TKR

Do see your Dr with name ointment prescribed .

Was the ointment Voltaren Gel (Dicofenac)?  Because that's the best topical anti-inflammatory/painkiller that I know of.  Has worked great for me when I had my hip done in '09 and then the knee in '16. 

Between 10 and 12 weeks, most people are getting close to their ROM targets...you not so much.  What are your current ROM numbers?  Has the doc considered an MUA?  The swelling is totally normal (ice...elevate) but you should be proceeding gradually on the ROM numbers to 0 / +120.  It's never a linear path with advances setbacks and plateaus but there's always a trend towards the goal.  If not, the doc should discuss the MUA procedure.  Very successful for people who have a tendency to build up a lot of scar tissue and then can't break it down.

Let us know...  PS: Yes, it does get better...

Hi chiva YES it's gonna get better, I am nearly 12 weeks post TKR finished my physio 2 weeks ago and I have struggled with my ROM it stuck at 70 for few weeks last app at physio it was 100 hang on in there and ice as many times in the day as possible it really does help with the swelling, I see my surgeon in 2 days I hope he is pleased with my progress as the last two weeks I think I have improved quite a lot best wishes pam

I am 14 weeks post TKR...Like everyone on this site almost I have had a different recovery.  I had an allergic reaction to the glue that they used to close my incision.   It left my knee swollen and by 10 weeks my knee still was not completely closed up.  

At the 12-week mark I still didn't have 0/120, which is the goal.  (I had -5/100) So at that point I had a manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) where they broke up the scar tissue that had formed around the new knee and now I am at 0/120 with no help (and to 125 with help!).  Some of us just form scar tissue faster than other folks!   

The MUA was easy, I was in at 6:00am, they prepped me, the surgeon came in and explained what he was going to do, they put me to sleep, I woke, talked to the surgeon, he said there was lots of snapping and cracking of scar tissue and he got my knee to 0/125.    I was released at 11:00 am that day to go right to PT!  

AT PT, I got 0/120 and was almost in tears but they said that is normal.  Often if they don’t see the patient right away it is already 0/90 or so.  They said this is because the knee will want to go back the ROM it had and that I was a fast scar builder.  

 I left PT with list of instructions that I was to follow for the next two weeks:  

PT every workday  

ROM exercise (heel slides, etc) EVERY WAKING HOUR

NO unnecessary walking or anything that could cause the knee to swell

NO bike

NO Strength building exercises

 Did I do the ROM every waking hour for two weeks, honestly no.  But, I have one of those big balls that you can sit on and as I watched TV when a commercial would come on, I would sit on that and rock back and forth, bending my knee as far as I could…hold it until I couldn’t bear it anymore and release.   Then back on the recliner and ice. 

Like Chico and others have said every recovery is different.  I think having this forum, doctors and PT folks you can talk to, help get though this journey.  

The following is what i wrote at ten weeks. Just sharing so you realise the feelings you feel are normal. ,,,,

"The converse to the above text are the “dips”. The “dips” are mood troughs! They seem to be part and parcel of having major surgery. And with a knee replacement, as well as having had major surgery there is also the addition of reduced mobility. Well, not exactly reduced, rather limited in duration. Because it is a matter of pacing things carefully and will be for at the very least six months and possibly more. An awareness of restrictions surfaces now and again, and the consciousness of this is bound to make one feel anxious and low in mood. Because while before having the surgery you have your restrictions, you imagine having the surgery and them all being taken away. Well, this is true, but it is not quite like that. Therefore a kind of purgatory phase between having the surgery and reaping the benefits in full. And this is a difficult and challenging experience. It is the awareness, ever more present than has ever previously been in one’s life, that one is not a master of time! The time it takes to heal is not something we can control and so demands of us a level of patience and understanding that we may not have previously extended towards ourselves.

This is me with my philosophical hat on. Sometimes I wake up discouraged. I am not cross with my knee because it is doing well. But I am fed up of being so tired, so easily, so soon. I am achievement orientated and it is hard to continually accept what I cannot do. I feel low and cry a little bit. I find it hard to rest. Rest is almost a discipline that I realise I have not had. "

Now I am 13 months post op. It's amazing and all the angst seems an eternity away! It will be worth it, but you need a lot of patience! Hang in there and believe it will get better!