This is the first time I have ever joined a discussion group for medical issue or anything else for that matter. I had a left TKR on 9/6/17. In 2015 I tore my left meniscus and had surgery done. Since that arthroscopic repair I had a chronic flexion contraction; my left leg was permanently bent at 15 degrees unable to straighten of fully bend the leg. I walked with a chronic limp. I still managed to stay very active; running, hiking, biking. The arthritis continued to get worse and the limping was affecting my hip and back. A total knee replacement was my only option. I bit the bullet and found a surgeon. I was able to straighten my knee but not bend it; the best I have gotten is 85 degrees. I had a manipulation done on Halloween but despite doing aggressive physical therapy the stiffness returned and my knee is just the same as it was before. I had a follow up yesterday with my surgeon and they say there is not much more that can be done. They are going to put me in a dynasplint and see how that works.
I cried all the way home and at work today wondering how am I going to function like this. I have to walk with a walker and can basically do nothing; not even walk my dog. I am so overwhelmed by this. I am only 46 and cannot think that this is how it is going to be the rest of my life. This sucks to say the least.
I got a call from a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon and does sports medicine. He told me about a therapy called Astym therapy. He said that it has been used for people who developed arthrofibrosis following knee replacement and they had a fairly good result with it. I will be looking into this for myself but you can find a lot more info on the internet about this. I found a research paper that looked at 16 patients who had good outcomes with this. It is noninvasive so it wouldn't hurt to at least try this. I hope this information helps.