Hi, I dont think I've been on this forum before.....been on the hip one a lot.
I'm due a TKR in weeks time. I know about replacements. I've had 2 Hip replacements. Nothing about Knees.
Help please. I've been reading through some of the posts and it seems quite frightening. A long recovery period??
I know I will have to do exercises, before and after. Think the hospital period and driving period is much the same as the THR {6 weeks} I had to sleep on my back for 6 weeks......any do's and dont's about that? I had to stick to a 90 degree angle for 6 weeks, where I couldn't sit and have a coffee if the table was slightly lower than me? couldn't bend certain ways
If anyone has any advice please help a newbie {where KNEE replacements are concerned}
Hi Eileen, The most important thing post op is to ICE AND ELEVATE. If your doctor doesn't have a vendor who sells them, I suggest you purchase a machine that circulates ice water through a knee pad that you wrap with an Ace type bandage. Unlike ice packs, you would leave this wrap on for hours at a time, only removing it occasionally when you get up to go to the bathroom, etc. My doctor told me that pain is mostly due to swelling and icing keeps the pain to a minimum. As for driving, I was able to get into a car after a week or two, but didn't feel comfortable driving until my body became stronger after this major operation, probably around three weeks. You will be fine if you ICE AND ELEVATE. And yes, do this at night while you sleep, also. God bless.
I've never heard of that machine. Where do you live.....not in the UK by the sound of it LOL
So does that mean you send the day still? I've got arthritis all over and if I sit for long I stiffen up.
My other knee has arthritis but the consultant hopes that one wont need to be preplaced. Saying that, he said that about my hip and I had to have both done
It sounds a benefit if you can do it during the night. Most things you can't used during the night
I wish I'd read it before I had my surgery. I'd reiterate that it's a major surgery that takes a while (sometimesa long time) to recover from. Find a friend or family member who has some health care or medical experience who can be your champion while you're in the hospital. Drugs don't always work as expected, and you need someone to fight your fights in case you're loopy and can't understand what's going on. Have someone at home to take care of you for a couple of weeks. Ice, elevate, ice, rest, ice, stay hydrated, ice, and stay on top of your meds. Don't wait until you feel pain to take them.
But Chico covers a lot of that and much more in his post. Read it, believe it, and then come back hear with any questions or concerns. this group is nothing short of fantastic!
My wife just fell and had a partial hip last month. ( she's also in advanced stages of parkinsons). I lol at her recovery and then look at my recoveries from 11 surgeries and 5 complete rehabs a see a noticeable difference.
The things you see and hear shouldn't be done to create fear but only as a guideline as we are all different and recover in our own way and time. Some things apply....take pain meds on a schedule not when pain hits, hydrate to the extreme, exercise faithfully but only to the edge of pain. Never put yourself norvlet anyone else drive you into pain. Ice faithfully as next to pain meds, ice will be your biggest form of relief. You will be given instructions for elevation which will differ from the hip placement.
This is a process and we all have to do the same basic things. Medicine in different countries set different protocols. I'm in the US and have seen huge differences in ours and those in the UK. This isn't to say one is better than the other, just different. Listen to your body and brain......the direction you receive will be a strong guide to your recovery. Rest is the one big intangible you will find. A tired dehydrated, poorly nourished body just will not cooperate like a hydrated, rested, properly nourished one. Accept help.......we all want to be independent but there comes a time when you just have to let others pitch in. Slow and steady is the journey. You will hear the phrase " this is a marathon, not a sprint" often from those on here......abide by those words. Overdoing is putting you in a position to go backwards.
Just keep pushing....slow and steady....stay with ths group and you'll find you have just made world wide friends. Good luck.you'll do great.
I had TKR in 2014 at the age of 44, the first 3 months were awful but after that it does get better, I think it took a year to learn what I could and couldn't do, and now 2 years later if it wasn't for the scar I'd forget I even had it done.
I stayed 2 nights in the hospital . they had a Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) Machine for me, put my leg in it every 2 hours for about 1 hour and about every 12 hours they changed the degree ( to bend my knee more ) They started me on this right after surgery and I took this machine home with me for 2 weeks.and yes I had to sleep on my back cause I didn't want to hit my knee with my other leg and if I was using the CPM I could go back to sleep.
Then they started PT the very next morning and before I could go home I had to walk 150 ft down the hall with just a wallker.
once home I had to go to PT 3 times a week for 3 months, but I looked forward to PT cause it helped loosen me up. I done ice once a night , also rubbed it down with Bio Freeze and done exercises at home. but 2 years out I do anything I want, except get down on my hands and knees, for some reason I can't put weight on that one.... ?
Also they didn't put any stitches or staples in me, they just glued it shut... ( I was afraid everytime I bent it that it would pop open ) I have just a thin light colored scar.
Hi good luck with ur op. Its hard to say what to expect as were all different
Nothing can prepare you for what will happen to your body.the swelling.brusing.heat and the staples all take there time to make you normal well normalish and good luck
How are your knees doing? How's your pain? If you are in LOTS of pain NOW, you just MAY find that, although there is pain with ALL surgery, your knee surgery coming up just MIGHT be a lot LESS pain than you are now having!😊
This was true for me with each of my TKRs. I had nerve blocks which were a huge help during the first two days post surgery. Nurses brought me additional pain meds as I needed them. I had two nurses and an aide helping me to the bathroom about every half hour around the clock those first two days/nights, too, so I was walking with human help and my walker within a short time after returning from the recovery room. Walking was very slow and challenging, but it helped me get stronger and begin to feel more capable.
Through it all I actually felt LOTS LESS pain once my old knees were gone and I had new ones.
My surgeries were June and October of last year (2015).
I prayed a lot, stayed calm, tried to be as positive as I could, and kept busy writing in my journal and reading. (I chose "The Martian" because I thought HE would be having a MUCH rougher time of it than I was!😁
I EXPECTED discomfort.
I EXPECTED pain.
I tried to soldier up because I just couldn't stand any more of what I had been dealing with for four years prior.
It was nice to feel HEALING PAIN which was showing me that I COULD feel normal again.
A year later I am SO GRATEFUL I went through with my knee replacements.
Sending prayers of hope and calm and strength to you tonight. Please let us know how things go for you!😊
Hi Thanks everyone for your advice.....most of it sounds quite upbeat.
Having had 2 hip replacements thats a start. If it was my first replacement I would have to start from square one asking advice. Getting things move to the right height etc.
Anyway......This pain is so awful I'm having the op.
My 2nd hip replacement didnt go well and I'm now oncrutches permanently.
When I first sore knees people who knew me said "What will you do if the surgeon suggests a TKR.
Not having it I said but now its so bad.....I'm having it
So sorry to hear that you had such a rough time with your second hip surgery. Crutches are helpful but they sure do wear on a person even after just a few days. I hope that you will get some relief soon.
Sending prayers of hope to you tonight as you head to knee surgery. Prayer is a VERY POWERFUL thing! It makes the impossible POSSIBLE!
Please let us know how things go for you. I will pray that you will be calm and positive. Both help SO much!
Eileen. I am day 11 post op following left fkr. Surgery via spinal was fine but now that I am home it's very difficult. I think ice is the most important thing to reduce swelling combined with taking pain meds. Early exercises are necessary although painful and it's easy to feel down and depressed. I keep telling myself that it will get better every day. Sleep is hard ( it's 5am now and I'm awake a lot of night ) but hoping today will be a little better
. One small step at a time is my mantra literally.
My TKR isn't until November 18th.....but that isn't bad considering he only told me last week I needed one.
Thanks for the prayers
My 2nd THR was 3 years ago and I was 4 weeks post op and doing their exercises and suddenly "crack" fractured greater trrochanter bone" {beside my femur} and I've been on crutches for 3 years now. Not likely to do without them now
Anywya thanks for the prayers even if it isn't unt November
Thanks for the advice.......I dont want people telling me its all easy peasy I want the truth and I know everyone is different
Everyone keeps saying ice is the most important. I'll remember that.....Didn't need ice to that exten for hip replacements
I dont doubt I'll feeldown. I do every now and then even now. I remember after my hips ....feeling down
Sleep is still hard for me even after 3 years since my last hip replacement. If I sleep most of the night I waken up feeling as if I had never been to bed!! Other times I waken and sleep and waken and sleep
Oh well...I'll get there. It's not until November. The way I look at things is If I have a pain I can be really down but if I know what it is thats OK I can manage it {to a certain extent}
Most people keep saying ice, ice, ice. How much and for how long?
Does that mean I'm going to have to sit still while I ice it? I've never really gone through this before. Like I say replacement hips dont seem to need ice
I'm not the most patient person person....to be sitting about will drive me crackers Apart from anything else I have got a lot of arthritis including my other leg, my lower back, ankle etc and the more I sit the more I stiffen
There are machines that circulate cold water in and out of a sleeve that you wrap around your knee. Plant yourself in a chair. Other systems flow water manually into the sleeve so you can disconnect and walk around. Google...
You get past heavy icing in a month or two...usually. If you over stress the knee, it will swell...back to icing.
Those are called cyro cuff. They used to run around $125 and up USD. Amazon carries several models. At one time some insurance companies paid for them but it got so expensive....no more. I got one when I had a synovectomy but found the blue gel pac worked better as it could be wrapped and snugged in as well as moved around easily. Its just a matter of personal taste and comfort. Fortunately there are choices for everyone and that's what counts.
When I went to PT after about 2 hours of therapy they would ice my knee for 10 to 20 minutes, then after doing a few exercises at home in the evening I'd ice it also but only for about 10 minutes