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Knee replacement

Posted , 9 users are following.

wendie67130
wendie67130

Hi does anyone have real bad stiffness around the knee. It’s doesnt swell but  feels so tight inside under the skin and painful aswel. It prevents me from doing my exercises effectively. Any help will be appreciated 😊 it’s driving me up the wall 

Thanks 

0 likes, 17 replies

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  • wendie67130
    wendie67130

    Posted

    Forgot to add I ice it and elevate it and move about as much as I can. 
    • Irish_Al
      Irish_Al wendie67130

      Posted

      Hi Wendy,

      I am 15 weeks post TKR. This is my second TKR. I agree with Jean, Carrier and Greazel this pretty normal based on my own experience. Everyone is different and sometimes have different experiences. I read some people say they walk or run or cycle miles after only a short time post op. I'm sure they do, but they may be the exception or just very very healthy individuals. Unfortunately we are not all like that, everyone is different. Don't let these exceptionally positive posts get you down because you can't match them. Just keep working at your own pace and you will get there. I am doing relatively well with my latest (left) knee but sometimes I get that stiffness in my right knee, which was done over 18 months ago. I sit on a kitchen table or high chair and swing my leg to help loosen it up, gently at first and then I push it a bit harder.

      Hope this helps.

      Take care,

      Alan

    • wendie67130
      wendie67130 Irish_Al

      Posted

      Thanks Alan. I will bare that in mind. I have a high legged chair I can swing my leg on. Trying to do all I can to get the bend. It frustrates me at times. I’m to hard on myself lol 

      Thanks again 

    • Irish_Al
      Irish_Al wendie67130

      Posted

      It can and will be frustrating. Try not measure your progress daily, it will really frustrate you. Maybe weekly. But you will get a day out of the blue when you think it's going backwards. Just take it as it is.

      There will be a morning we hen you wake up go about your business and have forgot you had the op.

      I promise.

  • brent77382
    brent77382 wendie67130

    Posted

    Six months post TKR and yes still a tight feeling feels like stretched skin but there is no pain and totally normal,only discomfort is if I forget and start to kneel down on it.
  • carri98750
    carri98750 wendie67130

    Posted

    YES! We all have this! It's normal. I'm 8 weeks post op and I still have it. It does get better. When I give my legs a good stretch they loosen up. Whenever I go to my PT I am the loosest because the machines they put me on are EFFECTIVE! Try going up and down 1 stair  repeatedly, to stretch and loosen up those muscles. I'm sure others will have much better advice. But I think stretching is the key before you do your exercises. Take heart~

  • Greazel
    Greazel wendie67130

    Posted

    Hi yes at 14 weeks post op my knee still gets very stiff and tight especially after sitting or sleeping.  It loosens up once I start moving.  I go to a weekly physio gym and last week they had us sitting on a Swiss ball and gently rocking backwards and forwards and I think it helps a lot.  I have one of my own so have started sitting on it occasionally during the day.  Its a nice gentle movement on the knee.  I still feel as though I have a tight band across my knee which prevents full range of movement but I am guessing this is scar tissue that hopefully will loosen over time.

     

    • carri98750
      carri98750 Greazel

      Posted

      It's my understanding the tightness is the muscle not scar tissue. It is there from day one. 

    • Greazel
      Greazel carri98750

      Posted

      Oh well thats interesting.  Hopefully everything I am doing will help strengthen the knee.  Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel!!
  • wendie67130
    wendie67130

    Posted

    Thanks guys. Great advice. Yeah it’s usually when I’ve been lying/sitting. Jsut glad to know it will subside hopefully lol. I mite invest in a ball. I have got gym club at lunch time so shall have a chat with the physio. Also I’m only having paracetamol 4 times a day and gabapentine once or twice a day. Ibuprofen aswell but maybe I should look to increase it slightly? Usually I’m ok with Riis amount of meds but I’m sure with everyone, different pains come and go at different times. I’ll let you know what physio says 

    Thanks again 

  • jean04276
    jean04276 wendie67130

    Posted

    I am 6 months post op and have the same stiffness you describe.

    My surgeon explained that the muscles surrounding the knee have been severed during TKR surgery.

    When you sit or stand the muscles go into spasm, become tighter in a way that can’t be controlled. These same muscles take up to and beyond a year to heal.

    So, it’s the usual, keep moving in between sitting, ice when you do,

    and strengthening exercise to rebuild the knee supporting muscles. Best wishes Wendie.

  • wendie67130
    wendie67130

    Posted

    So there’s light at the end of the tunnel lol Thank you Jean 😊 I really must stop being hard on myself. I’m only 6 weeks in and have got a long way to go 

    • jean04276
      jean04276 wendie67130

      Posted

      See Chico’s posts and Oldfatguy’s

      for their invaluable wisdom and experience relating to all things post NkR. X

  • george29264
    george29264 wendie67130

    Posted

    Wendi,

     I am assuming you had a TKR on one or both knees at some point in time..? My BTKR was Jan 4. My ROM is 130 & -2 respectively. Depending on my duration and type of daily activity, one or both of my knees feel as you describe. But by morning it goes away. I am on no meds other than 1000 mg of Tylenol spread throughout the day. The excessive activities would be outdoor bicycling 5 miles or so on flat terrain. Walking over 4 miles on flat terrain for up to 1 hour max intervals spread throughout the day. Carrying 30lb or so objects up and down stairs in my house. 

      If I do not do these activities, resting and icing between prescribed exercises instead, I have no pain or stiffness. Being 68 years old, low BMI and activity minded put me in a high risk (according to my orthopedic surgeon) of recovery problems...for the reasons above. Hope this helps.

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