@gailfaith Interestingly they told me to not use it when I was in bed! If I could have it probably would have been more tolerable. I will be interested to see what is recommended by my current ortho.
JK

@contentand well.. I wonder if you and I are referencing the same machine? (passive motion machine???) I can't imagine being even able to use it in any other way as your leg is strapped onto the machine. As i mentioned, I woke up from the anesthesia both times with my leg already on it! And both times I left the hospital both times with more than 100 degrees of bend, I never had any pain while on the machine either!!!!!.And as they increase the bend they do it slowly so after a few bends I felt NO discomfort. The second time I left the hospital with 113 degree of bend and without the machine in that nursing home was up to 123 degrees and left the nursing home with 134 with just PT and no stretching of the knee .....just general PT so I lost no strength lying in bed.. That was 11 years ago and my present therapist measured it recently ( and both knees are about 5 degrees more than the last figures i knew.

@gailfaith Gail, maybe it is not the same then. I do not remember having it in the rehab center (which does not necessarily mean I did not, memories are vague) but I was supposed to use it at home. It was strapped to my leg with the knee at the center. There was some plush fabric that went with it which they did not take back since when it was rented to new patient they would give her a new one. It was uncomfortable and I really did not feel it helped at all. I do remember thinking that it would be less of a nuisance if I could use it while sleeping. When I called to turn it in after just a month (I actually only tried it for about two weeks) I was told it receives mixed reviews from patients, some love it and some find it useless.
JK

@contentnandwell. Will have to ask my therapist if he knows of any other kind of machine used to bend the knee? Will let you know if so! Cant help but wonder if you were told to only use it in the bed, not out of the bed! especially since you say that you think it would have been more comfortable to use in the bed!!!!. gailfaith

I had a simple brace that you put on your leg. It had cranks on it you would "dial" to bend or straighten your leg. Basically you would just turn the dial and it would force your leg to bend or straighten depending on which way you turned the dials on the brace. The brace itself consisted of 4 straps that started at the shin area and when up to the upper thigh. You only wore it when you wanted to use it.

I was encouraged to use this because my recovery was so poor. In the end, I don't think it helped. I had really aggressive scar tissue formation, however, I think I am personally more to blame. I don't think I followed my rehab instructions thoroughly enough. Make sure you adamantly follow your surgeon's instructions, it really is the best way to achieve success.