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Going down stairs . . when could you do it???

Posted , 6 users are following.

martinarvelo
martinarvelo

I'm wondering when i should be able to go down stairs properly, not one at a time.  I can manage up stairs provided there is a handrail, although I still do it pretty slowly and with a lot of concentration, but there is just no way I can contemplate going down.  I think I need a better bend (I'm only at about 90, six weeks tomorrow :-( )  I know we are all different, and progress varies enormously, but it would be interesting to hear other people's experience of this particular milestone.

0 likes, 30 replies

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  • lynn08926
    lynn08926 martinarvelo

    Posted

    Hi,

    Had my first tkr last June and would say it takes a good 12 weeks to achieve walking downstairs one leg after the other.  Might still make you jump sometimes, though.

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo lynn08926

      Posted

      I'll be aiming for telve weeks i think!  I find it good to have specific goals, but not to be too depressed if you can't make it!  I was having trouble walkinga kilometre a day  . . and then suddenly discovered I had measured it wrongly, and it was actually two kilometres!  great morale booster!!!
  • Mikefen
    Mikefen martinarvelo

    Posted

    Hi Martin,

    I am 4 weeks in and can go down stairs as long as they are not too steep and there is a handrail on the right (left joint replaced). Its not easy and I agree its about the bend but also it's a fear thing.

    I had a few glasses of wine a 2 weeks ago and thought that I would come down stairs at home as normal. Big mistake ! Our stairs are very steep and I really bend the knee further than it was capable of at the time. It was agony and it scared me a bit. Since then the physio has had me going down stairs at the hospital and I can manage that, slowly though.

    It is a confidence thing so keep trying and you will get it. (I still can't manage my own at home but I'm working at it !)

    Mike

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Mikefen

      Posted

      You are doing well Mike!  At four weeks I was still a useless wreck!  It's partly the fear of it hurting so much you lose balance and end up going down stairs faster than you wanted!  I'm practising now on a plastic step, so I practise the bend without the fear of falling all the way down!  

       

  • susan20089
    susan20089 martinarvelo

    Posted

    I think it is a bit early for you to be thinking of this yet.  I am 12 weeks and can do it, very gingerly though.m. Don't force it, it will come.   Don't be in a rush to do everything, you are still healing.   These last few days I have begun to feel normal but still have a long way to go. Master the walking up first. 
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo susan20089

      Posted

      thanks Susan!  I have a very abrasive surgeon, and I know he's going to haul me over the coals when I see him on Wednesday . . He seems to expect miracles, and I am far from miraculous!

       

    • susan20089
      susan20089 martinarvelo

      Posted

      You say that you are not icing at all.  Do you not have any swelling?  What about after exercising.  I have an ice sleeve that goes around the knee snd find it invaluable for psin relief sfter exercising.

       

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo susan20089

      Posted

      Yes, it is swollen . . but not painful.  i suppose I should be icing more, should I???  At the beginning it was very hot and hurt, but unless I'm actively bending it, it doesn't hurt now . . 
  • liz34614
    liz34614 martinarvelo

    Posted

    I am 12 weeks and can do everything except the stairs, can't do up or down properly.  I am going back to my exercises and hoping my physio will help me get past this next Tuesday.  We all have our little oddities!  My knee is still very swollen but doesn't hurt, haven't iced for weeks but wondering if it would help?

     

    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo liz34614

      Posted

      Thanks Liz . . my knee and lower leg is still swollen too but I think this is pretty normal!  I haven't iced much at all . . perhaps I should have!  I kept asking for ice in the hospital, but all they had was a block which was not a lot of use, and to get that you had to ask about twenty times, so in the end I gave up . . . Now I've got it in the freezer, I hardly ever bother!

       

  • Tucks
    Tucks martinarvelo

    Posted

    Hi there, the stairs can be a problem for some time and its not only the knee hurting its also balance. I am 26weeks I have a rail on both sides of the stairs, it really helps. I also have a stair lift which I no longer need or use. I still find the stairs difficult when I am out I have to hold the rail with both hands and go sideways one foot and then the other on each step. It's a lot to do with confidence also. Some days I feel a little shaky when I go out even though I am walking well. We just have to be a bit patient I suppose, but its very hard. Don't beat yourself up you will get there.
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Tucks

      Posted

      hi tucks glad to see on another post that you are feeling better!  I think having been a year going up and down stairs one at a time has conditioned the brain into thinking that's the way it's done, and it doesn't want to relearn the old way!  I'll keep at it though . it would be lovely to come down stairs noramlly!  Does your knee still hurt at 26 weeks?  Is this ever going to end????

       

    • Tucks
      Tucks martinarvelo

      Posted

      Hi there thank you for your post, does my leg hurt at 26 weeks I have to say NO for the past 2weeks it has felt normal, I can't believe I'm saying this in case it starts again lol I am defiantly brighter and I could even say happier. We will probably always be wary of the stairs but as long as we can manage to get up and down who cares if we have to hang on to the rail for dear life.. I am still getting back and thigh pain when I stand and when I move in bed, my water infection has cleared so its not that, my mattress is medium and I have a memory foam topper but perhaps I need something softer still so am going to get the thicker hotel style topper, they are really soft. I seem to have lost that cushion of fat around my bottom since losing the 2 stone in weight. I suppose that could be the cause. So my freind keep well and let's keep fingers crossed that we are positively on the up x
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo Tucks

      Posted

      We have quite a thick feather topper . . I love it!  Not sure whether it's the best thing to try to keep the leg straight, but it's just SO comfortable . .and there isn't that much comfort in life after this operation is there!!!  I'm still getting back pain, but then again, I always did, so it may not even be connected . . . I definitely feel optimistic today after the physio came. . she managed to push my knee at least three inches further back than ever before wwith only a short scream from me!!!!  Look after yourself.
  • liz34614
    liz34614 martinarvelo

    Posted

    When I was in hospital we had an huge chest freezer full of ice cuffs and we could either help ourselves or the nurses would bring them within minutes.  On discharge I was given four of these cuffs to bring home.  I did use them at first, but as there was no pain and they seemed to chill all of me I stopped using them.  I do wonder whether icing would help to reduce the swollen knee and what seems to be a pocket just below the knee on the top of the calf, or will this just go in time?
    • martinarvelo
      martinarvelo liz34614

      Posted

      I'm afraid the hospital over here was not very patient friendly!  Once they disconnected my antibiotic drip so I could go to the loo, and when i came back they forgot to reconnect it.  A little while later I rang the bell, and the nurse came in, arms akimbo on her hips and said  ;NOW what is it!' as if i had been ringing the bell all day.  In fact, i hardly ever did because my husband was with me and most things he did for me until I was able to do it myself!.  I wonder about the swollen knee . . I have to say my sister in law had the  operation about six years ago and they still look a bit swollen to me!  But maybe it's just the shape of her knees or the fact that she is very overweight.. . . .As long as they don't hurt, I'm not that worried!  Always wear trousers anyway . . . 
    • susan20089
      susan20089 liz34614

      Posted

      Hi liz I have ice packs that you put in sleeve and wrap around the knee with Velcro.  I have found this so helpful, didn't cost THA much but can be heated if you require it as well.   
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