Kneeling After TKA

Yup, I always have wondered that too. One year out, and difficult to get up when gardening. Hate that. Would be near impossible either both knees ( which I need).

TKA January 22, 2025 right knee. If I put a big pillow down I can kneel. But not for long periods. I will have TKA on left knee July 30, 2025. My wife had both knees done and still doesn’t kneel. We’re all different. We bath it all in prayer. Go slow and keep trying.
God bless you.

Thank you. Is your wife able to get down on the floor and up again? I like to do that with my grandchildren. Although I could give that up, I do worry about being able to get up if I fall.

I slid off the bed onto my TKA KNEE 7 weeks postop. I was worried but no issues. I stopped kneeling in church last year, before surgery.

According to my surgeon you should be able to kneel after TKA. I have very briefly knelt but usually only one knee at a time. It hasn't been nearly as hard or painful to knee now than it was before surgery. I had a left TKA in 12/25. Franky, I think my surgeon is more overly confident in this knee the I am. 🙂

Per my surgeon it’s OK to kneel. I think the problem is that it feels so strange there’s a reflex to avoid it. Almost like a burn reflex. Kneeling pads help , but it just takes time to adjust to the new feel.

Whether you can kneel will depend on how good a range of knee bend you are able to achieve after surgery, and whether you can tolerate kneeling on what feels like a hard piece of metal. Motivation also plays into finding solutions.
I do a lot of gardening, had both knees replaced a year apart, 5 and 6 years ago. I have been kneeling for weeding and planting since my first TKR healed. But as others have mentioned you need to use some type of padding or cushion because kneeling on any hard surface feels awful. I use a 3" thick boating safety cushion that I sit or kneel on. And when I kneel, I have my knee cap out over the edge of the cushion in thin air, so the pressure stays lower on the leg, not on the knee cap itself. Sometimes I do have to put pressure on the kneecaps in order to reach a farther spot, but I keep that as brief as I can.
As far as getting up from kneeling, I flop to my left hip, left knee to ground, bring my right foot close to my body with knee bent, then take my weight on the right foot as I push up off the floor with both arms and twist around into an upright position. An alternate way is to sit on one side, put both hands to the side farther out, then push while lifting up your body, twisting around while straitening your legs behind you, into a downward dog yoga position with your butt in the air, then walk your arms back til you can raise up with your waist. It may be difficult some some to do this, if they don't have good arm strength to help with the push, are overweight, or don't have enough knee flexion.

Thank you so much for that juicy reply!

I’ve had both my knees done.
Kneeling is very uncomfortable, and feels like there is just bone on bone…… very odd feeling. I have to have padding under my knee,(s) and be by a solid piece of furniture to help pull myself up. Or grab hold of my husband’s arm. I try NOT to kneel down, it’s not pretty!!!
One knee 3 years ago, one knee 5 yrs ago.