Pain increasing before TKR

Hi april...good for you doing pt. before your tkr...but personally Im thinking the whole point of the pt is to help you to be able to do better at recovery after surgery not to be in pain and over do it before hand.I would say if the weights are too painful that you let them know.Main thing is that you do strenght training for benefit not more pain.Not gonna lie...after surgery it will be painful but it does help to have the pt.I recovered or should I say was able to do more sooner this second tkr.due to the pt.Hang in there...you will one day look back at your hard work and endurance and I pray it will pay off.Everyday a bit better .Keep a positive attitude and you will get positive reslts. best of luck to you.

Hi April

The best exercise you can do is to strengthen your quadriceps muscles, the ones above the knee, these are the muscles responsible for stabilising the knee joint, if you have not yet done any it's getting a bit late but hey, anything is better than nothing, do you know how to do them ? IMHO using weights post surgery will do just exactly what it is doing, causing you more pain.

Sean

Hi April,

I had a PKR on my left knee on July 20 this year, and had a PKR on my right knee on Sept. 23. I was doing physical therapy right up to the day before my right knee.  While I only used ankle weights on my left knee, my therapist had me doing multiple exercises on my right leg to strengthen my quadricep muscles. He used weights that had a cable attached to a belt around my waist. I had to walk forward, backward, and sideways, and believe me when I say you can FEEL the muscles that those exercises are working! I am so glad they did this because I thought my left leg as strong enough even though my therapy ended about 2 months before my left knee surgery.  Trying to pick up my left leg after the surgery was horrible. This time, since I was working my quads and hip flexor muscles right up to the surgery, I've had a much easier time lifting my leg to dress, exercise, etc.  

Maybe ask them if there are some other exercises you can do that don't have you putting weights directly on your leg.

Good luck!

Hi there - Oh I know this so well. I am 6.5 weeks post TKR and also decided to do PT prior to surgery to ensure an easier recovery BUT it also flared up the pain and in the end I decided to be kind to the knee and slow down and I think it was the correct choice. One thing though if you work on your upper body strength it will be a positive for your recovery. I wished I had been advised to do this as with the knee pretty unusable post op you do alot of manovoring of your body with your upper strength and the stronger you are the easier it will be

Maybe some pool work will be easier on your poor knee in the mean time ?

All the best for a great outcome - the waiting for the op is the worst part. A kind of limbo land and through away the weights !!!!

Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this."

Doctor: "Don't do that."

- Henny Youngman, 1948

Three words: Too much weight.

Wow if you are having this much pain now I think you need to cut back on PT. I started to do strength exercises about 6 weeks before my surgery, just 2 visits to the PT and then on my own. I do believe that this helped me but I sure wouldn't put myself in any additional pain for the sake of strength. You have a long way before your surgery don't make things worse. You need to get your PT and doctor on the same page as to how much you really need to do prior to your surgery.

Back offvtge weights. Never let yourself be pushed into pain by therapy. Give yourself a couple of days off an then start back but with only a small amt of weight.

Don't forget to stretch out your IT  bands as much as possible before surgery. They are a common source of pain that can last months or years after surgery. I am 9 months postoperative bilateral TKR and just got a cortisone shot in each (where IT band connects just below the knee) in hopes that mine will finally stop hurting! 

Hi April

I had bilateral total kneew replacements Feb 8th.  I got my cortesone shot in each knee where the IT band connect just below the knee yesterday!! It helped alot! Not pain free but I can sit and stand and do stairs without an 8 level pain. Now just a 2 and totally managable!! I hope it lasts!!