Not much bend

No truer words ever typed Chico!

I didnt do anything much for first 6 weeks , I just bent and straightened it lying down , went for coffee , walked around supermarket , then started pool exercises .Only then did I bend it backwards , I personally think some advice to do loads if exercise immediately after op is wrong , Ive had two knees done now and my movement in both is good , and both times I did not push it too much too soon. Also if you do it just swells and hurts like hell , then its impossible to get a good bend because of swelling . I had almost none, from day one . A good idea to use something under your foot to help lift leg , that will come just takes a while , I was on string painkillers for about 7weeks then it suddenly improved and havent needed anything since . Good luck , early days !

WOW WHAT AN AMAZING GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU ALL ARE. I M STARTING TO REALISE THAT ITS A VERY SLOW JOURNEY. I CANT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH FOR YOUR DETAILED ADVICE. I WILL POST A FURTHER UPDATE ONCE I HAVE SEEN PHYSIO LATER THIS AFTEENOON

I had TKR in 2002.

It took me a while to get a good bend.

At appointment with consultant after 6 weeks I had only just got to 90 degree bend.

Be patient.

Take care and keep in touch

Sarah

Thank you everyone. We have just returned from physio. She has advised we keep doing the same excercises. We have doubled up on the physio appointments. We have advised we have an appt with the surgeon on Friday and she has today advised there is a lot of swelling and this is what is stopping the bend.

Dave tried with all his mite and has managed to lift his operated leg into the air from the bed.

All your comments and advise are still much appreciated. Keep em coming

Don't worry! It's so early! I couldn't lift my leg an inch for 10 days and couldn't bend it to 90 degrees for 3 weeks. The leg lifts will be largely down to your quad muscle which you will need to painstakingly rebuild: those exercises where you clench your quad with a towel under your knee are crucial for that one - just keep trying and it will come! As for the bend, it's a lot to do with swelling. So try doing exercises after a period of rest and leg elevation, using ice to reduce swelling, then ice again after exercise. I started to see a real improvement at around 5/6 weeks and now at 13 weeks I have pretty much full range of motion and have been swimming, body boarding and hiking in the hills over the past few weeks. It may feel like it will never be better right now but it will. Keep moving, use lots of ice to reduce swelling and be really committed to the exercises and you'll get there. BEST OF LUCK!

So, we have been to see the surgeon today, who doesnt seem unduly worried about the little bend i have in my knee. He said i currently have 40 to 50 degree bend and hes hoping by the tine i go see him on 25th Sept, i will have 90 degree bend. He did say they can always put me to sleep and make it bend. I would rather get the bend from excercising and fingers crossed it will happen. I am in a fair bit of pain today and i am running out of tremodol. I can cope with the recovery time i just cant wait toget rid of the strong pains

Well, here i am, a week after finding this forum and still no bloomin change in movement. If i am honest i am getting down now. I really hope my surgeon isn't going to have to make it bend when i see him towards the end of September. I am praying i will get movement before then. My leg doesn't bend at all when i am walking. I can only get my knee to bend if i really try with my excercises. It isn't something that's happening naturally. I find it soul destroying. My wife sits on the floor in front of me pushing my foot back in order to gain a bend in my knee. I'm at my wits end with the pain and seeing no improvement.

I am still getting a lot of people saying "if you dont start bending your knee now, you never will". seriously how true is this. i am getting concerned now that it may take a further op to force bend.