Next, you should now be starting to rebuild all your dead muscles, specifically. quads, glutes, core, abductors, adductors and hip flexors. Biking is a good warmup but you now need to build endurance and then strength. Here's the plan worked out by my daughter. She's a graduate nutritionist from Rutgers University and a personal trainer certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (the gold standard)...
Muscle Rebuild
This takes time and work but the results include walking correctly, regaining your balance and being able to do stairs alternately like a normal person. In your case, you will need a very strong leg #1 to be able to handle the load when you replace #2. ..else, you "won't have a leg to stand on". Do the work, get the rewards. I'm 4 years post-op. In my case, I was doing 11,000 steps a day at 8 months without any issues and climbing stairs two at a time without holding onto anything at 14 months. Takes time, work and patience. The benefits accrue in time.