Hi all. I am 5 days out from my TKR and am finding sleeping on my back very difficult. I would love to know if this concerns anyone else and also is it safe to sleep on my side !!! I imagine this will sound odd to some but am still so unsure of what I can and cannot safely do. Cheers.
I slept on my side with a pullow under my knee,that was the only way i could get comftable n able to sleep a little.it will get better.im 10 wk into tkr and im walking about with just 1 crutch now and ot as much pain.you will get there nzjenni.good luck.x
Hello.this is the info I have.
my best friend had a hip replacement recently and her advice was she had to sleep on her back for quite some weeks. She was dreading that Information.she can not sleep on her back.she had to give up on the bed and fall asleep in her recliner.
so me tkr thought oh no can not sleep on my back, first question asked was do I have to sleep on my back, I was advised by Physio, I could sleep in any position that was comfortable for me, and that's what I've done, it's still difficult some times to get comfortable with the pain, but my infirmation
was you do not have to sleep on your back.
hope this helps
Hello there
I had mine done in Jan so quite a way on now. I also managed on my side with a small pillow to pad my knee and one in between my legs. This was comfortable for me.
Hope you find this may help for you.
Good luck and hope you have a good recovery
Hi!
I'm never comfortable on my back either! Propping up with lots of pillows worked at first and eventually I was able to maneuver to my side. FINALLY, at 12 weeks I WAS able to get onto my stomach without my incisions hurting because I was laying on them! THAT was my first six hours of straight SLEEP. 🙌😊😁🙌
Whatever you can manage so that you CAN sleep is a BONUS!
Also, at first, my BEST sleep seemed to come during NAPS throughout the day. Rest when you can. It will really help all the way around!
Wishing you continued success with your healing following surgery!
The knee is solid....you aren't going to dislocate or hurt it.....next thing is going a way to rest, anytime you can. You may have to put a pillow between your legs and even that can be your choice. Some prefer thin, some regular and even some go for the body length that they find on Amazon or eBay. Sounds like you are doing well....just stay with the basics and make sure you hydrate.
Hi i think you can sleep in any position you find comfy but dont sleep on your back with a pillow of any thing under your knee its not good as it can lead to you not being able to get the leg totaly stright good luck
Hi there NZJENNI and welcome to the world of TKR.
As far as Im concerned (2 x TKR within 7 months) sleep is such a valuable yet hard-to-come-by thing, that as long as youre (relatively) comfortable, then sleep in whatever position you can! Youre not going to damage the prosthesis, that sucker is well stuck in!
If you find that youre not getting good runs of sleep, and to be honest most of us are familiar with THAT scenario, then NAP. Nap nap nap then nap some more. Napping can be your saviour, as your body is only going to heal effectively if its well rested (and well hydrated, remember to keep up with the fluid intake). Some people find it a bit of a mental hurdle, as most of us are used to life at 100 miles an hour, but really, kick back, rest, do your exercises (sorry, no cutting slack there), rest, drink some water, rest, repeat.....you get the idea. And no, it doenst sound odd to me - is some ways coming out of hospital with a new knee is like coming home with a new baby - what do I do with it, is it ok, am I going to hurt it? Im guessing that us veterans of TKR asked exactly the same quesions at the start of our journeys.
Good luck with your recovery, and come talk to us if/when you need some support.
And congratulations by the way - 5 days out and youre online, putting together sentences, using punctuation and everything - thats some achievement in the early days, trust me!! 
Be kind to yourself
Terri xx
Hi jenni
i found it impossible to sleep on my back and my pt said it was fine to sleep on my side
this is my way of doing it
lay on the opposite side to your operated leg with your non operated leg underneath.
Then put you operated leg over the top with a slight bend in the knee
it is like the 'recovery position'
then put a really soft pillow under the operated knee
I have slept like this since getting home from hospital. It has not affected my bend or my straightening of the knee at all I am now 10 weeks post op and have been sleeping right through the night for about 6 weeks now
hope this helps x
Great reply.
I slept on my back for the first two or three weeks, I couldn't get to sleep any other way.The pain was so bad. I had both legs supported by two pillows. My physio said that was fine as long as the whole leg was supported and the pillows were not just under my knee, that worked fine for me. I now alternate between sleeping on my side( in recovery position) and on my back. I am six weeks out and my bend is 95 and I am nearly there with full stretch on my leg.I need to work on that. I'm still in pain but nowhere near as bad.My physio is happy with how things are going. Sleep is so important, I wake up a couple of times through the night but I just turn over, change position and go back to sleep.I can drive again now and I don't use a walking aid.
Good luck with your recovery, keep icing, take the painkillers, exercise when you feel you are able but most important get some sleep the best way you can.
Thank you ! I tried this and was so much more comfortable. The challenge was letting myself turn on my side - how crazy is that
I am learning to play the long game.
Thank you.
Thank you Terri for the warm welcome and the much needed reality check Where do I sign up for over achievers anonymous ?
I in fact feel more like the new baby and a grumpy one at that...
Mentally I am on a roller coaster and not enjoying the ride but following the plan and taking it slow - playing the long game - will help ease my guilt over having my man slave doing everything after 43 years of me being the domestic goddess I am haha.
At 63 I have lived with a dodgy knee since I did the ACL at age 14. have had 2 repairs in the last 15 years to get rid of meniscus tears etc so am looking forward to the next 50 years being free of always considering how I move my knee to prevent it dislocating. I have managed to have an extremely active life horse riding, tramping, working on farms etc so this should be a doddle.
Great forum folks. All the best.
Jenni.
If nothing else, this surgery tesches you humility.
Humility...YES! That is for SURE!
Needing help to even MOVE the leg let alone sit on the edge of the bed. Needing THREE PEOPLE to walk me to the bathroom that next day after surgery...not to mention the BEDPAN every twenty minutes to half hour that first night after surgery!
It sure puts pretty much everything in perspective!
I have to say that yesterday as I was DANCING for HOURS at our youngest son's wedding, I was moved to tears with how GRATEFUL I felt being able to DANCE like a normal person after SO MANY years of difficulty just walking a short distance, not to mention enduring horrendous pain when standing for even a short while!
I am SO thankful that I DID humble myself and forge ahead with my two TKR surgeries last year! Being able to dance and thoroughly ENJOY doing it without terrible pain truly was AMAZING!
Wishing everyone here the joy of reaching YOUR goals, too!🙌😁😊🙌
Not sure I told you but 3 weeks ago my wife took a Parkinson's type fall (backwards) while trying to enjoy a little fresh air early in the morning. Sh broke a hip and wound up with a partial hip replacement. Unbeknownst to anyone, she was already in the beginning stages of a urinary track infection and the catheter just propelled it into orbit. She is in a very nice private room, 3 hr a day therapy type facility but the one drawback is it isn't staffed anywhere close to the hospital level. Getting to the bathroom when nature calls is very difficult. Its led to the need for a lot of clothes. She's been on meds for 2 or 3 days now and its much better. The anesthesia really muddled her mind and along with some early Parkinson's related dimentia and escalated depression and anxiety, its not been a fun few weeks. Shell be here a couple more weeks and hopefully ill be able to bring her home. This was the 2nd fall in sux weeks weeks and both of them resulted in blows to the back/side of the head on very hard surfaces. 1st one the hardwood floor in the kitchen and the second one on cement. No internal bleeding but possible light concussion. An old body can't handle much of that type trauma. The PHR is healing beautifully and that recovery is coming along great.
Football season starts....almost time to think about snow in your part of the world.
Congrats on the wedding and all the joys that go with it.
So sorry to hear about all the troubles your dear wife has had to deal with recently! Falls are SO scary! So much danger occurring so quickly!
Glad to hear that her PHR is healing well.
Sending prayers to her tonight and prayers for you, too.
Yes, we are already having cooler temperatures! I'd like to have the snow hold off for awhile. My tomatoes are coming in well, and I'd rather let them ripen on the vine. Currently winning the battle against our resident groundhog who I call "Gary".
Thanks for you kind words about the wedding! It was 160 individuals who really knew how to party! Even the DJs complimented us on a consistently packed dance floor! A very happy day!
Hi, I found I could only sleep on my back as my knee was too sore and swollen for any other position. However I did purchase a special pillow designed to elevate your legs and found that very helpful with comfort and swelling .. I probably used it for 2-3mths.
That sounds great. So happy you found relief. I am finding my but gets sore if I am on my back all the time lol.