I head to the surgeon this morning. I'm 16 weeks post-op and still can't go up stairs foot over foot. I went to another surgeon for a second opinion last week. A total waste. He clearly had no intentions of getting involved. Said: I don't know what it is (the cracking and pain), don't know what to do about it, don't know how long it will last. That isn't an opinion! I've had another month of anti-inflamatories, and no exercise to calm it down.
I am 8 weeks post op and, generally speaking, doing quite well. Going down stairs seems to be my biggest problem. My brain won't allow my leg to walk down stairs normally. Have other people experienced this? I have found this site to be a great help. It makes me feel part of a group rather than all alone.
I am 8 weeks post op and, generally speaking, doing quite well. Going down stairs seems to be my biggest problem. My brain won't allow my leg to walk down stairs normally. Have other people experienced this? I have found this site to be a great help. It makes me feel part of a group rather than all alone.
u have to push yourself, work the muscles to get them back into shape
Hi ladyscout, Wish you good news at the surgeon this morning. We'll all be waiting to hear what you find out. And to you, flabobcat, yes, going DOWN stairs is the hard one. I'm 6 weeks post-op today and I can manage going up stairs slowly, foot over foot, but going down I can only do 2 or 3 then have to do one at a time. Its a good strengthening exercise, but painful. The scar tissue on the outside of my knee still cracks and pulls each time I bend my knee, but the therapist says to just keep working it till it will lay down flat. Hope that day will come soon. I had a hard time in bed again last night. Just couldn't find a comfortable way to lay my leg that didn't put pressure on the knee. The best to all of you out there. Lets look to brighter days ahead!
I'm so sorry for your problems. Some of the things I did were kinda silly, but they helped me. I put on up tempo (disco) music and did a lot of marching in place. I would then go to the stair case, and walk up and down the first step like I used to do in step classes. I can't help but think the clicking, which I have from time to time, is scar tissue. When I have the clicking, I get in a warm tub with aches and pains bath salts, Wal-Mart has a really good selection or buy epson salts and just add a few drops of eucalyptus oil and massage oil and do lots of knee to nose bends. After a few moments, the clicking goes away for me.
I have been told by my Doctor, who jokingly likes to tell me he's the reason I'm doing so well, that all the exercise I'm doing is the reason for my speedy recovery.
Keep trying as hard as possible to move the knee and know there will be pain. I have talked to people who were still having clicking pain after a year. This surgery is the worst I've ever had. I also like to "what if" at times. What if this surgery was not available to me and I had to suffer like my grandmother did? She would have a hoe in one hand and lean on a crutch with the other because she loved her garden so much. At night her knees would be the size of cantaloupes with no relief in sight.
Dear Linda:
Oh, your poor grandmother with the hugely swollen knees after working in her garden.
This reminds me oif my own grandmother 70 years ago, who would limp around the table when serving meals - with her it must have been her hips.
My sister and I both have had both hips replaced - there just be a genetic factor causing this and perhaps with your grandmother and you too, with the knees,
In my grandmother's day, no one had even DREAMED of having new hips! How lucky we are now.
Ladyscout, I wonder if your "crackling" is the same thing I call "clicking". It started the day I got my staples out, while I was walking out of the doctor's office. It seems like the answer you got from the surgeon you saw, is the same answer I've gotten from everyone I've talked to---the nurse practitioner, three physical thearpists and the orthopedic nurse---they all say the same thing....it isn't unusual, lots of people get it, it goes away in some people and others have it forever. Not what I wanted to hear.
I am having lots of problems with PT and what I call "outings". After either PT or a short pleasant outing, I am so stiff and in so much pain, I am pretty much usless for the rest of that day and all of the next. My PT and I agreed to take the PT down a notch to see if that helps. I figure it must be better to be able to do the at home exercises daily, than to do too much PT one day and nothing the next. I just tried my bed exercises and could do them---and had PT yesterday, so I think it did help not to push me too hard. I realized I had been letting her push me beyond the point where I was feeling a lot of pain====why? Because I am such a goody two shoes and didn't want her to be disappointed in me.
I have not even tried to go up or down stairs. My balance is so bad, I can't imagine doing that.
I am 7 weeks past surgery.....I figure my age and weight (lots of that) add to the problems I am having. I am 69.....and I am very heavy. Okay 280.
The old "No pain, no gain" saying doesn't go for TKR therapy the PT said. It's good to push, but NOT TOO MUCH.
I didn't have much trouble going down stairs correctly, but the PT said if I did, turn around and go down backward. That is what I did several years ago when I tore the ligaments in my ankle.
Maybe this will help some of you who are having stair difficulties.
Some people are having trouble sleeping. If sleeping on my side, I lay a small round pillow directly on the bed and support my knee (and lower leg) on the pillow. It keeps it feeling much better and sleeping has been good for quite some time.
This isn't just a clicking sound. It is a grinding feeling. I went to the surgeon and he said it was a ligament rubbing on the implant and he had to cut parts of the ligament away with orthoscopic surgery. The implant plastic was too dense to cut away he said when I asked. He had "talked" to associates he said about the problem since he had never encountered it. He has never done this surgery :-( I was to have the surgery on April 8th but then cancelled to see what else I can find out to do. Very down about this.
My computer is really slow tonite so I apologize in advance if this has been posted before - I can't do a search: I'm 3 months post bi-lat TKR (Dec 9th). Was doing really well until I really overdid it 2 weeks ago. Still did some PT 2Xs a week & mostly rested, iced & elevated for 10 days. Just when I was ready to start ramping up I got a terrible head/chest cold with some G.I. stuff. I had a flu shot 3 months ago so don't think that is it. However, I have felt horrible & only able to do home exercises mostly in bed (I think I did 150 heel slides today -- not all at once!!!) My knees feel like they are locking up. I stand up as much as I can - we've had blizzard conditions lately so I did get outside to shovel where the plow can't go. What do others do when they get sick & really can not exercise? I dn't have treadmill or bike here at home and think I might still be contagious so haven't gone out (darling sweet hubby has done shopping & got me some over the counter remedies). I did do some stairs really really carefully but it's not enough. I'm starting to feel like I did when I first had the surgery -- it hurts to stand up, it hurts to walk. I'm probably overreacting and will feel better in a few days & once I start back to working out regularly all will be better but right now: UGH! Thanks again all of you for being here when we need you!
Hi I had a TKA 4 months ago and was really struggling with moblity and pain for the first few months. I went religiously to physio and did all the exercises but still felt that my progress was very slow. I was finally told to try electrical muscle stimulation and the improvement was quite dramatic. It was as if I just needed that extra bit of help.
This isn't just a clicking sound. It is a grinding feeling. I went to the surgeon and he said it was a ligament rubbing on the implant and he had to cut parts of the ligament away with orthoscopic surgery. The implant plastic was too dense to cut away he said when I asked. He had "talked" to associates he said about the problem since he had never encountered it. He has never done this surgery :-( I was to have the surgery on April 8th but then cancelled to see what else I can find out to do. Very down about this.
Ladyscout,
Maybe all of us can asks our Ortho's if they have ever encountered this problem. It would scare me to death to have someone do a surgery that has never done it. I live in Central Texas. I had the best surgeon around. I would travel miles and miles to get a good resolution.
It makes me so sad to hear the problems some are having with their TKR. Did you have both done at the same time? I had my surgery on Dec 1st. I got a stomach virus the 3rd week for 3 days. Maybe a blessing in disguise since it had me running (literally) to the bathroom. It sure got my knee moving.
My PT brought a mini bicycle that set on the floor for my out patient therapy. When I stopped the in home PT, I purchased my own. They are completely mobile, in fact they fold up and fit in a closet. I ordered mine on line. They cost about $30.00. Mine had a timer and a way to increase the tension. I started out at 10 minutes and increased to 30. I now go to my gym and use their bicycle. Keep warm, it sounds like you live in the frozen tundra.
Alaskelly,
I am 8 weeks post op and can only offer one thing. When I was sick any time prior to surgery, everything hurt. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I have pushed myself in therapy but not to the point of exhaustion. I woke up this A.M., went about my business. Started to walk the dog and realized, it was the first 15 minutes that I hadn't thought about my knee since long before the surgery. I realize I may be unusual but every day is better than the one before. Small setbacks are nothing to be concerned with. I had them, we all do. Just don't get discouraged.
My little dog does a tap dance now every time I put my shoes on. I can now take her for walks and it really feels great. I started out with 1/2 a mile and now up to a 1.5 miles. The real knee sometimes hurts afterwards, but I guess I will replace that one at some point. Ain't medical science great?
I had myTKR on Feb 16th. It is not what I expected. I had a great deal of pain when they took me off the morphine after 12 hrs and put me on oral meds. They went through a load of meds before they found one that worked. They sent me to PT where I went into a crying jag. I was transfered to a rehab facility where I got PT & OT for a total of 3 hrs aday. After 5 days I was sent home and a therapist came to my home twice a week for thereapy and protine tests. After 2 weeks I began going to a out patient PT facility. I have completed on week there and when I am feeling whinny they pretty much look at me like I am crazy. I know we all heal at different rates but its hard not to be frustrated by this process. At my one month point I can walk with a limp, can take the stairs one at a time and have an 80 degree bend. That has not improved in 2 weeks. I am constantly moving my knee, massaging the scar and stretching the thigh muscles. They all seem very tight and on the verge of a charlie horse. My outer thigh goes cold and pins & needles when I lay down. I've developed a feeling of cold further down my leg just about mid calf.
I am taking only Ibuprophen & Tylenol for pain and inflamation. I still have difficulty going to the bathroom. I only have a few more days of taking coumadin for which I am glad. But I still have calf pain when I sleep.
I had myTKR on Feb 16th. It is not what I expected. I had a great deal of pain when they took me off the morphine after 12 hrs and put me on oral meds. They went through a load of meds before they found one that worked. They sent me to PT where I went into a crying jag. I was transfered to a rehab facility where I got PT & OT for a total of 3 hrs aday. After 5 days I was sent home and a therapist came to my home twice a week for thereapy and protine tests. After 2 weeks I began going to a out patient PT facility. I have completed on week there and when I am feeling whinny they pretty much look at me like I am crazy. I know we all heal at different rates but its hard not to be frustrated by this process. At my one month point I can walk with a limp, can take the stairs one at a time and have an 80 degree bend. That has not improved in 2 weeks. I am constantly moving my knee, massaging the scar and stretching the thigh muscles. They all seem very tight and on the verge of a charlie horse. My outer thigh goes cold and pins & needles when I lay down. I've developed a feeling of cold further down my leg just about mid calf.
I am taking only Ibuprophen & Tylenol for pain and inflamation. I still have difficulty going to the bathroom. I only have a few more days of taking coumadin for which I am glad. But I still have calf pain when I sleep.
Hi Gater... Boy do I agree with you... yikes at no pain meds... tomorrow will be my 5th month anniversary... I can't believe it ... and I still have my little pink pleasure pills (darvocets) they work perfect for the days that I have done a little too much. AND.. I think you really need something for those bad nights that we all have.
Doing pretty well actually, some days are better than others.. but realized yesterday I could get in hubby's car now without having to go butt first..lol.
Went shopping yesterday for four hours... that's alot of walking... but wasn't horrible after we got home.. tolerable.
Doing tons of squats when I think about it and stretch in the shower and let the warm water hit the back of my knee... funny it still looks bigger than my other one... but it's not warm anymore like it use to be.
Can't wait to get in the pool... that is a for sure thing... some of you that do water exercises need to let me know what ones you do.. I've never done them before.
Still procrastinating about doing more exercise... told me boss the other day.. you get cocky after you can do things that you couldn't before and think I'm all better but inside my feeble little brain I'm thinking .. god what a slacker you are...
Oh.. one other question for you guys that went in about the same time I did.. Oct. 15. I noticed the other day when I was sitting on the sofa and when you flex your knee do you all hear like a crunching sound... doesn't hurt.. it just makes a noise and after you flex your knee a bunch of times it goes away.. I'm assuming it's scar tissue crunching around... anyone got a clue?
For all you newbie "bionic club members" Hang in there.. I hate that some of you are having a harder recovery than some of us had. I guess we were just very fortunate. Like I say... I can't believe tomorrow will be 5 mos... it's gone by so fast..
Hope everyone is doing well.. recovering... exercising...(do some for me while I'm being lazy...lol) and icing.. I use to tell my friend.. "google is my friend".. I have changed that to "icing is my best friend"
P.S. I found these really really cool little gel packs.. bought two of them and have them just in my refrigerator in my office at work... they are fantastic.. they get cool so well and I just wrap it around my knee if it's bothering me.. works great...
Will check back later... Need to read back and see how Grumpy is doing..
