My exercises seem pretty basic and I just wondered what sort everyone else has been advised to do? .. I'm 18 weeks today. ..only started physio around 10 weeks...
Thanks in advance. ... Mary
Hi Mary I have found pre op exercises on computer these help to strengthen up muscles in readiness of op! Then the post op are a lot like the same there are ten all together for both pre and post op.
Wow Mary, you started late with the physical therapy. From day one they had me doing exercises to straighten the leg as well as bending. Various stretching exercises, leg lifts and the stationary bike. My PT would also "work on me" for about 20 minutes, first massaging the knee then (ouch) pressing my knee down to get it flat as possible to straighten it.
Pretty basic too, but so important. Even now at nearly 6 months, if I don't do some sort of stretching or bending exercise every day, my knee stiffens up. I still don't think it's as straight as it should be though, as I find myself limping when I've been on my feet too long.
I'm sure your exercises are the same as the rest of us had to do. They are pretty universal.
Leg raises flat on bed. Knee extensions and flexes tense and relax quads. That's about the base of it. But I have been doing 4x5 mins on the pedal exerciser, swam today. Lots of walking.
Hello Mary
my exercises consist of (on the bed)
1 moving my op leg sideways at the hip and back.
2 squeezing quads and pushing knee down into bed
3 towel under knee and raising foot up to straighten leg which i couldnt do for ages so physio modified it to somone holding my foot up then lowering it while i tried to hold it up by myself.
4 lying on bed pulling up my knee to bend it as far as i can then back down.
5 resting my foot on a rolled up towel to passively stretch back of leg. These are pretty basic but i havent mastered them yet by any means! My physio emphasised the quad exercises as much as possible to build strength.
Hope this helps
Thank you Louise. .. I had no pre op exercises given to me despite the fact I had wasted muscles due to a long standing ( excuse the pun) knee problem.. also no physio afterwards other than an exercise sheet when I was discharged.. I knew I wasn't progressing as well as I should have been and went privately at 10 weeks... I am slowly getting there but it's been very difficult. .. I have an exercise bike a balance ball and ankle weights but can't do as much as I should be without being laid up next day.. PT said to do alternate days...
Yes Betty.. apparently i "slipped through the net" with regards to physio... I am probably doing much the same as everyone else. .. just wanted to check... Thanks for replying
Good luck Mary. You will catch up if you stay with it, as difficult as I know it can be!
I have book given to me by my physio before I left hospital, and it is brilliant. I did exercises one to eight for two weeks and then moved on to 8 to 15 and furter ones to follow from week 6, I am at week 5 now, driving, no pain killers, no walking aids and walked a mile on the beach with the dogs today, despite a set back last week when I fell down the stairs. The exercises do work and I have photocopied them and already sent them to Christine. If anyone else would like them please private message me with your email and I will send them through to you. Most of them are ball based so you do need a balance ball.
Hi Mary good physio and pain relief are the key for steady improvement. However we are all diferrent and our physio needs are person specific and this is where your physio person will assess you and give you instructions and diagrams to assist your needs. I find it strange that your physio didn't start until 10 weeks as mine physio guidance started immediately in the hospital at home for 3 weeks after and at the hospital physio clinic at 4 weeks post op. With hard work, pain and frustration I was signed off today after 8 weeks 5 days, I can walk 3 kilometers my bend is now 120 degrees (130 degrees is the usual max after TKR said the physio) and use stairs. I know this sounds like boasting on my behalf but with the help of a good surgeon, excellent hospital ward staff (how do they put up with us?) and an attentive physio to work with and doing what I was told it was a team effort. I hope that all your physio efforts will be rewarded as mine were.
Regards Paul ( in Australia, ex Pom)
Wow you make it seem easy?? I am putting in a lot of pre op exercise to help as much as possible we will see when I have it done.
Thank you for your reply Paul.... everyone i speak to is baffled as to why i didn't have physio earlier... i did have the ones come round on the ward... but to be honest they seemed more concerned with ticking boxes to discharge people ASAP. .. no disrespect to them... that's the NHS now. . But as i said already. .. no follow up so although I did the basic ones .. everyone now acknowledges i should have had pre op physio as well as post op.... still that's in the past... i just wanted to see what others physio looked like..
where in UK were you from?
Regards Mary
Hi Mary, born in Walthamstow, age 3 to 11 in Birmingham, but lived in Margate Kent from age11 to 40 then emigrated to Perth W. A. I am now retired in Oz and only go back for holidays and see the family, I will never go back to live there as I prefer it here now. Apart from paying for a couple of X- Rays early on the whole knee replacement and physio has not cost a thing and the wait for the knee replacement op was 14 weeks and I was told I was fitted with a new type that could last for up to 30 years. Regards Paul
Hi Louise, Sorry if I gave you the wrong opinion, none of it was easy, like every one else for the first 4 weeks I was not sure the op was the right thing to do, but as you do the exercises and make daily progress it inspires you to go on. If there is no improvement in a day, don't worry there are always bad days, tomorrow is a new day. Try to measure your results, walk a little bit further, do a couple of extra exercises each day and as you feel them getting easier it spurs you on. Good Luck Paul
Hi Mary. I went NHS. Seems you have been unlucky with physio referral. I went to a pre op physio lecture when all was explained. Four hours after op the physio started. Same exercises that all have mentioned. Two weeks post op physio appointment Extra lunges on stairs added. Next week I go back for gym physio. My local NHS has been brilliant. Good luck with your rehab.
Robert
Physio started at 1 day and Ive seen physio every week since. I was in a car crash and even after the physio has got my knee moving again. Before the crash at 9 weeks I was pain free, could walk over a mile, do stairs and bend to 115*. Now I do get pain possibly due to bruising, stairs cause pain and walking is back to walking round the local shopping mall
I honestly don't think it is necessary to see a physio on a regular basis. Like you I saw the physio twice before leaving hospital to make sure I was safe getting about and understood the early exercises. I was given a booklet with 8 exercises to do twice a day for the first 2 weeks and an extra 4 to add for the rest of the time and it tells you to slowly increase the number of times you do the exercises each day. I was also advised that if i was concerned about my progress I could go to the drop-in physio session at the hospital to get help. I used this resource once for reassurance. The most reassuring thing is that if you keep doing the exercises they slowly get easier day by day. I am in the UK.
Im thankful I did I have a complete record of my progress up till pain free Able to do all exercises without pain. Then a car crash - Physio records/A&E/Xrays all show new injury. So while it might not be esential for me it is evidence
For exercise routine try online Tools RG Personal exercise program orPhysioTools personal exercise program
The exercises I've been given for home are:
Leg raises, 10 per set, 2-3 sets per day....on back with foot flexed, on side, on stomach
Extensions...2 minutes, 2-3 times a day....on back with pillow roll under ankle and weight just above knee (I put my other foot on my knee), 2 minutes on stomach with knee hanging over the edge, again weight on the ankle and I use my other foot. 10 per set, good knee bent, bad knee on pillow, pressing down into pillow while raising lower leg. 20 seconds, 3 times, 2-3 times a day....put strap around ball of foot (I use my robe tie) and with leg straight, pull back hard on top of foot while pressing knee into bed.
Bending knee....10 per set, 2-3 sets per day...using strap but placing lower on foot, pull leg back into as much of a bend as you can muster and hold for 3-5 seconds
2 standing exercises....again, 2-3 times a day, raise up on toes 20 times. And, last one....put hands against the wall, bend the good leg, stretch the bad one back with heel on the floor, lean into the wall (this'll give you a good stretch)....hold for 20 seconds....3 times per set 2-3 times per day