Total knee replacement

Thanks for the encouragement Jane . I'm beginning to see this is a much longer haul than I anticipated . It really helps to realise that and hopefully it will help me have patience. I hope your stiffness improves soon. Take care

Hi Meg!

I didn't get much relief in those first couple weeks from my swelling when I iced. I also didn't get much relief when I elevated my leg on pillows. I was on blood thinners and opioids those first two weeks, too, so I couldn't use my go-to medication, Ibuprofen, to reduce swelling. I was very frustrated.

You are right about the discomfort that comes with swelling! It felt like my leg was going to EXPLODE! Forget getting a "good bend!"

I made sure I wasn't taking in excess salt. I drank ice water like a champ to TRY to eliminate toxins which I thought MIGHT be impeding my progress getting rid of swelling.

I began to see improvement at four weeks post op. This improvement came to a halt when we were in a car for a five hour round trip to a dear friend's funeral that I was going to no matter what.

Frustration returned. I was seeing my PT twice a week and working very hard in and out of my sessions. I was walking around the house often to keep practicing my walking.

At five weeks I decided to try putting on those dreaded thigh-high compression stockings I had worn for the first two YEARS, I mean WEEKS of my recovery. ( I had washed them, dried them, and pushed them WAY BACK in my sock drawer, hopefully NEVER to EVER see or wear them again.)

Desperate times, however, require desperate measures. I unearthed those stockings and put them on. (I put BOTH on so Right leg could march in solidarity with Left leg.)

It was a struggle to get those stockings on, I'm not gonna lie!😵

As soon as I got the first one on my surgical leg felt 100% better! I struggled with stocking #2. Ahhhhhhh! BOTH LEGS felt better!

I left the stockings on all day and all night. I removed them the next morning. My legs felt SO MUCH BETTER! Swelling had gone down considerably.

Next, I talked with my son who is an elite athlete, and he shared how he ROUTINELY lays on the floor after his long runs and puts his legs perpendicular to the floor against the wall in his living room to alleviate excess fluid that has built up and to offer instant relief. He helped me adapt this ON A BED because we all know how difficult if not impossible getting down on the floor can be following surgery!

Here's how:

Sit on your bed near the top of your bed where your pillow goes. Have a belt looped around your foot so you can easily lift your leg up and against your headboard or wall behind your bed. You can lay flat with or without your pillow under your head. Your legs will feel AMAZING instantly!

Try it!

Wishing you much success in your recovery!🙌😊😁🙌

Hi Cheryl thanks for that advice. I want to try elevating my legs that way but can't quite understand how to do it😊 When I sit on the bed do I face the headboard or the bottom of the bed? And do I lie down or sit up ? I'm getting into contortions here. 😊Lol

Hi Meg!

You will first be sitting on the top of your bed where the pillow goes. THEN you will rotate facing the headboard with your leg looped with the belt so you have control of that leg. The back of your legs will end up against the headboard or wall (if you don't have a headboard). Your head and back will be on your bed as your legs are up at a perpendicular angle against the headboard.

Sitting on the bed near the top of the bed then swivelling with help from a looped belt on your surgical leg's foot makes this safe and very easy to place your legs against the headboard.

Another way is if you have steps which lead up to a landing that has a wall or a railing at the top is to go up the steps, sit on the top step then lay down on the landing or hallway and use the belt looped over your foot to get that leg against the railing or wall. I do this if the bed is made and I don't want to mess it up but need an "Ahhhhhhh! Fix!"😁

Sorry if I confused you! It was SO clear in my head, but obviously NOT as clear as I thought.😊

Let me know how it goes!

Thanks Cheryl I had a good giggle when I was trying to work out how to do it.........released some endomorphines which is always good 😊Lol I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes . Thanks for taking the time to reply. Bless you

Hi Cheryl I gave it a try albeit a slightly different way and found it very effective , the relief coming quickly 😀 Thanks again for the tip

Oh, GOOD! Glad you tried it, put your own spin on it and found it helpful!🙌😊😁🙌

Our son ALSO wears compression socks at night. He does Ultras (100 mile races), Ironman and Crossfit competitions as well. The compression socks and the wall exercises really keep him in the competition!

Both sides of our family have varicose vein issues, so I suspect the swelling is also partially caused by the faulty valves that are a part of the varicose vein experience.

Stay in touch!

Keep up all the good work!😁

Thanks Michael, ice is proving very helpful. Am learning to be patient and accepting it will take more time than I thought 😊 I'm no spring chicken so I can't really expect quick recovery

I am almost 3 weeks post op. I am in Califiornia, U.S. I have noticed that a lot of patients from the UK have seriously inadequate pain relief offered to them. It sounds like a nightmare! First two weeks I had the most incredible horrible pain. I am still in agony and barely make it every 4 hours to my next pain med. I ice religiously and elevate. I was prescribed Dilaudid (which is 3-4 times stronger than Morphine and augmented with Hydrocodone (Vicodin) every 6-8 hours.

I am in the U.K., I believe you are correct, I was sick with Codine, so I used Aleve purchased in the states.

It was not so easy getting in and out, but I found hot baths gave a lot of relief, as hot as you can stand it and get out when it starts getting colder or top it up. I was bathing 3 Times a day for hours.

Good healing

I wanna go where you got your drugs!  Dilaudid AND Vicodin???  Geez...  That would knock down a rhino!!!  I got Percocet and Flexeril...barely helped.  Dilaudid is like gold!!!  Note that hydrocodone (Vicoding and Norco) are codeine-based can can be constipating while oxycodone (Percocet and Oxycontin) are morphine-based and are not constipating.

Chico, you'd think right! But on 2mg Dilaudid and 50 mg Vicodin every 4 hours I am still in agony with maybe 21/2 hours of less pain. I feel like I am starting to feel a little like I am losing it. Cried last night so unlike me. It is just so constant. Major tummy issues with the pain meds. The Dulcolax they prescribed works but the cramps are bad. I am 48, used to train 3 hours 6 days a week until 3 years ago so I thought my recovery would be so much easier. Never assume I guess.

"I thought my recovery would be so much easier."

Join the club.  Every one of us thought the same and then had to confront this.  Very difficult; very humbling.

Vicodin can cause major constipation problems (codeine-based).  Switch to Percocet; same pain relief without the constipation.  I can't believe you are tolerating both drugs together.  I'd be unconscious for a month...  Just know that the pain greatly subsides in the 30-60 day period...the first month is the absolute worst.  Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is NOT an oncoming train...

Thanks. You always put it in perspective. I cannot tolerate Percocet- headache and vomiting. I am not crazy about Vicodin but for now it will have to do.

Ratz...  As you get off the opioids, you can use Tramadol (Ultram).  Voltaren Gel is FANTASTIC as a topical anti-inflammatory.

I am asking about Voltaren absolutely. If you had told me cow dung works I would try it. That's where I am with getting pain relief.

Actually, the most incredible ointment (works in less than FIVE MINUTES) is available from certain dispensaries in Colorado and sold to people only with a certain "medical" card.  Got my hands on some.  INSTANT RELIEF.  Know anyone in Denver?  Colorado Springs?  My wife stole a lot of mine because of her rotator cuff surgery.  Gotta get some more...

I do have friends in Colorado and my son has a friend there too. And it's legal in California now.

Wow Chico! Voltaren gel is just "over the counter" here. (Australia)  We can buy as much as we like! That is the one thing I haven't tried! I'll do it today! 

Shan... Fill a bathtub!!!

Milla... The ointment is like a thick liquid, not a gel or paste.  Mid-green in color; odd smell but not displeasing or unbearable.  Dip two fingers slightly and then rub it on.  Voila...  A little goes a long way.

Ha ha!!! You crack me up!!! So it really works that well?? I always thought it was a bit if "bah-humbug"! But I will get onto it!! 

Only thing better is the "Green Slime" I told Milla about.

I don't know about Oxycodone not being constipating. I was on it when I had my TKR almost 2 years ago and was 'tied up' for 10 days before it dawned on me what was doing it. They negelected to tell me when I left the hospital that this could happen. I told the visiting nurse and my PT what was going on and both said that Oxycodone is VERY constipating. That's why they give you a laxative while you're in the hospital...though I didn't take it and they didn't tell me why I should take it.

Got it directly from the National Institute of Health data base.  Look it up...

"Treatment with acetaminophen and either oxycodone, 5 mg po, or hydrocodone, 5 mg po, resulted in pain relief among ED patients with acute fractures, and there was no difference between the two agents at 30 and 60 minutes." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health

"These results suggest that oxycodone and hydrocodone have similarly potent analgesic effects in the first hour of treatment for ED patients with acute fractures." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health

"Adverse effect profiles were similar, with the exception of a higher incidence of subsequent constipation with the use of hydrocodone." - US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health

Chico what do I ask for when I inquire - anti inflammatory "ointment"? How much surface area do you cover? I am going ape with the prune juice tonight... Lol

It's also the information that came with the drug. I know of others that have had the same problem with Oxycodone as I had. Not about to argue about this.

My son calls it his "Green Slime".  He's 26 and has had very bad knees since he was a teenager...weird bone formations in his knees...don't know the medical term.  Sooner or later, he's looking at a BTKR.  Works great for me and now my wife who just had rotator cuff surgery.  Helps her a lot.

If you went to a dispensary, you would ask for "lotion".  Simple as that.  May not be as strong as what he gave me (custom brewed for him by some medical arts practitioners) but it's the same thing. 

Just a little on 2-3 fingertips is enough to cover around my whole knee...another dip for the quad.  Just a little covers my wife's whole shoulder.  About the same amount as Voltaren Gel...maybe a little less than the gel for the same area.  Just rub it in like Voltaren; works much faster...lasts a bit longer.

Just surprised to hear that.  I know that I've had the constipation problem with Vicodin and Norco (hydro) and don't have it with Percocet (oxy).  Have to be careful with my wife as she has a bad reaction to anything with codeine and hydrocodone is built from a codeine molecule.  Great painkiller with cough suppressant effects but the current literature cites the adverse effect.  Then again, everyone processes any drug differently so your conclusion is probably true in cases.  My wife takes Cymbalta and a doc gave her Buspar.  The literature suggested a one in a million chance for a drug interaction...guess who got it.  Seratonin Poisoning...hospital for 5 days.  You never know...nothing is 100%. 

I feel for your wife. I also have bad reactions to codeine or anything with codeine in it or any derivative of said drug. I have to be very careful with any type of pain med. If there is a nasty reaction, I'm sure to get it.

Hi

If you are in the USA Aleve which you can just buy is good for pain relief. Some people I have given the pills to ( I am in the UK) makes them sleep, can also upset your stomach, but I have not experienced the latter.

Good healing

Remember the old 80-20 rule?  I'm changing it to 80-19-1...where a drug works for 80% of people, doesn't for 19% and puts the other 1% in the hospital or kills them outright.  My doctor cousin (who's been an MD for over 50 years) once told me that before prescribing anything, a physician will literally look at the literature to find the med that works on most people and prescribe it.  Doesn't work?  Go to the next one on the list.  It's all trial and error.  That's why they call it medical PRACTICE!!!

I really like that last sentence!!! LOL

Hi clive, I am in the USA and have taken Aleve. I had to quit because it messed up my stomach. I had an ulcer years ago and have to be very careful what I take. Pye