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Exercise after TKR

Posted , 6 users are following.

susan33930
susan33930

Hi everyone.

I'm 7 weeks post TKR now and my physio signed me off a week ago telling me to continue with exercises I had been doing - doing the simple ones if I was having a bad day or the harder ones on good days! He said I could use exercise bike and try swimming in a few weeks.

Since then I have managed to use the exercise bike backwards and forwards, though it takes a few minutes rocking backwards and forwards till I can get it going.  I don't stay on for long, but do it 3 times a day - but it does feel good and loose afterwards.

My question is - is this better than than the stretching and bending exercises, ie can I do this instead of them, or should I be doing it as well as?  And if it is as well as, which are the best ones to do too?  I also have short walks, but still have one stick.

2 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • danie61
    danie61 susan33930

    Posted

    hi susan i am from south africa and 61 years old had my right tkr done with all the gremlins going along with it did the prescibed physio and carried on with at home exer bike good i started on 5 min and up to 20now min do some walking and i felt good january 1st left one to be done after that i can throw away the crutches one i learned if it hurts stop and meds - ice regularly regards danie

     

  • pam1313
    pam1313 susan33930

    Posted

    I'm 15 po and continue to do them all, although exercise bike to me has always been the most productive. I also think biking makes you feel you've "done" physical exercice as you've actually been on a piece of equipment! I had new plastic knee cap and metal trochlea and knee is healing fine, my problem has been muscle wastage so I'm working hard to build these up.

    So.........get your leg over and pedal away lol! 

  • helen59197
    helen59197 susan33930

    Posted

    Hi Susan.  I do the exercises as well as the bike and walking.  A lot of the exercises I do are meant to strengthen muscles and when I was at the surgeon last week he advised that it was very important to continue to build up the muscles.  I'm14 wks.  
  • denise35025
    denise35025 susan33930

    Posted

    Hi Susan, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your earlier message. We had two deaths in the family within a few weeks of each other, and I'm taking a while to catch up. 

    From all the excercises I've been given since my tkr, I'd say you need to do a wide range, including the cycling. The bending & stretching is important, because your ligaments take quite a while (months) to heal. Balance is something else to work on. I was told to stand on one leg (the operated one!) while cleaning my teeth. Took a while & a lot of laughs, but really worked. I also do something similar at hydrotherapy, swinging the good leg while balancing on the other. If you were given straight leg raises to do, you can also add 1kg ankle weights when you're a little further on. Sit stand, sit stand - keep it up for a minute (no hands). Mini squat - hands on railing or chair back, bend your knees to lower yourself down, keeping your back straight. Do this 10 times twice a day. When this becomes easy, no hands, & stand on a very plump cushion to do it. I've got a few for the inner thigh muscles, & if you would like them, I'll work out how to describe them without doing your head in.

    I'm still seeing improvements at 5 months (socks and boots are much easier to put on) and I'm sure it's due to all the work I did for the first 3-4 months. For the past few weeks I've been quite slack apart from hydro, but I'm basically back to a normal life, including lugging bush rocks around for a new rockery I've just started, so maybe I can let myself off the hook for now.

    Using a stick for your walks is a good idea, Susan, if just to let others know that you might be on the wobbles. And swimming should be great - but no butterfly stroke I've been told. Not good for the knees.

    Take care, Denise from Oz

  • denise35025
    denise35025 susan33930

    Posted

    Make that breast stroke, not butterfly. If only the brain was as good as the knee!
  • susan33930
    susan33930

    Posted

    Thanks everyone, I'll keep battling on! And thanks specially to Denise for the detailed descriptions. Would appreciate the others if you are able to describe!  

    Many thanks, Susan

    • denise35025
      denise35025 susan33930

      Posted

      Hi Susan, here goes! Inner quads: (1 of 11 excercises I was given while in hospital) Lie flat on back with head on pillow. Place a thick rolled towel under your knee & turn the leg slightly outwards. Push your knee down into the towel and then lift your heel off the bed as much as you can. Hold for 10 secs, repeat 10 times, working up to 20 times. Once there, add a 1kg weight to the ankle. (Got mine in BigW - 2 pack, ankle &/or wrist) You can progress to doing this sitting up either in bed or on floor. Inner thigh lift: I was given this excercise at 8 weeks. Lie on your side (same side as op) bend your good leg and move it to rest in front of you for balance, keeping the tkr leg straight. Slowly lift the tkr leg off the floor / bed, hold for 10 secs. Do 10 lifts. Try it with both legs if they need it. It's these muscles which take the weight off your knee once they're working as they should. Hamstring curls: Lie flat on stomach, bend tkr leg up as far as you can go. Progress to using ankle weight. For the calf -  Standing rises: Stand in front of wall, using only finger-tips for balance, and rise up to tip-toes, Do this 25 times, then try it with your knees bent 25 times, then back to straight leg. Don't push yourself too far, Susan, work up to it all gradually.

      I was also given some warm-ups which also help the back & hips: Knee circles: Lie flat on back, lift tkr leg with both hands clasped behind thigh close to knee (knee bent). Move the leg from side to side making a circle. Knee wobble: Still flat on back, arms outstretched, bend both knees, and keeping them fairly close together, move them as far as you can from side to side. Keep your shoulders on the floor so you're working the back & hips. Do both these excercises 10 times. Another one which you can try (or not, if you don't fancy it) is still on back, arms at your side, bend both legs with feet flat on floor, and then lift your hips off floor and hold for 10 secs. Repeat 10 times.

      This is turning into War & Peace, but I was at hydrotherapy this morning, and remembered you mentioned starting swimming in a few weeks. If you have a heated pool nearby, there are great excercises you can do without much equipment. Stand at the side of the pool, holding on, and swing tkr leg back & forth, keeping it straight, 20 times. Then try doing soccer kicks, really putting some energy into it. If you have a noodle, (& this takes some practise as well as sniggers) sit astride the noodle with each end sticking up evenly out of the water, and in water up to your armpits or more, start pedalling as if you're on a bicycle. You can try going forwards & backwards across the width of the pool, but don't be surprised if your legs are going like pistons, while you're staying in the same place. I know a lot of people who just gave up, but it's worth sticking with, because the results are great! Walk forwards and backwards across width of pool, in shallow end, do your squats, maybe with noodle held horizontally in front of you for balance, 15 times.

      Hope this all makes sense, and that some of them are of help.

      Take care, best of luck, and remember lots of fluids, especially at the pool!

      Denise from Oz

       

    • susan33930
      susan33930 denise35025

      Posted

      Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time in writing that lot for me. There are odd ones I was given originally, but I've just learnt more from you than 4 visits to the physio!

      re swimming, the thing that worries me is if I can get in and out of the pool - it's either jump in and out off the side or use a ladder. Not sure I can do either!

    • denise35025
      denise35025 susan33930

      Posted

      Forget the pool! Just the thought of jumping in & out, or using the ladder at 7 or 8 weeks gives me the horrors! I'd forgotten that normal pools don't need ramps, and the average bathtub just doesn't fit the bill. Hope the other excerises work without you getting tied in knots, Susan. If you do, then feel free to blame me.

      Looks like we might be getting our first snow of the year on Sunday - I'm in Blackheath in the Blue Mtns, and we're expecting a top temp of 2 degrees. Can't wait.

      Sleep well & take care,

      Denise from Oz

    • susan33930
      susan33930 denise35025

      Posted

      Thanks Denise - I'll give you a shout if I need untangling!

      hope the cold doesn't affect you too much. I'm in the UK and its positively balmy for us!!

    • patricia25467
      patricia25467 denise35025

      Posted

      Thank you Denise for your excerise ideas. I'm in my 'mid' sixties and I had my first TNR on my left knee in January. Now I'm recovering (3wks) from my TNR on my right knee.  The recovering has been much quicker this time, confidence, etc. The Physio is very pleased, straight leg, and 110 degrees bend.  I hope to restart my hydrotherapy classes in a few weeks time 

      I plan to print of your exercises and try some of them.  At this rate I will be spending all day exercising and putting ice on my knees.

      Just can't wait for the stomach to get back to normal due medication, etc.

      Patricia UK smile 

    • denise35025
      denise35025 patricia25467

      Posted

      You're doing so well, Patricia, 110 bend at 3 weeks! No wonder your physio's pleased. And I'm pleased that some of my excercises might help others out there. I was given 3 pages of excercise routines while in hospital, then more at hydrotherapy, then another physio, who it was suggested check me out every now and then, gave me still more! I must admit I didn't do them all at once, nor did I continue with the old ones when I felt I was past that stage. Don't get the idea that I'm an excercise nut - I'm far from it!

      Sorry your stomach's not so good - if it was only THE KNEE we had to deal with, life would be a lot easier!

      Take care & keep up the amazing recovery.

      Denise from Oz

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