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1 year anniversary of TKR
2 more days, and I’ll have had my artificial knee for one year. This milestone seems to be pretty much what it will be going forward, with possible minor improvements possible. Summary: full extension, great flexibility. No swelling. Some warmth on outside of knee, constantly. Works very well, except no kneeling on hard ground, preferably no kneeling, period. Constant cracking/crunching feeling of tendons behind the knee when bending under weight (as in walking, floor exercises involving bent knees). Painless, but irritating and uncomfortable. Some pain when bending knee/lower leg sideways-inwards while lifted, as is pulling off a shoe or sock while standing, balanced on the other leg. Unfortunately, still pretty frequent minor twinges, and foreign/artificial feeling, in spite of working fine That about average?
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I’m exactly one year post TKR too. I’m walking about an hour at a stretch and doing stationary bike and pool, get reminded at night if I have overdone. Lots of crackles in knee, side movements of joint are painful, and I was advised never to kneel on my fake knee cap.sometimes frustrated with limitations, as my other knee is in bad shape. I think I have to remember how far I’ve come, and not get discouraged with difficulties, eg. stairs. I’m from Canada, never had had any physio, so what I’ve done it’s been with help of places like Mayo websites for guidelines.
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3 Reactions@ellerbracke - Congrats on that long walk!! I have never, ever walked for 6 hours. Whew!
I agree, about an hour is all I can do these days! What an awesome feat! to do six!!
Well, I mentioned 6 hours total - we split that up into 4 hrs., short break, then another 2 hours. Still a lot of time to be using the knee! And I counted the Harbor View stairs leading down from 1st Avenue: 106. I counted them when climbing them back up, coming down I just enjoyed the stunning view.
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2 Reactions@ellerbracke No less impressive.
JK
I am just 6 months out from rtkr. I have had issues with that foot from day one. Now the podiatrist and pt thonk it may be from pressurevon a nerve during surgery or durong initial recovery...I have severe pain when my knee is bent and turned in, as pulling iff a sock, etc. The pain shoots from sort of behind the knee to the foot. Is that what you described? The podiatrist gave me an orthodic lift inside my shoe to see if taking pressure off my arch area will alleviate pressure on the netvevand lessen symptoms. My arch is very flat on that foot. It will also keep my foot from turning in. I can not live wirh this because it is extremely painful to walk in tangled grass, for instance, if my foot gets any resistance from grass,etc.,.,and pulls in that direction. Any comments!
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1 Reaction@irol : regarding knee pain when bent and turned inward, yes, that’s pretty much it. At 12 months it is not as intense as it was earlier, but still pretty uncomfortable. And any kind of pull on the TKR leg is still bad. When working outside and overlooking a vine running along the ground which snags my leg, and stretches it, not so great. However, my foot in general is fine, even though I notice I still turn it inward a little bit when walking, perhaps unconsciously trying to take pressure off the knee. I, too, have orthotic inserts, but in my case for uneven leg length that resulted in hip issues. From time to time I grab a jump rope, wrap it around the TKR foot, and gently pull up sideways and inwards to simulate the sock-pulling position. Have not done that regularly enough though to notice a difference. Time does ease the pain to a certain extent, if that helps....
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2 Reactions@ellerbracke Just reading through the posts - is anyone able to kneel even half comfortably after a TKR? If so I’ve never heard of it. That’s pretty much my only problem. I’m impressed that you plan to play tennis again! I would love to ski and did have that in the back of my mind but having discovered that I have osteoporosis I think I’ll skip it.
JK
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1 ReactionI was told that kneeling is not advised because of patella replacement. Am only a year post op so haven’t been brave enough to attempt it.
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3 ReactionsGood evening @glasgow46, I was so surprised that it was exactly one year when I knew my TKR was a part of me. I didn't notice it at all when I got up on the morning of its anniversary. Yipee! Perhaps a slow measured recovery is better than a fast one.
Anyway, I can kneel long enough to do what I need to do and to play with my grandchildren. I also do 3 Yoga child's pose movements every morning. That keeps everything loose and rather comfortable.
The surgeon did a great job.....and the PT and myofascial release (MFR) therapists brought the knee along so that once again I have no pain. I had 3 great years and then was diagnosed with Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome. The fascial layers on top of my knee were no longer fluid...they were restricted and extremely painful. So now after some hard MFR work, I am fluid again and I aim to keep it that way.
What exercises do you do at the one year mark? How has your life changed because of the TKR. Is it easier to walk than to stand? May you be content and well. Chris
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