Neither the surgical team nor the PT team suggested presurgery exercises. The PT said they weren’t particularly helpful. I have to say that this has been the ONLY but a VERY SIGNIFICANT failure by Mayo staff related to my health care.
The pre-surgery exercises that were recommended to me were very simple and easy, and they were meant to be continued immediately after surgery also. There were only two, both done laying on your back in bed. The first was to slowly stretch both feet, pointing your toes as far away and down as you can, holding the stretch, then slowly bringing your feet back up on your heels, and flexing to point your toes towards your nose. Do at least 10-15 reps or as many as your can stand. The second exercise was to stiffen your legs and imagine tightly pulling your kneecap down into the bed, hold for at least 5 seconds and release. Do 10-15 reps.
I started these about two weeks before surgery, and did them immediately after in my recovery bed. In the first few weeks after surgery when I found it hard to sleep at night, I would do as many as I could stand until my legs got tired, and I had less of the restless leg symptoms.
Like others have said, ask everything that comes to mind. The pain in detail. Purchase a ice machine, you will love ice.
Get lots of rest and sleep, eat when you can, do exercises everyday, even when it hurts.
Keep the scar tissue from getting hard to avoid MUA.
Pray through it 🙏.
Find a physical therapist who has lots of experience with knee replacement patients. It's a very different set of problems than regular physical therapy. Your therapist will be your main lifeline for healing. When they make a mistake the consequences are major, so choose carefully. Also, get a reliable person to be your coach. You will really, really need someone to help you get through it all. Be prepared for pain for as much as a year. Know that in a 2024 research study it was reported that as many as 30% of knee replacement patients endure chronic pain for years afterwards. There is no guarantee that replacement will be the happy ending the surgeons promise. Grill your surgeon ahead of time about how they will handle your calls if you have complications or reactions to meds. Make them promise to get back to you within 24 hours when you call. Then go home and make several appointments with your family doctor so you will be able to get help promptly. You can cancel those appointments if you don't need them, but you would do well to schedule one every 3 weeks cause you never know. A bad reaction to one of the many drugs you will be taking can set back the whole recovery process. A family doctor can prescribe any of the meds you need and is a lot easier to get to than a surgeon. Definitely have your regular doctor handy for pain management in the first 3 months, no matter what the surgeon promises. Pain and swelling are the two biggest obstacles to a speedy recovery. Also, if they don't give you Celebrex to start out, try it through your family doctor. It made a huge difference for me and I still take it. It's a COX2 inhibitor that fights inflammation and pain. Also, elevate and ice the knee several times a day for several months after surgery. Everything in your life will revolve around "how the knee is doing today" for months to come. I know there are people who do great and heal quickly, and like to brag, but they are a minority. Most knee patients are older and have arthritis, and there are no quick fixes for those two issues. Finally, when you start therapy do NOT obey any instructions to push through the pain. If any therapist bullies you or scares you with horror stories to try to force you to do extreme things, limp out of there and find another therapist! Pain comes from inflammation and swelling. It's a warning, not a personal challenge. Recovery will take much longer if you try to force it. Move your leg gently, but keep moving it all day long with breaks for elevation. Frequent gentle motion improves circulation without causing more pain and swelling. Circulation is the key to healing, not pressure. And swelling makes bending the knee impossible. You have to keep the swelling down as much as you can, and that means ice packs. You have 4 months to get your knee to bend to 120 degrees. That is plenty of time if you keep the swelling down, so don't stress your wounded knee. If you have pain after 4 months and can afford it, try extracorporeal sonar shockwave therapy. It works miracles for circulation and muscle injuries. Several of your nerves and muscles will be cut and shoved aside so the surgeon can remove the bad joint and put in the new one. Then the muscles and nerves are moved back. The muscles get stitched. They take even longer to heal than the 2 incisions. Also new bone will slowly grow over the appliance to help anchor it, but that takes a long time, so no extreme movement for months. If you feel unsteady or dizzy keep using a walker longer, because safety is really important. A fall would likely lead to a second surgery. Definitely don't want that. Be gentle with your body and give it time. Plan on doing the physical therapy exercises every day for years to come. Your posture and balance will change with the new knee. If you have back pain that means everything is still adjusting to the new leg alignment. Demand help for the back pain and learn some stretches to ease it. If you overdo and get bursitis at some point try shockwave and slow down. Your body will tell you when you're overdoing exercise. Go at your own personal pace, no matter what you see others doing in the gym. I learned all of this the hard way. Hope you have it easier with advance knowledge. GOOD LUCK!
Have a long, detailed talk with your surgeon about what to expect post op and for the foreseeable several weeks to months. This is usually a very painful surgery and I didn’t feel I was in any way prepped for what to expect re: swelling and pain.
Find a physical therapist who has lots of experience with knee replacement patients. It's a very different set of problems than regular physical therapy. Your therapist will be your main lifeline for healing. When they make a mistake the consequences are major, so choose carefully. Also, get a reliable person to be your coach. You will really, really need someone to help you get through it all. Be prepared for pain for as much as a year. Know that in a 2024 research study it was reported that as many as 30% of knee replacement patients endure chronic pain for years afterwards. There is no guarantee that replacement will be the happy ending the surgeons promise. Grill your surgeon ahead of time about how they will handle your calls if you have complications or reactions to meds. Make them promise to get back to you within 24 hours when you call. Then go home and make several appointments with your family doctor so you will be able to get help promptly. You can cancel those appointments if you don't need them, but you would do well to schedule one every 3 weeks cause you never know. A bad reaction to one of the many drugs you will be taking can set back the whole recovery process. A family doctor can prescribe any of the meds you need and is a lot easier to get to than a surgeon. Definitely have your regular doctor handy for pain management in the first 3 months, no matter what the surgeon promises. Pain and swelling are the two biggest obstacles to a speedy recovery. Also, if they don't give you Celebrex to start out, try it through your family doctor. It made a huge difference for me and I still take it. It's a COX2 inhibitor that fights inflammation and pain. Also, elevate and ice the knee several times a day for several months after surgery. Everything in your life will revolve around "how the knee is doing today" for months to come. I know there are people who do great and heal quickly, and like to brag, but they are a minority. Most knee patients are older and have arthritis, and there are no quick fixes for those two issues. Finally, when you start therapy do NOT obey any instructions to push through the pain. If any therapist bullies you or scares you with horror stories to try to force you to do extreme things, limp out of there and find another therapist! Pain comes from inflammation and swelling. It's a warning, not a personal challenge. Recovery will take much longer if you try to force it. Move your leg gently, but keep moving it all day long with breaks for elevation. Frequent gentle motion improves circulation without causing more pain and swelling. Circulation is the key to healing, not pressure. And swelling makes bending the knee impossible. You have to keep the swelling down as much as you can, and that means ice packs. You have 4 months to get your knee to bend to 120 degrees. That is plenty of time if you keep the swelling down, so don't stress your wounded knee. If you have pain after 4 months and can afford it, try extracorporeal sonar shockwave therapy. It works miracles for circulation and muscle injuries. Several of your nerves and muscles will be cut and shoved aside so the surgeon can remove the bad joint and put in the new one. Then the muscles and nerves are moved back. The muscles get stitched. They take even longer to heal than the 2 incisions. Also new bone will slowly grow over the appliance to help anchor it, but that takes a long time, so no extreme movement for months. If you feel unsteady or dizzy keep using a walker longer, because safety is really important. A fall would likely lead to a second surgery. Definitely don't want that. Be gentle with your body and give it time. Plan on doing the physical therapy exercises every day for years to come. Your posture and balance will change with the new knee. If you have back pain that means everything is still adjusting to the new leg alignment. Demand help for the back pain and learn some stretches to ease it. If you overdo and get bursitis at some point try shockwave and slow down. Your body will tell you when you're overdoing exercise. Go at your own personal pace, no matter what you see others doing in the gym. I learned all of this the hard way. Hope you have it easier with advance knowledge. GOOD LUCK!
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The pre-surgery exercises that were recommended to me were very simple and easy, and they were meant to be continued immediately after surgery also. There were only two, both done laying on your back in bed. The first was to slowly stretch both feet, pointing your toes as far away and down as you can, holding the stretch, then slowly bringing your feet back up on your heels, and flexing to point your toes towards your nose. Do at least 10-15 reps or as many as your can stand. The second exercise was to stiffen your legs and imagine tightly pulling your kneecap down into the bed, hold for at least 5 seconds and release. Do 10-15 reps.
I started these about two weeks before surgery, and did them immediately after in my recovery bed. In the first few weeks after surgery when I found it hard to sleep at night, I would do as many as I could stand until my legs got tired, and I had less of the restless leg symptoms.
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1 ReactionLike others have said, ask everything that comes to mind. The pain in detail. Purchase a ice machine, you will love ice.
Get lots of rest and sleep, eat when you can, do exercises everyday, even when it hurts.
Keep the scar tissue from getting hard to avoid MUA.
Pray through it 🙏.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsFind a physical therapist who has lots of experience with knee replacement patients. It's a very different set of problems than regular physical therapy. Your therapist will be your main lifeline for healing. When they make a mistake the consequences are major, so choose carefully. Also, get a reliable person to be your coach. You will really, really need someone to help you get through it all. Be prepared for pain for as much as a year. Know that in a 2024 research study it was reported that as many as 30% of knee replacement patients endure chronic pain for years afterwards. There is no guarantee that replacement will be the happy ending the surgeons promise. Grill your surgeon ahead of time about how they will handle your calls if you have complications or reactions to meds. Make them promise to get back to you within 24 hours when you call. Then go home and make several appointments with your family doctor so you will be able to get help promptly. You can cancel those appointments if you don't need them, but you would do well to schedule one every 3 weeks cause you never know. A bad reaction to one of the many drugs you will be taking can set back the whole recovery process. A family doctor can prescribe any of the meds you need and is a lot easier to get to than a surgeon. Definitely have your regular doctor handy for pain management in the first 3 months, no matter what the surgeon promises. Pain and swelling are the two biggest obstacles to a speedy recovery. Also, if they don't give you Celebrex to start out, try it through your family doctor. It made a huge difference for me and I still take it. It's a COX2 inhibitor that fights inflammation and pain. Also, elevate and ice the knee several times a day for several months after surgery. Everything in your life will revolve around "how the knee is doing today" for months to come. I know there are people who do great and heal quickly, and like to brag, but they are a minority. Most knee patients are older and have arthritis, and there are no quick fixes for those two issues. Finally, when you start therapy do NOT obey any instructions to push through the pain. If any therapist bullies you or scares you with horror stories to try to force you to do extreme things, limp out of there and find another therapist! Pain comes from inflammation and swelling. It's a warning, not a personal challenge. Recovery will take much longer if you try to force it. Move your leg gently, but keep moving it all day long with breaks for elevation. Frequent gentle motion improves circulation without causing more pain and swelling. Circulation is the key to healing, not pressure. And swelling makes bending the knee impossible. You have to keep the swelling down as much as you can, and that means ice packs. You have 4 months to get your knee to bend to 120 degrees. That is plenty of time if you keep the swelling down, so don't stress your wounded knee. If you have pain after 4 months and can afford it, try extracorporeal sonar shockwave therapy. It works miracles for circulation and muscle injuries. Several of your nerves and muscles will be cut and shoved aside so the surgeon can remove the bad joint and put in the new one. Then the muscles and nerves are moved back. The muscles get stitched. They take even longer to heal than the 2 incisions. Also new bone will slowly grow over the appliance to help anchor it, but that takes a long time, so no extreme movement for months. If you feel unsteady or dizzy keep using a walker longer, because safety is really important. A fall would likely lead to a second surgery. Definitely don't want that. Be gentle with your body and give it time. Plan on doing the physical therapy exercises every day for years to come. Your posture and balance will change with the new knee. If you have back pain that means everything is still adjusting to the new leg alignment. Demand help for the back pain and learn some stretches to ease it. If you overdo and get bursitis at some point try shockwave and slow down. Your body will tell you when you're overdoing exercise. Go at your own personal pace, no matter what you see others doing in the gym. I learned all of this the hard way. Hope you have it easier with advance knowledge. GOOD LUCK!
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3 ReactionsIt generally isn't that painful. The younger and with less health problems the better outcome
Hmm. That pain part- Not according to studies and my personal experience.
Second part perhaps. Too many variables on the patient and surgeon’s sides.
Definitely the whole truth for TKR. This recovery can be absolutely brutal.
Take your time and keep moving.