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I have a question

Posted , 12 users are following.

peter73207
peter73207

Hello everyone. 

My surgeon just called to discuss a problem I had over the weekend. During the

discussion, I mentioned my knee only bends to approx 80 degrees after 3 weeks.

His response was thats not good, that it has to get to 120.

He says that if I don't get it to at least 100 by the end of the week that he wants to see me to address it. 

Now this basically has me pretty freaked out. I have struggled to get this knee to bend to 80 so far. Is it even reasonable to get it to jump to 100 in 4 days?

If I don't get it there, anyone have any idea what procedure they might use to get it there and has anyone been through this?

0 likes, 42 replies

42 Replies

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  • cheryl22602
    cheryl22602 peter73207

    Posted

    I saw my surgeon this morning for my 12 week checkup, he measured my bend at 96 was 102 at 9weeks, he wasn't worried and said that it would come with time especially now that I have returned to work as of yesterday but did remind me to not overdo things. 
  • Butthillrob
    Butthillrob peter73207

    Posted

    My right TKR was slow to bend. I was able to return to work at 7 weeks. Water therapy and just walking and gentle cycling improved the movement and I got their with no medics bullying. My left is doing the same. We are not machines. We are all doing great. 
  • ruthie2673
    ruthie2673 peter73207

    Posted

    Seems a bit extreme...I was worried about the amount of flexion I was getting and saw the Physio again at 3 weeks to ask about this. She said i was doing extremely well and they did not expect a full 90 degree flexion until 6 weeks post op. I'm now just over 4 weeks and can do that some of the time, but cannot keep it for long.
  • peter73207
    peter73207

    Posted

    I wholeheartedly agree with whats being said here folks. Not sure what his strtegy is but i'll continue to do the best I can. Im willing to listen to what he has to say but theres no way someone is going to bend my leg past what it's ready for. That doesn't even make any sense. The swelling is just now beginning to go down. 

    as pointed out, it absoltely baffles me as to why there is no consistancy in what diff surgeons expect in the area of recovery here. They have philosophies that are diff as night and day. Go figure.

     

  • veronica91735
    veronica91735 peter73207

    Posted

    Remember that you can politely refuse MUA - I too don't have a very good bend, & I'm nearing 10 weeks now, but I have weekly physio, go on a CPM machine, do my own excersises devised by the physio & she is not in the least concerned & says that everyone repairs at different speeds. Think about how you were last week - are there improvements? If so - then you are getting there! There is no text book rules on this sort of op. despite them all wanting us to be the same!!
    • peter73207
      peter73207 veronica91735

      Posted

      Hi Veronica,

      Not quite sure what route he has in mind yet. i Have read a bit abiut MUA now and it sounds like there can be some favourable results. Personally I think it's far to early to go that route though at this stage of the game. It's only been 3 weeks now and there has been definite improvement, so I have no idea what his rush is.

      I think you are quite right. One of the big problems is that these surgeons seem to slot everyone into the same equation and think we all should all respond in the same way. Bodies just do not work like that. We are all vastly different and recovery approaches need to be personalized to each of us.

    • Butthillrob
      Butthillrob peter73207

      Posted

      Hi Peter just back from hospital physio. Got a 94 bend. She was happy with me. Got extra exercises to do. Now on one crutch. Going forward. 
    • CazDesmond
      CazDesmond peter73207

      Posted

      Hi, I had physios coming to my house every other day after I left hospital. They were obsessed with the bend, so much so that I felt hounded and in a state of panic. It was terrible for me, I hadn't found this forum and I was really scared.

      My husband took me away to a country hotel with beautiful gardens to walk around. This was 2 weeks post op and we stayed a week. I relaxed, did my exercises, took my meds and got my bend to 90.

      I ran away and hid from the physios! When we came back I went to another physio, not associated with the hospital. 

      Your knee - your decision

      Caz

    • peter73207
      peter73207 Butthillrob

      Posted

      Thats fantastc! Keep up the good work.

      its 10am here and my physio is at 2pm today. Will let folks here know the results along with physios thoughts about the surgeons idea of going into hyper bend mode! Ha!

    • peter73207
      peter73207 CazDesmond

      Posted

      Hi Caz, certainly dont know why, but my surgeon has his finger on the warp drive button for some reason. Maybe he thinks I want to apply for the next Fantastc Four movie as rubber man! Haha!

      The approaches these guys have are so very different. 

       

    • joansgarden
      joansgarden peter73207

      Posted

      My surgeon said that the optimal time for MUA is 3-6 months post op. He said before then it will bleed internally and cause more scarring.
    • peter73207
      peter73207 joansgarden

      Posted

      Im with you there Joan, thats exactly what happened to me on the weekend.

      pushed the exercises to hard and caused internal bleeding. Couldnt begin to describe the pain. Had to go to emergency where they ended up draining the blood from my knee. Afterwards I settled right down again.

      Wont ever do that again. Ouch!

  • joansgarden
    joansgarden peter73207

    Posted

    This bend thing has been a worry all along for me and sometimes I think I shouldn't take it quite so seriously. My physio and surgeon both wanted 90 at 2 weeks. Ha! At 2 weeks I had 75. At 2 weeks they gave me stronger pain pills so that I could 'push through' the pain. Ha! again. That didn't work. At the end of 4 weeks I had got to 85 and my physio gave up on me. Said it wasn't worth using up my visits. At 5 weeks I saw the surgeon and he gave me different pain pills and an anti-inflammatory and sent me back to the physio. By week 7 I made 98. I was so excited! I think the anti-inflammatory helped quite a bit. I have to go to physio again today. I don't know that it will be much more than 98, but I'm hopeful.

    So my progress has been very slow (and painful! Those stretches are killers) but it does appear to be going in the right direction. 

    • Butthillrob
      Butthillrob joansgarden

      Posted

      Hi Joan.  This forum will confirm that we all have experienced mixed advice and info about knee bending. Clearly there is no perfect fit.  No two identical knees and no perfect recovery.  I've had both knees done and they were completely different. This one has been more painful and swollen.  That has limited knee bend and even stopped my leg raise. In hospital I could not pass 80 bend. But two weeks later, loads ice and pain killers had enabled me to get to 94. In sum the knee swelling restricted me. As it reduces it gets better and so will yours. The anti flamms will also help you. Don't despair it gets better in time. Sit on table dangle legs and use good one to gently push back the knee. I'm sure you know . Good luck and don't let it worry you. 
    • joansgarden
      joansgarden Butthillrob

      Posted

      Well my physio forced the bend to 105 today so now he's decided there is hope for me after all.....
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