1 year anniversary of TKR

@irol - That is just a crying shame to be cut off like that. But I'm glad you tried! And I'm also glad you are meeting with the PA. I really liked my orthopedic surgeon and he was very informative and made himself available to answer questions. At the same time, I knew he was busy and his time was limited so I often found myself having more in depth conversations with the PA. I'm wishing you luck on this. Will you keep me posted?

@ellerbracke, @contentandwell, Oh dear me no....I can't get my butt to touch my heels. I couldn't even do that before the TKR. I am always working toward that goal even if I never make it. It does release the back and I stretch my arms out in front as much as possible because of all the shoulder surgeries. I also find that "pigeon" gets your knee to bend and I can hold my foot to help it a bit. Do you do pigeon? That pose is great for hip flexors and most especially to prevent sciatica. As long as I do "pigeon" and a twist on the floor every day...my back is in good shape. Those are the 2 must yoga poses for me and my spine for at least 20 years. Maybe there are other poses I should be trying. I do elder/senior yoga. Like you, I just want to keep moving. May you have relief from pain today. Chris

Do you, or any body reading this, know of a close association between tkr and sciatica? It seems I might have some form of it (according to my chiropractor) effecting the nerve/tendon/ muscle use along the inside of my foot and ankle. Maybe I caused it by pulling and pulling and forcing the flexion on heel slides for 5 months. The first 4 months I forced it to a pain level of about 8-9 three times a day. (My in hone PT from rhe beginning of recovery said it is the way to get the amount of max flexion I wanted). Or maybe there was too much pressure put on a nerve during surgery that is causing this dysfuncyion pain in the foot. Anyway, I am asking if there is a lot of sciatica symptoms out there after having tkr.

@artscaping No way could I touch my butt with my heals. When I go to water aerobic classes, often at the end when we do stretches, there is one where you bend your knee and hold it up around your ankle. I can’t even get mine to go straight up.

I had no idea what the pigeon pose was so I just googled it. I could not possibly bend the front leg like the pictures show, impossible!
JK

@contentandwell, I think you are expecting too much from yourself. I have been doing Yoga for almost 40 years. So after the TKR, my other joints and muscles were pretty limber. Even my daughter and granddaughters laughed at their attempts to keep up with TuTu (Grandma) long before my TKR. So that is an unfair advantage. Whatever you can do is better than doing nothing. And each day you try for another 1/2 inch or 2 more degrees. I am so very committed to daily yoga practice and mindful meditation. Even my sweet guy has found that his gardening tasks are easier and getting out of bed is less of a strain now that he too joins the yoga practice. There is also restoration yoga....that incudes poses with props. Perhaps that might be helpful. Have a restful evening. Chris

Yeah, I too, googled position pose. Do you use the tkr leg out straight or is it the bent one? Is it really ok to put that bent knee in such a position? I am trying to find a way to loosen my hamstrings and back. After doing a lot of lifting and moving (stage manager always cleaning out or relocating theater set buildings or carrying around heavy light sets, etc., or after riding 20-30 miles heavily, my body yearns for a stretch. I used to like to grab my ankle behind me and bend my knee up, but I can not lift my leg high enough to grab the ankle comfortably. It is SO frustrating. I just want to do what I do on the left side to my tkr right side! I am at 6 months and feel like I should be mire limber by now. When I am doing herl slides, I can get to 138 degrees but most recently I can not even go down the stairs foot over foot without leaning way over to the side to avoid intense pain when forcing the knee to bend enough to clear the stairs. Any suggestions out there?

I meant "pigeon" pose.

@irol, @artscaping : Re. pigeon pose —— will try, but the bent inward motion of the knee is the one that still hurts quite a bit. I do a series of easier exercises that my PT suggested 5 years ago to control Sciatica. He basically called it “flossing the sciatic nerve and stretching the piriformis area”. I may not be as flexible as Chris in general, but my TKR PT was floored how great my range of motion of the hip flexors is.
To irol: I have had Sciatica on and off for roughly 10 years. 6 years ago it was bad enough for me to succumb to spinal injections, twice within the span of 9 months. However, since I started doing the daily exercises, I was able to keep it in check. It definitely did flare up again after TKR, but that probably has to do with uneven gait. Now it’s pretty much gone, unless I have to do a lot of sitting (2 4 1/2 hour flights, and 2 3 1/2 hours train rides in the last 10 days.....)

@artscaping I do usually exercise a lot, and I have tried yoga a couple of times and plan to do more of it. Exercise has been on the shelf since my fracture though. I belong to a health club that has yoga, Pilates, which I did do for a while, barre, Zumba, and pretty much everything. I had only been doing water aerobics and the gym recently but I want to branch out and I really need to concentrate on some exercises that are good to strengthen your bones now that I’ve discovered that I have osteoporosis. I just got the kindle version of “Strong Women Strong Bones” but I haven’t started reading it yet. I’ve heard of doctors recommending it. Yoga is definitely in my plans but there will be poses that I won’t be able to do.
JK

@ellerbracke, it certainly does appear that you are really trying to maintain as much strength and flexibility as you can. Your TKR PT is undoubtedly more up to date than I am. The secret is that you do it every day. Thanks....for sharing and doing whatever it takes to be all that you can be. Be content and free of pain. Chris