Hi everyone,
Merry Christmas to all of you. I am now 5 weeks post op on a UKR (partial) right outside knee. Doing well. Full extension and 130 degrees of bend. Still having alot of tightness. I was wondering if anyone uses heat on their knees instead of ice. When I do my home exercises my knee feels really good during and for about 20 minutes after I am done, then it starts to tighten up and gets hard to bend. Also I was wondering what you could suggest for breaking up the scar tissue at my incision. Still have about 3 places that are still very tight. Even my PT therapist has been working on it and we just can't seem to get it loose. It really pulls at the incision area. Thanks for your suggestions. May you all have a very blessed Christmas.
Vanessa
No heat on the knee at your stage has always been the advice I've received. Keep working on the straight.....also try stretching your lower back as a lot of the tightness in the lower part of the legvcomescfrom the lower back, and hip. Heat on the back might help if you get the proper ombination of heat and stretching
My surgeon looked at my incision last week and said that it looks like some keloid scar tissue is developing. He asked me how I care for my scar and I told him I used a lotion to massage it several times a day. He suggested that I buy a tube of a product called Mederma which claims to reduce stretch marks and scar tissue, I have been using it for a week and it's slightly improved but the instructions say it will take four weeks. It was an expensive tube of lotion $45 US currency so I'm hoping it will help. I massage it both length and width several times a day.
All of those creams seem to be pricy. I use Vit E oil. Its very thick and heals both internally and externally as it softens the tissue. I think I paid $22 use for a very tiny bottle but it lasts for weeks. Also acts in a way that prevents spreading of infection but you have to wait till all the incision is healed and the scabs are gone
Hi Vanessa,
Just gave a long reply but its disappeared, so I'll try again, but maybe will shorten it.
I'm in Cornwall UK and had a UKR, right knee, medial compartment on 6 Nov. At 5 weeks was nowhere near 130 degree bend, just 90. No heat at all - just ice and elevation. Stack of pillows so that right ankle was higher than heart. Actively pursued my exercises all the way through. My incision mark is just to left (inside) of centre point of knee. I have had a band of tightness/stiffness running down centre of knee, about an inch wide and 5 inches long running from top of knee cap to about an inch below the knee cap. Very little help from my PT so I privately consulted my Sports Therapist who I'd been to for some years before hand, who advised getting some 99% grade Aloe Vera gel (in a tube) and rubbing it from bottom to top of incision mark with the thumb pressing on each side of cut and massaging all the while. Then, starting from bottom and moving to top massage across the incision mark and moving upwards too. I also then massaged this band of tightness too. I'm now at 7 weeks out from surgery and I started this massaging process at about 4 weeks out. Prior to this I could only get a 90 deg. flex now I can get around 135 degs. I can lift my right leg up and put my shoes on and tie laces, I can get into a small car normally, i.e. - stand outside passenger side, put right leg in, then left leg. I am still on crutches and will stay so until surgeon tells me otherwise. My meeting with surgeon is on 29 Dec. So now, I feel fine, still a little stiffness but I now get more problems and pain from my right Sacriiliac joint (Si) than anywhere else - but - then I have had Si joint issues for some years now. to be honest the sooner I am off these crutches and start to stand on my own two feet and start walking normally the better all my issues will be.
Hope this helps and good luck on your journey AND a merry christmas to you and to all contributors on here.
John
Thank you all so much for your advise. It is wonderful to be able to talk with people who have or are going through the same things I am. Sometimes you just feel alone out there. But the reassurance I get from all of you is such a blessing. Many very good suggestions. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas all. May your day be blessed and your healing continued with speed.
Vanessa
My Pt starts with heat and a massage, then I do my work out and I follow up with ice and elevation. Sitting at a desk is not my friend and my knee and ankles swell up. It's pretty difficult to elevate you knee at the office and not look a little crazy. I am trying to sleep on my back and keep my leg evevated at night. This seems to help a little as well.