Do's and Don'ts after a TKR: A Typical List
Posted , 19 users are following.
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
jane37928 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Great advice as always Chico with a lovely bit of,humour added in😉
jessica12540 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Was a track star in high school and ran track on college. Those days are gone. Goodbye to my new love Zumba. And hello elliptical! At least I do love that machine and swimming!!! Changes must happen but I won't be a couch potatoe.... too much😜
CHICO_MARX jessica12540
Posted
Hockey for 45 years...those days are gone too. It's not just the sport you miss...it's the competition!!! Looking for a full-contact shuffleboard league.
jessica12540 CHICO_MARX
Posted
At least you enjoyed that and now on to ....
I remember hiking in Colorado and the feeling of flying as I ran (like an idiot) down a long rather steep hill. It was a euphoric experience. Crazy girl!
CHICO_MARX jessica12540
Posted
Started on metal wheels in the streets of Brooklyn at 7. Goalie for Fordham University on ice in the late 60's for a few years. Combination of ice and roller in clubs and leagues until the knees started failing in my mid-50's. Four knee ops, new hip, laminectomy, fusion#1, metal knee and fusion #2 have pretty much put an end to all those great times. If my body had held up, I'd still be playing. Ratz... It was, however, a good run... Yes, the exhilaration of doing something you love can be intoxicating.
Oldfatguy1 CHICO_MARX
Posted
You haven't mentioned lately if you've put on the shoes and got back into ballet. Assuming you will be available for the nutcracker (the ballet not the kind that are results of hockey) for the Christmas season. How are things on the waterfront now that the waters have receeded?
CHICO_MARX Oldfatguy1
Posted
I'm in DFW...400 miles away...no issues up here in North Texas except for a passing sprinkle plus rising gas prices set off by panic buying. I'm likening the situation to that scene in Spaceballs where Dark Helmet declares: "I'm surrounded by A$$holes!". You get the picture.
Sure...almost 70-years old in toe shoes? Not likely...
Oldfatguy1 CHICO_MARX
Posted
CHICO_MARX Oldfatguy1
Posted
Jumped from 2.09 to 2.45 overnight...filled up my wife's SUV beforehand in anticipation. Then drove to Sante Fe for a week where the price was consistently 2.30. Damn Texas... Have to see what the new price is today. Would love to live up in or near the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Wife was there for 30 years and I fell in love with them from day one. Such a beautiful place to be.
bren09396 CHICO_MARX
Posted
hi Chico, I've found your advice really helpful, thanks for consistently posting so much useful information.
?I'm post op now for 2 years and find that walking has become a real effort. Fortunately I don't have any pain at all but the knee does tend to throb a lot as if a nerve is trapped.
?I was regularly doing exercises several times a day to strengthen the leg muscles but to be honest stopped as I began to be disillusioned that despite me going for walks and exercising the leg nothing seemed to change. It is certainly far better than it was of course and now I wonder if I just have to live with it as it is or begin doing exercises again to strengthen it up.
?Your advice would be really helpful.
?Btw there is a bocce pitch near where I live in Puglia (not that far from Sicily) so may well go along in summer and see if any other women play it.
CHICO_MARX bren09396
Posted
Oldfatguy1 CHICO_MARX
Posted