Posted , 10 users are following.
I had progressed to 80 but now I'm regressing to between 68 and 75. What can I do? My pain is manageable with meds. Need encouragement. Also can straighten knee to 5 degrees.
1 like, 17 replies
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karen14697 jacjac65
Posted
Are you getting physical therapy? It is so important to recovery to get exercises that strengthen and aid in your flexion. Stairs? It is still very early in your recovery. It took me 4 months and a manipulation to get to 125 and 0 for me. Don't let the scar tissue take hold.
jacjac65 karen14697
Posted
cheryl90571 jacjac65
Posted
Hi!
Welcome to the forum!😄
You didn't mention if you are experiencing swelling. If you DO have swelling THAT can prevent bend and also the ability to straighten the knee.
Be sure to keep icing, and elevating your legs above your heart will relieve pressure and swelling.
A very helpful exercise is lifting the surgical leg to place the foot on the first step of a staircase. Next, hold the railing and gently LEAN IN, bending the knee until you feel some resistance. Hold that position to a count of ten. Gently release, go back to your original position and rest. Repeat this several times. This exercise is the one that I would do every hour when I would get myself up to walk after icing and elevating.
Another exercise I continue to do is place both feet flat on the floor while sitting in a chair. Move your feet back a bit with one leg then the other leg so that your knees are bending a bit more. Lift your toes up and bend a bit more. It is helpful to do this with bare feet so that you can really FEEL all that is happening.
For straightening, placing both legs up on an ottoman while sitting in a chair is helpful. Squeeze the quad muscles a bit then relax. Repeat. It took me awhile to be able to tolerate having my legs like this for any length of time, but I worked at increasing the amount of time.
Walk around the house often, and try your best to have good posture. Take deep breaths in and let the air out slowly. The increased oxygen really helps!
Recovery may seem very, very slow, but remember: Your body has been through A LOT! It is healing in many places and needs TIME to do its job.
Let me know if these suggestions helped you, OK?
Sending prayers of strength, patience, and hope to you today!
(TKRs June and October 2015)
jenny80029 cheryl90571
Posted
All good wholesome advice on those essentials!😊
Midge65 cheryl90571
Posted
Cheryl, I found your suggestions very helpful. I am 6 weeks post op, I am walking great, well able to go u and don stairs and no longer need crutch or walking stick in the house. However my big problem is swelling - I I've often and elevate often but the swelling remains bad. Because of the I am finding it very difficult to get past 85 in the bend and straightening the leg is impossible. I am going to try the exercises you have suggested. Thanks
cheryl90571 Midge65
Posted
Hi Midge!
Swelling was a HUGE issue with my first TKR ( left knee). Something else that was helpful was putting those annoying thigh-high compression stockings from the hospital back on! The compression helped squeeze out a lot of fluid which lessened swelling. Drinking lots of water helped eliminate toxins from anesthesia and meds which helped, too.
I had very little swelling with my second TKR three and a half months later. Same doctor, same hospital, same BODY, but very different post-surgery experiences!
Keep reminding yourself that the body is reacting to the assault on it by swelling to protect the injury. When healing gets underway, swelling gets less. There is a great deal of healing that must take place!
Besides the PHYSICAL "game" there also is the MENTAL "game" going on. We all want to be up and running ASAP. Our bodies say, "Not so fast, Missy! I have had A LOT happen to me. SLOW DOWN! Be nice to me!" Be patient, rest often, get moving and walking every hour, eat well, drink lots of water, ice, elevate, and above all STAY POSITIVE! This WILL improve with time!
juliet21496 jacjac65
Posted
Hi
I got my surgery on 6/6/17 too. I'm going to my first PT outside of my house tomorrow. I'm having issues with straightening too. I started to look to see "what was normal" and can't find anything that gives a guideline to what to expect.
jenny80029 jacjac65
Posted
Don't worry about variation in range of motion...just stick with the exercises...little and often, to the pain, not through it, breath deeply and relax as much as possible. Fear is an enemy after TKR. You have just had major surgery. Be kind to yourself and expect others to help and support you as needed. Tell your knee..hey! What's ten degrees between friends! I am quite serious. It has its own healing agenda. Tell it you love it every day and it is doing really well even if you feel things should be further along than they are.
lyn32416 jenny80029
Posted
jenny80029 lyn32416
Posted
Indeed! Sounds like you care whizzing about, which is just fantastic! Might as well make the best use of them, after all that pain and suffering! I have lapsed a bit on the exercise for quads at 4 months post op but am resolved to keep up with them as I want to maximise my potential, and plus I need to keep the weight off, so good for both! 😊
jenny80029 jacjac65
Posted
jacjac65 jenny80029
Posted
jenny80029 jacjac65
Posted
I ask because there seems to be more of a trend in USA for set targets and an expectation of more rapid progress more quickly from PT . This is a generalisation, and not always the case, but worth being aware of. In UK though hospitals do want you at 85 to 90 flexion when you leave so you can do what you need to, after that generally speaking while progress is expected , the time frame tends to be a little bit more relaxed. For example "scar tissue" was not a word which any PT I saw even mentioned. Some people have bodies which naturally form what are called "adhesions" in their soft tissues at a rate which is far beyond the norm, but this is not most people. Most of us ,as long as we keep moving the joint as much as possible through the range of motion, i.e. heel slides! Will be enabling our knees to slowly but steadily increase bend over time especially as swelling reduces. Take a look at my profile and skim through my blog if it helps. It was written to convey the need for patience, something our cultures in the western world are not really geared up to!
terise78 jacjac65
Posted
Hello jacjac!
Excellent advice so far from everyone. I'm almost 6 weeks post TKR, and just over the past 2 days felt like I turned a corner and finally making some progress. Just by my own experience so far, I know during the first 3 weeks I made the huge mistake of not elevating ABOVE the level of my heart, or as others say, toes above the nose. I had major swelling, not only in the knee, but calves, ankles and feet. I wore compression stockings 24/7 the first 2 weeks but they did nothing to relieve this swelling. I was reclined on my sofa but feet were just not high enough. I was icing like crazy but still swelling. Once I discovered my mistake (thanks to everyone here!) I started lying in bed with mounds of pillows to get the toes above the nose. Several times a day, every day, and by the end of that week I noticed a huge difference. Swelling was almost gone, I had more ROM and even less pain.
But as others have said, you are still very early in your recovery process. The fact that your pain is manageable with meds is a huge plus. Once your swelling goes down you'll make progress. Keep doing your home PT and once you get going with outside PT on Tuesday they will get you going in the right direction.
CHICO_MARX jacjac65
Posted
Know that there are advances, setbacks and plateaus...all part of the process. You are waaaaay too early in your recovery to have any concerns. You should be starting PT just about now. I began PT at -14 / +84. Took 10 weeks @2X.week plus the home heel slides...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-heel-slide-exercises-526213
...to get to -1 / +123. Takes time and patience. At 15 months, I'm 0 / +133...poifect. This recovery takes a year...be prepared. If you ever get discouraged, there's always our version of PTSD...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-and-ptsd-569521
"Never give up! Never surrender!" - Tim Allen, Galaxy Quest
jenny80029 CHICO_MARX
Posted
A timely reminder that it is not a linear process...the older i get the more this seems to apply to all areas of life!😊😀😁😂😃😄😅😯😉