I’m in my fourth week of PKR and my knee is so tight. This has been the most painful surgery that I’ve ever had and I’ve had a plenty. Please can someone tell me what to do to help the tightness in this knee. One day I’m doing better and the next day is like I’ve just had the surgery. My doctor wants to do my other knee soon and as far as I can see it won’t happen in this life time! I would have to be crawling before that happens.
Elevate your leg and use ice packs, prehaps you are on your feet to much.
Ice and elevation reslly does help with the tightness. Good luck
Early days yet. You're healing. If your x-rays, cat scans, whatever else looks ok then keep slowly moving, gentle exercise, strengthen your quad muscles and hamstrings and hope for a great outcome. xx
Run01,
4 weeks out is not very long. You are still in the early days of recovery. I'm 12 weeks out and my knee is still tight. It is important to have a good PT who will help with these issues. After my incision was healed I was told to put a good lotion on the area and massage it daily. I am still doing it. Pain management is key to recovery. Sadly, I can't take anti inflammatories so I am behind where I should be recovery wise. The PT said anyone who can't take them has a slow recovery. I'm down to using Tylenol/paracetamol now which has given me back my appetite and improved my general emotional health. My hamstring and calve muscles are a mess and very tight from surgery and I think that is taking the longest to heal and prevents me from bending and straightening the knee as I should. I'm getting there centimetre by centimetre but I will eventually get there. I need to get out and get me some new shoes. None of my old ones fit any longer. I wish you well. I'm going to start wearing a knee bandage on my other knee. My husband and I couldn't do this again for a while. We're exhausted from it all and almost every medication I've been given from pain killers to laxatives have made me sick. Cheerio.
After only four weeks you’ll still have a lot of swelling around the knee that’ll hinder your movement and also you may be trying to do to much to soon,tightness does take a while to disapate,I’m coming up 5months TKR and even with little swelling my knee is still stiff first thing until I get moving.Patience it will ease I know it’s easier said than done,but it’s a marathon not a sprint.
Hi There. I completely agree with you about the pain with this surgery. I too had PKR in june this year and was lead to believe that it would be a "walk in the park" especially compared to a total. It really doesn't make any difference over whether it is PKR or TKR both require the same or similar recovery.
I'm sorry to say 4 weeks is still very early, I needed to be on stronger pain relief until about 6 weeks. The tightness is because there is still a lot of swelling, even if you can't see it, it is inside. As every one has said, ice and elevate! At about 3 months I noticed a difference less tight and great range of motion. I did and still do exercises every day, when I just walk and omit the strengthening exercises I know about it. Sitting for any length of time also stiffens the knee until it has time to loosen again.
It really is two steps forward and one step back but you will get there. At six months I still have some pain and stiffness especially if it is cold out. I think it takes a year to feel the full benefit. My other knee is bad too but I will try all sorts of medical intervention before surgery! Like you I couldn't face that yet. Having said that, it is now the old knee which is giving me more pain and holding back recovery of the new one!! So where do you go from here!
I'm almost 22 months p/o on a TKR; you're only a month into this. If PKRs are like TKRs...and a lot of people say the recoveries are similar...then the "tightness" will last for some time. Even after you get your ROM back, a "band-like feeling" is normal and very, very common. The docs who talk straight will tell you that everything should resolve within a year but some lingering sensations might last up to 18 months. Most people start feeling more like "themselves" around 9-10 months and throw a huge party on their one year anniversary...that is, if they've done the ROM work and then take the time to rebuild their dead quads, glutes and core. This really does take a year...
I've used Voltaren Gel (RX in the US) very successfully as a topical anti-inflammatory, especially at bedtime. That might help a lot; check for medication interactions. This recovery takes three things: work, time and patience...and you need all three as the journey is definitely not a linear one...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-reality-of-a-tkr-recovery-in-one-picture-626038
Absolutely on target. I'm almost 22 months p/o on a TKR and WILL NOT get the other knee done until this one is a distant memory. At almost 70 now, I was able to put the first one off for 15 years with a combination of Synvisc shots and then moving from the cold and ice of New Jersey to the wonderful warmth of Texas. You should look into the Synvisc as a way of forestalling #2...if possible.
And yes...this takes a year. After all the ROM work, you have to rebuild the strength in your dead quads, glutes and core to support the knee again. This is critical to walking correctly and climbing stairs normally again. Try this...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/post-tkr-exercising-565527
My daughter's a pro. Have fun... Remember: work, time and patience...need all three...
Hang in there, I had my patellar femoral replacement on 9/20 and am just now having days of bring happy that I had it done! At 4 weeks I was such a mess; so tight and stiff and felt like someone was either squeezing it or poking a knife in it. On top of that was very emotional! Have had many big surgeries in my life but this one wins the prize!
Hang in there - ice, ice, ice, elevate and do your PT. You will get there!!
Runt01,
Ditto to all the great suggestions everyone has given you. Another thing you need to do is make sure you surround yourself with positive people who will not only help you around the house so you can take it easy, but also be there for positive emotional support. This surgery has a long and painful recovery. A lot of ups and downs. I had a TKR 4 months ago and still have pain and swelling. It's much less then at the beginning but it still happens. Having positive people around me has really helped when I start feeling frustrated and hopeless. I hope you start feeling better soon and please visit the forum as much as possible. They're a lot of great people here with great advice and always a kind word.
Hi! 19 months PKR .
You are very early . At 4 months I was still iceing and elevating a lot. And while I was back to work , it was a constant battle with the swelling . Over doing it will cause swelling and t
Hi there I agree with everyone here. 4 weeks is way too early in the process to worry.
Be kind to yourself, do your exercises, rest, ice & elevate, the latter 2, really important for reducing swelling. Take each day as it comes & just remember you've not long had major surgery, give yourself time to heal (mentally as well as physically) as well as the rehab.
Usually by 10/12 weeks you start to realise there is improvement (it kinda creeps up on you!) & things are looking better.
In the meantime we are always here should you need to rant or cry or just chat.
You will get there
Marilyn
XX
Are you overdoing things?
Exercise but also rest is important.
Elevate as much as possible, and ice.
You may like to go to my profile by clicking on the image next to my name. I kept a journal of my own knee replacement journey, and I have been told by several people they found it helpful to read, or skim through. There is an abridged version which is shorter as well! It has a lot of useful suggestions and information.
That is so true regarding positive people especially! And avoiding those who make comparative comments, i.e....my cousin had this done and was walking without crutches at two weeks, or whatever, ☺
It continues to improve a lot...at 9 months I have no pain or stiffness now...snap for the other knee too! The new one is bionic!
How's your PT going? The TKR was the most painful surgery I've had and I've also had a few. It WILL get better, probably around the 6-week mark.
Keep up with the therapy!
G'day Runt01,
Yeah well - to one degree or another I agree - as a general rule - with everything everyone on here has said to you. I am in UK and was operated on by a brilliant surgeon as an NHS patient in a Private hospital. It was surgeons policy to get a 90 degree bend, before being discharged home. So, on day 3 following a right knee, partial knee replacement I already had a 90 bend, and something to build my recovery on. I also had dissolving staples, so no going back to have stitches removed. By day13 Post op I had my dressing removed and was cleared of infection. At my own initiative and expense I consulted a sports injury massage therapist for her to work on lower leg, upper leg and the incision line at the knee. The purpose being to help build up the leg muscles etc. The purpose of working on the incision line was top prevent internal scar tissue from forming. At 6 weeks I was almost free of pain, at 8 weeks off crutches and back driving my car, and going for long walks along the rugged and hilly South West Coastal Path here in Cornwall, and at 11 weeks, back at work, driving my car to and from work and driving a bus again.
You could say I was lucky, and maybe I was, but I also had to bloody work at recovery. I also have a heart arrhythmia and take Warfarin for life. So, liquid morphine didn't touch the pain, nor did Tramadol - can't take any other pain relief ( because of Warfarin) except for prescription strength CoCodomol 30/500. That worked.
Even now, a little over 2 years post op I still have a slight tight band around the knee, but its improving all the time. I am aware of an implant in the knee medial compartment ...... but no pain at all, either from surgery or from osteoarthritis.
To get the knee movement, the exercises I did that helped were a combination of straightening the leg by sitting on a dining and putting my heel up on the arm of a lounge, then pressing down on the leg just above the knee.
The to get the ROM or bend, I sat on a dining chair and got an orthoglide from Amazon ( our house is carpeted) and sat my heel in the cup of the orthoglide and sat right back on the chair - this gives you a limited, gentle range of movement. Then sit on the middle of the chair and you'll get a better ROM, then sit at the front of the chair and pull you heel back and eventually you should get up to around 135 degrees, that you'll need to walk properly. I also had to learn to walk correctly again, going like ............. heel, ball, toe ...... heel ball, toe and if you exaggerate this action you'll find it works on the knee, you can feel it.
Anyway - that was my approach and it worked. Go to YouTube and search for exercises post TKR or PKR.
Hope that helps.
John