I Have Gone AGAINST "Common Practice" and Feel SO MUCH BETTER now!

Bones, joints and muscles
1

It APPEARS that wearing compression bandages or compression stockings is NOT accepted practice at night/ overnight.

Instructions say to REMOVE THEM before going to sleep at night.

A week ago NOTHING, I mean NOTHING was relieving my swelling, and the swelling was SUBSTANTIAL!!!

( I am five weeks out from my Total Knee Replacement.)

I decided, "What the heck...I need to do SOMETHING! I got out the bandages from my surgery. I had washed them, dried them and thought I would keep them handy for my NEXT surgery on my other knee a few months from now.

My plans changed when I started handling them.

OK...so I TRY to follow rules. I TRY to do what I am TOLD to do by package instructions and by doctors.

However, there comes a time when desperate situations require desperate measures.

I put on those compression bandages and WENT TO BED.

(I have to be honest...I stayed awake WAITING and EXPECTING something BAD to happen.

Guess what?

I drifted off to sleep, slept through the normal time for my pain medication, AND I woke up with FAR LESS SWELLING than I had had in many days!

Yes, you read that correctly...FAR LESS SWELLING!

I have been wearing the compression bandages at night for a week. Each morning my knee AND my whole leg feels better.

I am able to move more, am able to take less pain medication, and at PT sessions my lessened swelling has helped me do a much more successful session achieving more bend and more straightening.

All of these things have helped me be able and feel confident walking around in the house and even out in the yard WITHOUT. my CANE.

I wanted to post this because I think that sometimes you just have to take a risk. I did, and IT REALLY HELPED ME!

(I also have faulty valves in my veins due to bad varicose veins. My aches from THAT have also lessened greatly.)

I hope this helps others. Pain and swelling are NASTY THINGS! I am hoping to find ways to GET RID OF THESE NASTY THINGS!

2

Glad you're feeling better and are in less pain with swelling finally subsiding. Have you read up on the contra-indications for wearing them at night ( I haven't)...sometimes the rationale (for not doing something) doesn't apply..remember that they issue instructions etc for the lowest common denominator. ?.I.e caution coffee is hot...er, yeah that's what I expected ...or washing instructions on a pair of kid's pj's...remove child before washing.....

3

I was never told I had to take them off at. Night it was more of a reward for wearing them all day. I was also in an immobilizer the last 4 times and they let me take both off at night

4

No, I haven't gone beyond "Don't wear them at night".

You make some great points! Sometimes you just have to GO FOR IT!

5

Funny how depending on circumstances the very same thing can be GREAT or NOT GREAT!

You have gone through SO MUCH! It must have been an incredible challenge!

Have you always been such a strong and determined person? You probably have. You contribute so much to this site. Thank you for your experience, your WISDOM, and your sincerity. I have learned a great deal from you already, and I know MANY OTHERS have, too.

Thank you!

6

F 9th a t trans late s to bullheaded and stubborn I plead guilty as charged. Thank you for your kind words.

While in college I worked in a state run mental facility. One of the wards I was assigned to for a long time was the medical surgical unit. While there I met a girl about my own age who had attemptedd suicide twice, once causing her to be admitted and the 2nd time while a patient. She was a plain girl in every sense. Never wore makeup, hair just sort of chopped off and hanging. There is the old saying that the eyes are the Windows to the soul and this would be the person they used for coming up with that adage. No smile, no life. At night when the work was done I would spend a little time visiting with her as she was confined to bed with both legs and ankles shattered. She had tried to jump from a 3rd. Story stair case but only made it one and half floors before hitting the railing and bouncing around finally hitting a banister and marble landing. As it turned out, both parents were high school teachers so involved with there careers they had no time for her. They had her in school year round and at age 17 she had completed high school and almost 2 years at the largest state university. Never had a date or even been out with a boy socially and frankly as smart as she was had absolutely no social skills. She began to trust me and ask a million questions about life. Of course at 20 and rarely been out of my home state I was a real fountain of misinformation. Her parents were prohibited from visiting her as they bullied her every time They came. But the long and short of all this, I discovered just being there for someone so they could open up a bit was the most gratifying thing I had ever done. I was engaged and going to get married after the semester and change jobs so I had to be very open and honest with her so she didn't think she was being run out on by her only friend and did succeed in helping her learn how to communicate. Her broken bones healed and she was transferred to another ward so I lost contact. I came away learning far more tan did she.....I alwYs asked the Lord, when it came time for kids, thAt he would give me the wisdom to k ow the difference between guiding my kids and bullying them through life. As it turned out the best thing that happened to them was I wound up traveling for a living and was gone from home a lot an they were fortunate enough to have a mother that was a genuine blessing and they didn't have to grow up surviving all my misguided blunders. Like I've always said, my kids turned out pretty darn good in spite of me.

7

What an amazing life you have led! God placed you in the EXACT RIGHT place for that precious girl, and she did her part in teaching YOU a very wonderful lesson about using your special gift to make other's lives better. You are STILL doing that, by the way!

Funny how things turn out. My mother was a bully and made my life difficult. I always was spiritually strong as YOU are, and in many ways I am a better person BECAUSE I had to learn how to bob and weave very early in my life. I also had the most amazing dad who got bullied right along with me. We became very close as together we dodged many salvos launched by Mom. He taught me how to never retaliate but to try to understand that every bully is SCARED TO DEATH that someone will find out that they are really very WEAK.

I'm glad things worked out well for you, your wife, and your children. Again, God's plans are PERFECT yet rarely understood by us. He knows ALL the parts. We only know about a few.

Our trials are merely God's tests. I'd say you are passing YOUR tests with flying colors!

8

Really great you had good nights sleep, . So I think I have missed something here, haven't been on for couple days. I was told to keep my wonderful white socks on 24/7 for six weeks, this time and last time, should I or shouldn't I? It's been 2 weeks this time and I'm sick of them already.😏

9

I was told to keep the stockings on all the time.  They only came off when I got washed.

10

I had to wear mine 24/7 for 6 weeks

11

It's amazing how different things are depending where you have surgery. I had mine done on a specific joint replacement unit. The unit was locked, restricting access to people, children were not allowed, dressings had to be removed in a locked and sterile room etc. They have an amazingly good record. Yet they don't use surgical stockings or any sort of compression bandages (apart from the usual dressing for 24 hours following surgery). The wound is covered with a waterproof plaster (ok so it's a tougher one than can be found at the chemist, it has an almost plastic feel). That is the only covering permitted. When I was in hospital for MUA last week I was in the other part of this ward (not sealed part) as my joint wasn't going to be open. I was next to a lady who'd been measured for surgical stockings prior to coming in for a wrist operation, only to be told that they don't like them to be used. Strange how she was actually given them by someone in pre-op though? I just find it bizarre that opinions can differ so much.

12

I didn't even know I wasn't supposed to wear them at night. I did in the hospital and just carried on 24/7 when I got home until day 10 when I discarded them. I'm 10 week post op now. Walking ind signed off with physio , back at the gym and will be ready for work in sept as soon as school opens I hope ! Still get stiffness and aching if I overdo it but I can cope with that and just hope that subsides with time, it's nothing like the pain And disability I had before the op. I could barely manage to get through the day and basically flopped in chair soon as I got home from work and rested so I could manage to go the next day. Looking forward to a more active life now It's a hard few week after the op and iv pushed myself to limits some days doing exercises but it's been worth it. We are all different and heal at different times but I hope everyone finally ends up pain free and active x. Linda

13

My surgeries have been done in a university medical center, a teaching hospital and there I found everyone marching in lock step. I was discharged to a general purpose, not for profit rehab facility and even though the orders were written by the surgeon the staff physican had some discretion to make changes and every nurse reverted back to his/her educational facility and what they had used as a protcol. It wasn't like everyone was running around like their hair was on fire but pretty close. Nothing that would put a patient at risk but little things. One nurse used a particular type bandage in the morning and the night shift RN took a look and said we had to get that off there and put one in that would let it heal faster. I didn't even start a discussion. My silent opinion was have fun ladies. Kind of reminded me of a bunch of little kid s playing doctor.

14

I am due a revision. The new surgeon doesn't use the restriction stockings. He tells me I wake up with a machine, & an inflated "grip" around the leg. When  I am discharged, that is it. No stockings. I wore them for almost 6 weeks with the primary TKR, & hated them.

15

i was the same  here for my bi lateral i had the stockings for weeks  but new surgeon didnt use them  ive not worn them at all this time  so like its always been doctors differ also the new surgeon didnt believe in CPM i must say i was disapointed in that because i thought that would help at the begining but he said no its a false motion and your not using your knee yourself just depending on the CPM so confusing !!

16

it was revision that i didnt use them for

17

When my home care nurse came the first week I was home, she dressed my incision , put non-stick gauze over it and wrapped me back up with the stretch bandages from my surgery (foot to above my knee).

She did this a second time later in the week.

On the second week home she took out my staples. After that I was without any bandages, and my incision was left open to get air.

I was fortunate to not have any oozing or infection or pus. There WAS one stray STAPLE that ALL of us had missed that the Home Care Supervisor found eleven days after the other staples had been removed. She had me call my surgeon, and he removed the staple that next day.

There was no mention of wearing any stockings or bandages, so I just washed them and put them away. I figured that since my incision was now closed, staples OUT, and scabs were in tact that I should just go about my day bandage/stocking free.

I have had vein ablation on that same leg two years before (laser surgery to remove the saphenous (sp.) vein) with subsequent shots to eliminate spider veins. I wore very tight thigh-high stockings for several days after each of those procedures.

I guess the big issue is avoiding blood clots. If you are bedbound like right after surgery in the recovery room they want to avoid those blood clots while you aren't moving.

After you are awake, moving a bit, the stockings and bandages play their part to protect your incision and also help with circulation.

As we move more to walk around, do exercises in bed, HEAD TO THE BATHROOM every half hour(!), etc. I guess WE are providing the movement to increase circulation.

That is my understanding about things.

The swelling issue is a strange one. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) seems to be the magic formula. Sometimes these helped. Sometimes they didn't. I just kept rotating between them.

Just yesterday I heard from my Physical Therapist that you WANT some swelling as you heal BECAUSE it is the body's natural protection from the injuries and trauma caused by surgery.

I think there is SO MUCH going on while we heal from all this! There are so many things to have to be concerned with as well. It is like having a new FULL-TIME JOB!!!! I had no idea how much effort it would take! I have had three abdominal surgeries (two C-sections and a Myomectomy which is removal of a uterine fibroid) I was back to doing pretty much everything as usual after about five days, and two of those surgeries came with BABIES BEING DELIVERED! I guess I just was NOT expecting so much recovery time/recovery issues etc. with THIS surgery.

18

Glad to hear that you are feeling better!

I know what you mean about the stiffness.

Yes, there is discomfort following surgery, but the PAIN is different...more manageable somehow.

Yesterday every part of my body ached due to my arthritis EXCEPT my new knee!

19

I was told by my surgeon and physio that stockings have to be worn 24/7. I daren't not wear them as it would be my luck to get a DVT! How weird we are all advised differently!

20

yes it is elainey , when i was in hospital for both revision and bi lateral i had to wear those awful pumps which made nights endless they go on your feet and never fit comfortably and scratch your feet and attached to machine which pumps air to these pumps which pump air that bounces of the feet every few mins its to make help circulation and avoid clots i hated them