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← Return to Limited ROM after total knee replacement.
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Limited ROM after total knee replacement.
Joint Replacements | Last Active: May 26, 2019 | Replies (51)Comment receiving replies
@billyro7 Hi Billy. Your knee sounds painful. I had a TKR in October 2017, my second, and was in a lot of pain initially but the pain lifted at around 6 weeks.
The stationary bike is one of the two exercises my ortho recommends most highly. The other is water jogging - minimal impact. According to him, the treadmill does not help with knees, although it is good cardio.
My flex is not as good as I would like it so I may have a very surgery, lysis, to improve it. If that is what your doctor is suggesting it is not major, it is OP and pretty simple I believe. Most doctors say you can improve your ROM for up to at least a year so if you keep at it you do have plenty of time still. It is important to keep at it though.
Some physical therapists are much better than others. I had a great one for in-home PT while I was home-bound. Then I went to outpatient PT and had one I had used in the past for other problems but he did not do very well with PT for my knee. I only went to him for a short time. If one is not helping you should change, get some recommendations from other people who have had TKRs.
My doctor, like the doctors at Mayo and at probably all major medical centers, works for the hospital, he is not in private practice, so I don't think he would recommend it for personal monetary gain, although I am sure doctors are expected to bring in a certain amount of revenue no matter what hospital they are attached to. It simply is not ethical to do that, whether the doctor is in private practice or part of a hospital staff though.
The suggestion to find a hospital close to you that is highly rated for orthopedics is a good one. I live about 55 miles from Boston so I have a number of excellent hospitals to choose from.
Keep us up to date on your progress, I hope it will improve.
JK
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@contentandwell : You have mentioned before that you were not happy with one of your PT people. I am not sure what “most” physical therapists do/are supposed to do for TKR rehab. I had worked with my PT before for other issues, and basically he told me what exercises to do, adapting some in order not to trigger my Sciatica. I did the exercises, reported back to him, got another set, and so on. I think I saw him roughly every 7 to 10 days for about 10 weeks, and that was that. Only twice did he very gently stretch and bend my knee to ascertain ROM. Some posts have mentioned doing PT with supervision 2 to 3 times a week, for quite some time. What would be the advantage of that? Do some therapists provide hands-on help with the knee? Thankfully, my knee rehab is done, although I’m still doing daily stretches and strength excercises. I am also currently “enjoying” some more PT exercises to take care of some tendonitis/bursitis in my hip. No big deal, though.