My Knee Replacement Surgery Experience

Hi @ajaymehta10, welcome to Connect. If you don't mind sharing, how long ago did you have the knee replacement? Many of our members struggle with the PT after the surgery, whether it be from pain or scar tissue formation that affects the range of motion after surgery, how are you coming along with range of motion exercises?

Hi @ajaymehta10 - So glad your recovery is going well. Welcome to Connect. You have great experience to share with others who have had knee replacements. I agree with you that following your doctors orders is paramount. What do you think is the most important factor that contributed to your success? For me, I think it was physical therapy in advance - going into it strong. But I'm wondering what others think.

I was in pretty good shape before surgery, but was given some specific leg strengthening exercises to do in the 3 weeks prior to surgery. Afterwards I faithfully did all the exercises given to me by the PT people. Hard, sometimes painful, time consuming, and boring - BUT they work. Best decision I made was to get a temporary membership in the wellness center of a retirement community. They have a salt water indoor pool, geared toward seniors with wide, shallow steps and handrails all around the inside of the pool. Water makes it so much easier and less painful to do the bending and stretching of the knee.
I am now almost 10 weeks post surgery, and I still have residual pain in the knee, especially at night. Not terrible, but not fun either. Also, in spite of the fact that I can easily do really deep squats - butt almost hitting the floor - when it comes to everyday activites like trying to pull a tight sock off the repaired-knee leg while standing, the knee still does not bend as I would expect it to. And lastly - does one ever get used to the really weird feeling when trying to kneel on the new knee joint?

Hi @ellerbracke - Sounds as if you are doing great! Somewhere along the line I heard that 12 weeks was the magic number for most people being at about 90% recovery and that it really takes a full year to get 100% of what you will ever get. Also, my orthopedic surgeon told me that kneeling was something that was problematic for most of his patients. He said he heard it a lot from people who liked to garden: they pretty much had to give up on kneeling because it was so uncomfortable after a knee replacement. Kudos on your deep squats. Not me - LOL!! Are you taking anything for sleep at this point?

No.... I’m usually quite content with 6 hours/night, which I’m frequently getting. If the knee is already pretty ornery before I go to bed I might cave and take an Aleve. Re. kneeling: one of my PT’s told me she had worked with roofers and firemen in the past, and it is possible to eventually do the kneeling in semi-comfort, but it will take a lot of practice. Might go for that later, currently I’m still concentrating on total extension (almost there), and flexion (around 125).

@ellerbracke - You are a champ! I never got beyond 125 on flexion. Did get to total extension, which was an accomplishment I took pride in given the hours and hours of PT it took to get there. LOL.

My recent X-ray shows no cushion and just bone on bone on the inside of my right knee. I am 65 and very active. Yesterday in fact I placed second in a 5k race finishing in 30 minutes. Be that as it may the knee problem all started 48 years ago with a high school football injury having cartledge removed from the inside of my right knee. The chickens have now come home to roost. I am scheduled to go to Chicago next week and meet with a surgeon who performs minimum invasive knee replacement surgery sparing the quad muscle.
Recovery time is cut in half. I am optimistic that my consultation next goes wee and that I move forward with the surgery.

Hi @santi - I'm very interested in the minimally invasive technique you describe that cuts recovery time in half. I'd like to read about it if you have a link to share. I am in the process of scheduling my second TKR at Mayo Jacksonville. And Congratulations on your 5K! Personally, I can't imagine doing a 5K in 30 minutes with my sad knee. In fact we have a 5K Pink Up the Pace to benefit breast cancer research and I was proud to walk it in an hour last month!! Is your knee in a lot of pain? I'm just curious what led you to decide this is the time to do it.

Hi Debbra,
Thank you for your reply. The pain in my knee is very manageable at this point. The pain is felt when I am sitting at my desk for a prolonged time or when I am asleep at night. Sometimes I have to get up and apply Ice when this happens.
I want to be out ahead of this and am being very conservative yet by the same token by proactive as well. Google Dr. Richard Berger in Chicago which will lead you to his website.

Wow! @santi - I'm really impressed with Dr. Berger's website. Not only is the procedure described in detail, but the website answers all of the questions I would have on PT after surgery, medication, etc. Good luck with your appointment. Will you keep us posted?