Total knee replacement

your knee is brand spanking new! Be patient with yourself, keep up with your pain meds as you start your rehab. Many of us take several months until the swelling and pain are manageable. Knee replacement is a major "deal"and not easy to heal from. It takes time and patience.

Some heal quicker but no one hops right up again. The folks on this forum provide a wide range of tips and coping ideas. Healing takes time. Best wishes!

it takes a full year before your knee feels like it is part of your body.....it is a long journey....having my left knee replaced in May.....not looking forward to it but i know i will be fine...good luck!! ICE ICE REST

Question: *"...when does the pain/stiffness start to decrease?"

Answer: When it starts to decrease.

This is truly the most Zen of surgeries. Think: "I'll be better when I'm better." There is no other answer. Although the recovery experience is different for everyone, there seem to be some trends...like...

• The first three months while you're doing PT for your ROM and taking your heavy duty meds are HORRIBLE. Count on it. Very few people escape that fate. Pain, swelling, depression, can't sleep, etc. Lots of ice and elevation.
• Then you spend many more months rebuilding your dead quads, glutes, core, etc. so you can walk correctly, regain your balance and be able to go up and down stairs again like a normal person. This step is MANDATORY!!!
• The whole thing takes a year...some a little less...some a little more. Dance at your one year an-knee-versary party.
• Throughout all of this, the knee will absolutely, positively swell when you push it too far on any given day. This results in "balloon knee" which will require rest, icing and elevation for a few days. You can avoid this by getting a fit bit or similar and tracking your STEPS every day. Forget time and distance...it's the steps that count.
• In my case, I still saw a slight difference in knee "swelling/size" even at one year. Don't notice it anymore at three. It goes away very, very gradually on its own. So that look plus residual clunking, popping, a tight band-like feeling, etc. can take 18 months to resolve.
• You cannot kneel on the new knee on a hard surface (cement, tile, hardwood floors) probably ever again without pain. But it's not the knee...it's the nerves. It may fade some in time but probably never go away. Use a 4" foam pad indoors and padded tactical knee pads outside.

You have three tools: time, work and patience. You have to use them all. For me, I learned patience big time. The knee can be a harsh taskmaster. Listen to it and learn.

I've got about 30 discussions on here covering a lot of topics. Click my name, discussions, see all. Have fun, Kneebie...

I am 3-1/2 months now. Stiffness still exists but not so much the pain. Just came back from the park where I walked a little over a mile....and actually only came home because it's so cold outside!!! I'm in PA.

This is a much longer recuperation than I expected. I went to physical therapy 3 times a week for 2 months and then twice a week for a month. Once a week now. I walk and do my home exercises regularly. My physical therapist is great. Lots of strengthening exercises and stretching and balancing. He was not into forcing pain on me which is why I probably have gone this long. I didn't drive for 7 weeks.

I am astounded by the people who can jump back from this surgery pretty quickly. I am 64 ... and it took me much longer. I am still on the mend. Hoping within a year things will be even better.

Be kind to yourself and progress at your own pace. It does get better. Best wishes.

As far as I know it can vary enormously from person, that is from weeks to months. In my case I had a right TKR on November 21st last year. The only pain I get now is in the knee when I put weight on the leg. This is sufficient to prevent me walking other than with a Zimmer that has forearm supports. However the majority of people recover in a few weeks.

I'm 6 months PO. stiffness is less most days, still present to some degree. 12 months out should be the charm for me

It took 4 mos. before I noticed a significant change in both. Hang in there. Ice, elevate, exercise, lots of pillows. Take your meds exactly as prescribed as long as you need. Call your family dr for sleep meds if you can't sleep.

If you don't have a passive motion machine, get a smaller therapy ball - about 18-24" in diameter. Keep it by your bed, and any time you feel like the stiffness is the cause of your pain, put the ball up on your bed, put both feet up on it and gently roll the ball up and down the bed to loosen your knee.

8 months post left TKR. Still remember the early days vividly!

i had my TKR exactly a year ago , i am 59, the consultant says knee is doing extremely well.

however i still

have a lot of stiffness around the knee and it at times feels like a lead weight . pain below the knee and at the side below and behind the knee is my problem at the moment.

i have to go and have a scan and x-ray soon to see if anything else is causing issues

THIS is a long process and everyone is different . I am in full time employment and on feet all day in a factory in and out of machines so it does test the knee.

best wishes stay positive

Mo, Lsten to Chico. Copy all his suggestions. Follow his exercise schedule later on. Don't compare your knee to others, but this site helped me see that i wasn't alone. Everything is relevant, but this is your knee. They, like children are different for everyone. At 12 weeks i described mine as no longer behaving like a petulant teenager!

MEDS, PT, ELEVATE/ICE REST basically 6-8 weeks for me. water PT after 8 weeks helped. There are so many themes within a theme of recovery. Accept that you'll need time. DON'T let any PT force your ROM. Just keep movning as much as you can. I had mine in NOV 2018. I'm doing most things. Still working on muscle strength. Good luck. Mary.

My surgeon said recovery comes in 3 stages, at 6 weeks, 3 months and a year. I'm coming up to 8 weeks and have noticed a significant improvement since 6 weeks. Pain and stiffness are still there, but to a lesser degree. Most of the time it's more discomfort than pain. I still spend a lot of time resting, icing and elevating my leg and find standing for long or walking longer than 20-30 minutes increases the discomfort/pain, as do certain movements.

Think of this recovery as a marathon. We start on the same line, but we don't all finish at the same time. It's very early days for you and you'll probably notice small improvements each week. I felt much better at 4 weeks and then overdid it and put myself back a week at least, so frustrating, so take care. If you do something that causes pain or swelling it's too much for the knee and you need to take a step back, Take it easy and have a successful recovery,

my first TKR was 11 years ago and if felt normal around the 4 month stage. I am at week 15 of a TKR and the experience is totally different. Until i found this forum i thought there was something wrong with me. I still have stiffness, limp and night pain but i do see a very slow improvement.