bad knees
well I finally had my total knee replacement Monday and am back in our 5th wheel Wednesday. we will spend 2 weeks recovering here in eastern wa and back to the coast for physical therapy for a few we...
Forum Discussion
DarkSkySeeker wrote:
Is it true? If you do more therapy right away after KR, you will increase your long term mobility in the long run?
ABSOLUTELY.
It's critical that the muscles supporting your knee get back to full strength. Otherwise some bad things can happen---the IT band will be overloaded, trying to keep the knee stable, and it will become painfully tight and inflamed. Also the knee joint will not track properly when it bends, and it will wear out a lot faster.
The main muscles that matter are the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Many people go into surgery with these out of whack, due to favoring the bad knees and moving in abnormal ways. And the surgery really weakens the quads.
So PT is critical, and continuing to do the exercises afterwards for quite some time is very important.
With both of my knee replacements, the first 3 weeks pretty much sucked. You just gotta take the pain meds and get through it, don't let the pain get out of control. After that you start feeling better pretty fast. For the next 6 months or so you will know it when you make a step up in activity level, with a couple of days of soreness, but if you don't push a little you will never get anywhere. It takes a full year for the joint and muscles to be absolutely 100%, according to my physical therapists.
It's not a walk in the park, but it's not just awful either. The pain is finite and you will get better, as opposed to a lifetime of pain and disability.
You do want a surgeon who does a lot of knee replacements, and physical therapists who have a lot of experience with them. Don't go to any random ortho surgeon. If you are reasonably near the Nashville area, I can make some recommendations.
One of the potentially unpleasant side effects of pain meds is constipation. I recommend Miralax, which takes 2-3 days to work, so start taking it the first day home from the hospital. For faster relief, use Smooth Move herbal tea (after clearing it with your dr.) My NP recommended it and it works really well.
2 years out my left knee never ever hurts. 4 months out my right knee is very strong but still gives me twinges when I step up to a new level of activity. Nothing some ice and ibuprofen can't handle at this point.
