Connect
← Return to Pain after recent Knee Replacement. What is normal? For how long?
Discussion
Pain after recent Knee Replacement. What is normal? For how long?
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Apr 4, 2023 | Replies (102)Comment receiving replies
That's an interesting take on the foot slide exercise. I'm curious, when I got to that point where I had slid my foot/bent my knee as far as it could go, that is, I felt the strain of the stretch, does this push it further than that, or just lengthen the time you're actually at the max stretch?
These flexion exercises should be done for the first few weeks, until flexion is well over 100 degrees, or whatever your Dr. and PT feels is right. Then you can start working more on strengthening the quads. Finally, strengthening the quads takes time, even if you were in shape prior to surgery. The reason is that the surgeon has to make a slight cut in the quad to release the patella and move it to the side. While that is healing (about two months) the quad will be slightly weaker.
As always, if you experience sharp pain, stop what you're doing.
Thanks eller.
Joe
Replies to "That's an interesting take on the foot slide exercise. I'm curious, when I got to that..."
@heyjoe415 : I forgot to mention: once I got the heel down at the max point, I would hold that position for 10+ seconds. I could feel the knee gradually relax and accept that tight bend. Over time, as the standard heel slides gradually increase your flex, by doing this same toe-point move it keeps challenging the knee in a good way.
Connect
@heyjoe: My reason for doing this twist on the standard heel slide was to get the muscles and ligaments used to the increased bend. When using the other leg, or some type of band to force the TKR knee to bend more, my muscles (or mind?) always resisted that. But with the self-imposed, gentle (!!) enforced bend it felt more natural, and after a week or 2 the TKR knee seemed looser, more relaxed, and capable of increased flex. May not work for everyone, but for me - ok. And one more general advice: if possible, post TKR patients would benefit tremendously from having access to a pool. A trained attendant can develop specific exercises for TKR rehab (did for me), and those are sooooooo much less painful to do under water than they are “on land”.