15 weeks after total knee replacement on left knee

February 18, 2011

For the most part I am doing well since my TKR in November 2010. I have worked

up to a 116 degree bend in my knee. Initially after the surgery I felt a large

area on the left outer side of my left knee that felt very hard. I understand

it was scar tissue and has since started to break up. The physical therapist

has been using the Graston tool on my knee. I am getting more feeling back in

that area but now I actually feel like I can feel the prosthesis in my knee. I

just want to know if others have experienced this sensation at this point in

their healing. At times it feel like it is " pinching " . How does it feel for you

when you sleep and put pressure on the front of your knee? Can you feel the

prosthesis in there? Also when you kneel can you feel it too? Perhaps within

time my body will get more used to it. Any thoughts or comments are

appreciated.

Also, how long do you feel going to physical therapy after a TKR is necessary?

February 19, 2011

At 15 weeks I was back in europe doing full-time child care (May vacation)

for little kid grandchildren. We ran all over Amsterdam. ( They live

there.) I had about the same range of motion you have, 120/0. I didn¹t

feel any pinching, but I still find kneeling difficult. I think I need to

practice more, and kill off those nerve cells! I didn¹t think that much

about my knee at that point, having other things to think about.

Parts of my knee are still numb, I guess they cut the nerves, but I¹m

noticing it less and less. I seldom remember the whole thing, to tell you

the truth. I packed a 2 year old (probably the pack was about 40 pounds

total with everything) three miles this week, and it wasn¹t until I was

almost back to the car that I remembered that I had an artificial knee. (Of

course I had a lot of other things on my mind!)

You¹re ready to quit therapy when your therapist says so, I¹d say.

You don¹t say how old you are, which has a HUGE effect on healing.

You¹re doing well, congratulations!

F

TKR 1/15/09

on 2/18/11 7:48 PM, chelsea5555555 at sbeninga@... wrote:

>

> For the most part I am doing well since my TKR in November 2010. I have worked

> up to a 116 degree bend in my knee. Initially after the surgery I felt a

> large area on the left outer side of my left knee that felt very hard. I

> understand it was scar tissue and has since started to break up. The physical

> therapist has been using the Graston tool on my knee. I am getting more

> feeling back in that area but now I actually feel like I can feel the

> prosthesis in my knee. I just want to know if others have experienced this

> sensation at this point in their healing. At times it feel like it is

> " pinching " . How does it feel for you when you sleep and put pressure on the

> front of your knee? Can you feel the prosthesis in there? Also when you

> kneel can you feel it too? Perhaps within time my body will get more used to

> it. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

> Also, how long do you feel going to physical therapy after a TKR is necessary?

>

February 19, 2011

,

Thanks for your reply. So it has been two years since you had yours done. Do

you feel the prosthesis at all now? How old are you? May I ask where you had it

done at? I am 51. I live north of Sacramento and had it done at UC .

I was very active before the surgery trying to lose weight....walking, hiking

and dancing. Tore the meniscus while dancing and then had arthroscopic surgery.

Then realized how worn down my cartilage was due to and old injury and

osteoarthritis. Tried cortisine injections and synvisc injections with no

success and then decided to proceed with the TKR.

I have more weight I want to lose so I am anxious to get back to walking and

hiking this spring.

>

> >

> > For the most part I am doing well since my TKR in November 2010. I have

worked

> > up to a 116 degree bend in my knee. Initially after the surgery I felt a

> > large area on the left outer side of my left knee that felt very hard. I

> > understand it was scar tissue and has since started to break up. The

physical

> > therapist has been using the Graston tool on my knee. I am getting more

> > feeling back in that area but now I actually feel like I can feel the

> > prosthesis in my knee. I just want to know if others have experienced this

> > sensation at this point in their healing. At times it feel like it is

> > " pinching " . How does it feel for you when you sleep and put pressure on the

> > front of your knee? Can you feel the prosthesis in there? Also when you

> > kneel can you feel it too? Perhaps within time my body will get more used

to

> > it. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

> > Also, how long do you feel going to physical therapy after a TKR is

necessary?

> >

>

February 19, 2011

The only thing I feel is that I don¹t feel, if you follow that. The knee is

just a tiny bit numb. I¹m assuming that¹s because nerves were damaged or

cut. My brain is learning to ignore this constant non-signal signal, so I

don¹t notice it much.

I¹m now 65; 63 at surgery. I had it done in San Mateo. A client

recommended my surgeon. I live in Oakland.

I¹m a hiker and walker and biker, and I¹m back on the trail and running up

and down mountainsides. Thank God.

I too tried arthroscopic surgery (which has since been proven to be

useless), synvisc and all that jazz. Nothing much worked until I did the

replacement! Wish I¹d done it sooner, but everyone says that.

F

TKR 1/15/09

on 2/19/11 10:10 AM, S B at sbeninga@... wrote:

>

> ,

> Thanks for your reply. So it has been two years since you had yours done. Do

> you feel the prosthesis at all now? How old are you? May I ask where you had

> it done at? I am 51. I live north of Sacramento and had it done at UC .

> I was very active before the surgery trying to lose weight....walking, hiking

> and dancing. Tore the meniscus while dancing and then had arthroscopic

> surgery. Then realized how worn down my cartilage was due to and old injury

> and osteoarthritis. Tried cortisine injections and synvisc injections with no

> success and then decided to proceed with the TKR.

> I have more weight I want to lose so I am anxious to get back to walking and

> hiking this spring.

>

>> >

>>> > >

>>> > > For the most part I am doing well since my TKR in November 2010. I have

>>> worked

>>> > > up to a 116 degree bend in my knee. Initially after the surgery I felt

a

>>> > > large area on the left outer side of my left knee that felt very hard.

I

>>> > > understand it was scar tissue and has since started to break up. The

>>> physical

>>> > > therapist has been using the Graston tool on my knee. I am getting more

>>> > > feeling back in that area but now I actually feel like I can feel the

>>> > > prosthesis in my knee. I just want to know if others have experienced

>>> this

>>> > > sensation at this point in their healing. At times it feel like it is

>>> > > " pinching " . How does it feel for you when you sleep and put pressure on

the

>>> > > front of your knee? Can you feel the prosthesis in there? Also when

you

>>> > > kneel can you feel it too? Perhaps within time my body will get more

>>> used to

>>> > > it. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

>>> > > Also, how long do you feel going to physical therapy after a TKR is

>>> necessary?

>>> > >

>> >

February 20, 2011

My left knee TKR surgery was on 14 December 2010, it is now 20 Feb 2011. I was

not sure what to expect, but I was told that being aggressive with exercising

was very important. So, I was doing physical therapy at home 3 times a week

with a therapist, and 3 times each day on my own. I did every exercise they

told me to do, and I stretched the knee with as much pain as I could stand.

After 2 weeks of the " at home " therapy, I " graduated " to going out to a Physical

Therapy center. I have been going to the " outpatient therapy " since 6 Jan 2011.

The therapist told me getting full knee extension (0) was the most difficult to

achieve, so I slept with a pillow under my ankle and made effort 3x per day to

get the knee extended. By 3 weeks post surgery, I had achieved 0 degrees and I

can walk with full extension, but I had to concentrate. I've encouraged the

therapist to work on my knee flexion, and I've been working on it very

aggressively. I'm convinced that aggressive exercise every morning, plus the

outpatient PT work 2x per week has been key to success. (By aggressive, I mean

that I take a short dog leash and wrap it around my ankle and lie on my stomach

and pull the leg towards my back until it hurts every single morning. I don't

pull to the extreme that I am in serious pain, but I do make sure it hurts at

least at level 6 for 20 seconds.) The rewards have been outstanding! Today I

just ran up and down 3 flights of stairs without any pain.

Two weeks ago, however, I could not do that. I had (pinching-like)pain on the

outside of the left knee whenever I tried to walk down stairs. My therapist

told me that there is a strap-like tendon that runs down the outside of the knee

and it can bind a bit post-surgery. She made a special effort to massage that

area of the knee at every visit since I told her about that pain. Gradually,

the pain subsided. She gave me some stepping exercises to further strengthen

the left leg on the " going down " part of dealing with stairs. 30x repetitions

2x per day for 2 weeks has seemed to cure the problem.

I'm pretty sure that I'll never be able to actually feel the prothesis because

it is burried under all these tendons and ligaments associated with keeping the

knee together. But, the " pinching " sensation that you describe is exactly how I

felt for that pain that was on the outside of the left knee.

Perhaps doing the kind of strength exercises that my therapist offered to me,

might help you too.

I'm planning on stopping outpatient PT in another couple of weeks. However, I

don't plan on stopping doing my at-home exercises for a long time... maybe for a

year or more. I've found that my left leg, while weaker than my right one, has

muscles that are incredibly hard when I tense them. Further, my energy levels

are really increasing way beyond what I had pre-surgery. I ride a stationary

bike at home every morning for 20 minutes (the therapists told me to ride the

bike without any resistance, but now I've started to increase the strain).

After doing the bike to warm up the knee, I do calf stretches on a stair. Then

I do wall-slide squats, then I do Cook hip lifts, then I work with a pilates

ball. After that I do balance exercises (they are the hardest thing for me

nowadays). Lastly, I use my leash and do a straight leg raise hamstring

stretch, followed by the " over the back/on my stomach " ankle pull. (My

therapist measures my knee flexion at 135 degrees, but I notice that my repaired

knee as very very close to the same as my other knee...) Now that I've been able

to run down stairs at the same rate as I can run up stairs, I've only one more

objective: Hold my balance on one leg for 30 seconds while I reach with my hand

to my left, forward, and right. At that point, I'll feel free to say goodbye

(and thanks) to outpatient therapy.

I sure hope you are successful. As I approach 10 weeks post surgery I am

absolutely thrilled with the outcome.