I am now almost 6m out from my surgery. I cannot imagine kneeling, even with a cushion. It is also very difficult to get up from the ground, as I have to rely on upper body strength and my remaining bad knee.

I too am a gardener, and love to hike... Hiking has improved. Finally on gravel, dirt paths, uneven surfaces, going up and down.... Going down stairs is still awful. It hurts. My new knee is totally stiff and tight in the morning. I arise to exercises in bed, then go downstairs and take some Ibuprofen. I do stretching, PT exercises mostly every morning once the Ibuprofen kicks in. The knee stiffens with any kind of sitting, or inactivity for over an hour. This makes for computer sitting, theater shows, car rides... to not be comfortable. After showering, I always apply body oil to my knee to ease that tight feeling.

I was told at my 6 week post-op checkup that they would use a smaller femoral component on my second knee next time... I always wonder if the tightness and stiffness I have is due to an oversized femoral component. I hope that this is just normal healing and it all takes time. I read over and over again how folks jump up and are so happy with their new knee... I keep waiting.

I had to have an MUA (Manipulation under anesthesia) at 11 weeks to break up scar tissue. Maybe that re-started all of my goal posts? We shall see.

Also- as to injections. Read up on those. Temporary relief perhaps, but further damaging to joints and efficacy questioned.