As some of you have read on a previous discussion, I was doing well I thought around week two on extension. I was and still am-12 at 3 1/2 weeks. With flex at 67. Doctor wanted me 90 by week 4. Isn't going to happen. I go to PT 3x a week. I do my exercises at home. I ice,elevate and rest all day and night. When I work on extension my knee gets stuck there. When I force it and work on flex it gets stuck there. Any suggestions? I do the feet on headboard then slide heel down. I sit on exercise ball and rock back and forth. I step on steps with bad leg to do step ups. I was in the gym 3x a week prior to surgery preparing. I had not been able to stand up straight 3 years prior due to surgery that took out meniscus and have been bone on bone. Any helpful suggestions appreciated.
Angel I am 16 weeks into tkr and I can honestly say my consultant would never advised me to do too much. I don't attend pt I have and still do my stretches even when watching tv I still do them but most of all every time I did my exercises I rested 1 1/2 hours after each session. If your knee is getting I would seek advice on this. I now have both knees done and I have the exercises exactly the same you are really still early in your recovery don't be hard on yourself I still have pain but at my 12 review my consultant said I could have still pain up toa year after the op. You may actually be doing too much too quickly. Take care.
I was slow on recovery about 4 weeks in as well, (very worried about my lack of progress, too) then I was told to get a strap and put it under my heel while I lay down and pull my heel towards my body so that it bent - and do that for 3 sets of 10 counting to 5. The PT said to pull as far as you could and then see if you could get just a little bit more. It was slow starting I did that twice a day, and within about four days I had improved about 15 degrees. It is not comfortable, it actually hurts a little bit, but you are probably starting to get some Scar Tissue build up which is what they told me. Just try to push through it. I would definitely ask your PT about it before doing this just so you are doing it correctly. Good luck. The short periods of pain gives you relief later in the day. It is worth it enough to definitely push as hard as you can. Don't be discouraged you're still early and you will get their. Good luck.
Oh wow...you sound like you are doing alot.Ive been encouraged to stretch my leg muscles before doing excersice.Im about 5 weeks in now and going staight was pushed pretty early on in thereapy one thing she showed me was to take a ball like a softball size and place it behind my knee and against wall and just slowly press up against ball and wall for 25 sec. 3× and guess repeat few times during your day.that seemed to stretch out that muscle behind knee.Just dont ever over do it or your asking for more trouble.Im not a dr. But since this is my second knee replacement as long as you work on bending and stretching daily you will get it.some people do great at beginning and some dont.dont compare to anyone because your not the same.This is a very slow kind of recovery but it is worth the results.one day you will not even think about flexions and straightening...although we will probably get some other situations as we age.blessing over you.
This may help...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/tkr-heel-slide-exercises-526213
At 3 1/2 weeks, you are still VERY early in the game. Ask around the Forum...we rarely hear of a doctor demanding certain levels of flexion at specific times since everyone is different and achieves success at their own rates.
I started at -14 / +84 and it took 9 weeks of PT, 2x/week to get to -1 / +128. During that time, there were advances, setbacks and plateaus...all normal. I was stuck at -4 for two weeks until my PT and I broke through that particular chunk of scar tissue.
Just do the work...period...and be more Zen: The results will come when the results will come....I'll get there when I get there.
It could be you are spending so much time with a therpist that your knee is overworked and when that happens,it will stiffen and make it tough to bend. Try once a week pt or even 2 times instead of three.