Post Knee replacement mobility

Hi! I had double-knee replacement four years ago. First thing is to be VERY patient and kind to yourself. You are just into the healing process. Take your meds wisely, eat healthy and get proper rest. Your commitment to rehab is essential. Doing the exercises is vital to regaining flexibility. I found walking to be a big help in regaining the ability to make both legs (knees) engage in being balanced and sharing the load. I used Nordic Walking Poles at first to help me feel secure and, frankly, alleviate concerns that if I sat (or fell) down I would still have the ability to leverage back up. Find a therapist that explains things, and with whom you can share your goals. Often, the therapist considers “success” once you can do all the basics. I had bigger goals to resume yoga and Pilates which would pushed well past my therapists notion of “sufficient” range of motion. I found someone who worked with me so I could get down on the floor, and back up. She showed me how using bolsters behind my knees would get me into “child’s pose”, and using foam yoga blocks for stability helped me have confidence and get stronger. Find someone who will truly listen to your personal goals and develop that plan with you. This does take time. My experience was reaching peak flexibility within six months, but frankly, you can continue to make improvements after that. Good luck! Oh, and remember if something ever doesn’t feel “right” to you, or is truly painful, talk with your doctor right away!

How long does the stiffness last? Exercising twice a day, 2x a week. Sleeping is tough and morning stiffness is almost unbearable. I still feel I am doing well @115 and 0.

Hello @nancyjw, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You will notice we moved your post to this existing discussion Post Knee replacement mobility - so that you can meet other members with similar symptoms and learn what they have shared. You may also be interested in the following information:

Treating Stiffness After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Technical Note and Preliminary Results:
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3414723/

"Joint stiffness is a common, debilitating, age-related symptom, which may be seen after total joint replacement (TJR). Stiffness also occurs in fibrotic conditions such as shoulder capsulitis and Dupuytren's contracture. We speculated that the two traits (TJR and fibrotic disease) are linked pathogenically." excerpt from the following article:
Joint Stiffness Is Heritable and Associated with Fibrotic Conditions and Joint Replacement:
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4509645/

@nancyjw you mentioned you are 4 weeks out from the replacement. Have you discussed the stiffness with your surgeon or care team? I had a lot of the swelling and some pain for a short time after the knee replacement and my surgeon told me I was not elevating and icing the knee enough. I also was faithful with the daily exercises but was not keeping the leg elevated when I was sitting for long periods of time.

Hello, I am new to this site and not. Even sure I am in the right group. I have a rather unusual situation in that I had a TKR 2 years ago and it was a total success. It corrected the arthritis in my other knee also as I was walking more steadily. Only thing is that I’m afraid that I have done something to upset the balance. A couple of weeks ago I started having pain in the inside of both knees and even more worrysome is that my replaced knee now has the stiffness that it had post surgery ( though not quite as bad, but still bothersome.) I know I overdid it with a 2 hour walk/hike a few weeks ago that had a various surfaces to walk on. I could tell that I was overdoing it and I was! Dr sent me doe X-rays and ultrasound on both knees. Not sure what it will show? Perhaps I should try MFR therapy. I will ask my doctor. Thanks!

Welcome @reesa to Connect. You are in the right group......joint replacements. I would be pretty upset if my knee repair began to regress. I did have a couple of similar episodes. It was scar tissue once and then hyper extension the next time. Has someone taught you how to intervene? My MFR therapist did work it out. The scar tissuen took about 4 sessions and the hyperextension took longer. I went back to ICE and elevate. It all went away eventually. Now, my therapist checks it every week.

Have you begun MFR yet?

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

Please see my reply below in general comments…I’m getting used to using the site! Appreciate your feedback.