Sudden swelling!

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hi!

So I'm 3.5 weeks post op TKR. I have been doing very well, walking and stairs. Home therapy came to my home the first 2 weeks and all went good with that. I started outpatient physical therapy Friday. My extension was -5 and 0 with help and 113 flex 120 with help. The physical therapist was really surprised how good my knee was doing so quickly. Anyways we did exercises that felt ok at the time we were doing them. He admitted he pushed me hard considering how well the knee was doing. After leaving it immediately swelled and felt like it was on fire. I was in so much pain and 3 hours later bruising formed. I called the PT to let him know and he assured me to ice and elevate this was normal. Well here it is 2 days later and I'm now stiff, swollen in pain and hard to walk. I know the PT has to be done but I felt like my knee was recovering better before the physical therapy. Has anybody had a similar situation??

Thanks!

Melissa

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    some therapists push to hard. You will have to tell them when to stop, I remember doing that as on my last day the therapist tried to push me on one exercise my ROM was over 120 and extention 0 or minus some of them are just nuts. Ice it and tell him to never push you like that again. My at home therapist before going to out patient was very aggressive but he never hurt me past the therapy hour.

  • Posted

    I'm no medic, but bruising after physio doesn't sound normal to me. I hope it improves soon. although maybe you should have it checked out by a doctor?

  • Posted

    continue to ice, elevate, pain medicine and listen to your knee you will know when you are over doing don't let the pt push you to far take it easy for a couple of more. days God Bless Your Healing

  • Posted

    Hi Mellisa, my PT on my first TKR was bending and exercising the knee followed by swelling and pain,now my second TKR i had a different PT and she was fantastic all she would do was see my knee bend at the start, then deep manipulation work and massage the leg then again look at the bend at the end there was always improvement im 100% sure she broke down the scar tissue and the swelling went down a lot quicker with the massage this time,she also gave me home exercises to do (at my own pace) also after my TKR i had tightness behind the knee ,thigh,hamstring again the massage took all that away i had ten PT half hour sessions over 5 weeks and it helped remarkably.

  • Posted

    too much. pain after physical therapy shouldn't last for longer than an hour at the most...and shouldn't be anymore than a bit of an ache...well, these are my thoughts based on my own experience.

    if it was my knee I would be asking for a different PT!

    demand some respect...and know you have plenty of time ...my bend was around 110 at about 3 months post op and it continued to improve very nicely at its own pace with plenty of exercises, no forcing at all, just gentle nudging along , bit by bit, minor discomfort lasting less than half van hour afterwards.

    i think you may be in USA

    UK, tends to be different, as PT here generally don't use force or manually push..

    see my profile and read if interested

    best wishes

  • Posted

    You're right Jenny. It shouldn't last more than hour. I think the problem should be from the PT. You need to replacement ASAP.

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