Stiffness

So frustrating lol I wish just wish after I work it would stay but it tightens back up crazy. I will keep at though lol good day today

It just doesn't work that way.  Let it go from your mind.  Have no expectations.  Accept whatever comes your way.  It takes a year...period.  Meanwhile, post this on your fridge...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-reality-of-a-tkr-recovery-in-one-picture-626038

Reality bites...

LOL good observation! But truly I think this is just this knee 😘

Correct.  Joint stiffness comes with age when arthritis invades the joint.  Your metal knee has none of that so yes, it's the knee.  Stiffness can last 12-18 months.  At 2 years, I still feel it from time to time.  By that point, you just ignore it.

Nope, 44 here and ask the exact same thing everyday - why can’t the stiffness just go away???😫

Oh I cannot stand the stiffness LOL but Chco says a year or so gives me great hope. I was terrified I was stuck at this ROM and stiffness. I will keep doing the core work required and hope for the best. I think from 6 mos ago I have come very far lol so in another 6 mos it does stand to reason I would be even better lol

This is NOT a linear recovery...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-reality-of-a-tkr-recovery-in-one-picture-626038

Advances, setbacks and plateaus are ALL part of the game.  Time, work and patience.  Typically, you're done in a year with some minor stuff lingering for up to 18 months...the docs say.  I'm almost 2 years and still feel some stiffness from time to time when I slack off my exercises or sit too long.  The nerve "tingling" when you kneel down will probably last a lot longer.  Otherwise, you're back to a normal life...but you MUST do the work to get there and have the patience to give the knee the time it needs to heal.  This cannot be rushed like a shoulder or hip.  One of a kind op that takes a long recovery.  Accept it.  Own it.  Personally, I'd rather have had four more kidney stones...

Try these to help your ROM at home...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-rom-work-at-home-620053

I finished 10 weeks of PT @ 2X/week at the 13-week mark and had gone from -14 / +84 (got stuck at -4 for weeks) to -1 / +123.  Two years later, I'm more like 133.  If does get better with time if you do the exercise work to rebuild the strength in your quads, glutes and core...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/post-tkr-exercising-565527

It takes time, work and patience...

Thank you!

Hi Chico 

I have had my 2nd visit to PT and was given some new exercises,they told me twice daily but not how many sets to do,do you have an idea please.

I am 9 weeks post op and my ROM is over 25 And good flexion, if you can advise cheers x

Here ya go...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-rom-work-at-home-620053

These are the ones I did...there are probably plenty more.  Working with a set of exercise bands containing a door stop and ankle cuffs is also helpful.  A set is less than $25 and should contain 20#, 30# and 40#-resistance bands...or is it 10/20/30???  Anyway, those can help too.

The whole idea is to attain zero degrees straight and at least 120-degrees bent.  Takes time, work and patience.  This is NOT a linear recovery.  Advances, setbacks and plateaus are all part of the deal.  Post this on your fridge...

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-reality-of-a-tkr-recovery-in-one-picture-626038

 

I had a hip replacement in '09.  After 10 days of hospital and rehab, I started at my health center with gym and therapy pool.  My daughter, the nutritionist and ACSM/ACE-certified personal trainer, laid out my program and spent a day instructing me.  Then it was 5-hours a day, 6-days a week.  Relentless.  Totally rehabbed in only six weeks.  I thought I'd do the same for the TKR.

Really?  What a complete, delusional jacka$$.  Totally blindsided by the pain, the meds, the pain, the work, the pain, the recovery time...did I mention the pain?  Plus, it's NOT a linear recovery with its advances, setbacks and plateaus.  Plus...and foremost...a full recovery takes a year.  I was totally unprepared for all this...totally.  Have rehabbed two shoulder impingements, four knee scopes, a metal hip, two spinal fusions, two spinal decompressions and a lot more in a matter of days or weeks.  Thought it would be the same for the knee.

DELUSIONAL!!!!!!!!!!

Time, work and patience...plus you have to keep your head screwed on right to avoid the depression, anger and frustration.  The op will test your body, mind, heart and soul.  The good thing?  If you play this correctly, you will come out the other side a better, stronger, more thankful person.  The knee teaches you a new way of life...learn its lessons...

You got it right there! Nothing like a TKR to give us a reality check!

Hallelujah brother Chico! You are right on as always!