What ROM is needed
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After my surgeon telling me today that I don't need to worry about ROM at all now, I still wasn't sure what ROM would achieve the best. One article I read said to get up and down in a bath 'normally' you needed 135. But I just found a useful bit in the 'orthopaedics and trauma journal' online - scopic ROM in a PS knee is an average of 115° and a maximum of 145°. This functional range is adequate ... ROM after knee replacement. - That seems a fairly good guide! It went on to say in climbing stairs and rising from a chair (guess that depends on height of chair though!) 95 degrees are needed.
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martinarvelo chris00938
Posted
I read on a medical page . . damn, forgotten the name of it. . .that a rom of more than 135 did appear to be connected with a shorter time span for a successful TKR, which I had never read or heard before. . . so I am going to stick at 134! It does everything I want. I can even kneel on the floor to pick things up, although it is a little uncomfortable, so I don't do it unless really necessary! I think even 120 would be more than adequate for most things.
chris00938 martinarvelo
Posted
Yes, it does make you think. I think I've read more over the past couple of days than I had before! I'm certainly not pushing mine more. Whereas a few weeks ago I was contemplating a lot more exercise after reading a lot online I decided that wasn't necessary either because there was a chance it could shorten the life of the knee. I don't need it for what I'm going to want to do! Reading up also got me thinking about condition of bones. As I said to Maura just now, when I asked my surgeon after the op he said they were fine, but reading that weak bones can be the cause of problems with knee replacements, that made me determined to keep up the supplements (although I'm sure if there were problems with the knee because of weak bones, there would also be problems elsewhere in the body). But what really shocked me, that I'll be the first to admit to, was that there was a risk of infection in the knee, travelling from anywhere in the body, for life! I rather thought that risk was just while the knee was healing. But then as Marilyn said - you have to get it in perspective. The risk really is VERY low. Even the nurse in hospital on Monday when I went for the pre-op (she was the one who told me about the lifetime risk) said they did 1,000 knee replacements last year and as far as she knows there was only one person who went in with an infection, so keeping in mind that it could have been an earlier infection from the actual operation right to a later infection from something else, that's not really too worrying. So it's been a steep learning curve over the past few days really, just from little things that were said and got me researching!
martinarvelo chris00938
Posted
What would we have done before the internet! I'm not sure that I agree that ignorance is bliss!!
Guest chris00938
Posted
Ok i have to say something at this point. Marilyn is right. You're in a twitter Chris and spiraling with the internet!
Go back to basics. Do you need the surgery? If yes, then use prudent judgement on cleanliness. Youve been thru it b4 and heard all the peeps on this forum. Ice,rest,exercise,meds,hydration.
Chicos comment "the body heals when it heals" is true. All you do or DON'T do is in your control but HOW the body responds is OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.
Your questions are great about rom,sedation,nutrition,exercise but once you've read and heard from us, you are still riddled w doubts. That's called worry beyond control. YOUR control.
Relax, like Marilyn suggested. Youve done your due diligence!
chris00938 martinarvelo
Posted
At this very moment I'm thinking ignorance IS bliss LOL! I really got myself in a panic about the risk of infection when I found out the full implication of it. But I've calmed down now:-))))
chris00938 Guest
Posted