Total knee replacement - recent experiences, advice?

[VTsnowflower]

Hi. I had a total knee replacement two weeks ago, and now I am working toward getting back on snow in December. Anyone else on this recovery road at the moment? Or gone through it recently? I'm in a good place, pain-wise, and I'm ahead of the game mobility-wise. But there's a lot of PT ahead! My physiotherapist warned me not to get frustrated yet, as I have a LONG ways to go!

Also, any interesting suggestions for training, working out? I have a good chair work-out (from nourishmovelove) that I can do with modifications, but would love some other options.

 

[polino991]

Chair yoga and seated resistance band work helped me early on. Just be super mindful of any twisting motions, avoid them at all costs for now.

The NourishMoveLove routines are great; you might also check out HASfit, they’ve got excellent seated strength workouts

 

[martic11]

Hi. I had a total knee replacement two weeks ago, and now I am working toward getting back on snow in December. Anyone else on this recovery road at the moment? Or gone through it recently? I'm in a good place, pain-wise, and I'm ahead of the game mobility-wise. But there's a lot of PT ahead! My physiotherapist warned me not to get frustrated yet, as I have a LONG ways to go!

Also, any interesting suggestions for training, working out? I have a good chair work-out (from nourishmovelove) that I can do with modifications, but would love some other options.

Hi. My friend had knee surgery earlier this year. She has been diligently going to PT and now has been discharged. She continues to do all her PT exercises daily and is now adding other activities into her schedule as her knee becomes stronger. She likes walking (on a level grade only at this time), floor Pilates to help with flexibility and water walking at her gym pool for strengthening. It’s been slow and she is careful to “listen” to her knee and backs off if she does to much. Good luck.

 

[pinto]

I had mine done in 2020, and things were going quite well for the first few months, but then I hit a wall with strengthening because I was having inflammation that was making it difficult for my muscles to fire. Finally they sent me to BFR -- blood flow restriction -- training, and that was a godsend. So, if anyone else reading this is having struggles with that part of rehab, take a look-see. https://www.apta.org/patient-care/interventions/blood-flow-restriction

 

[VTsnowflower]

I had mine done in 2020, and things were going quite well for the first few months, but then I hit a wall with strengthening because I was having inflammation that was making it difficult for my muscles to fire. Finally they sent me to BFR -- blood flow restriction -- training, and that was a godsend. So, if anyone else reading this is having struggles with that part of rehab, take a look-see. https://www.apta.org/patient-care/interventions/blood-flow-restriction

Interesting! I looked it up. I’m not at that point yet, but will keep it in mind.

 

[VTsnowflower]

I’m about 3 ½ months post op now. Still progressing well - getting back to tennis, gardening, light hiking. The knee is so much stronger! But I’m frustrated by the slow growth of muscle in the leg. I’m struggling right now with pain behind the knee (tight hamstring, Baker’s cyst) and lack of strength in groin/hip movements. And I constantly moan about muscle soreness, since I do too much and then pay for it the next day (or night.) They (any professional I talk to or work with) keep telling me, be patient, it’s only three months! And they laugh at me, because they know my impatient nature so well. Still, I’m on track to ski in November/December.

 

[pinto]

I had a couple other thoughts on my recovery, just as general info. The replacement can slightly lengthen your leg, apparently, and I ended up with a lot of hip pain (honestly, more than knee pain after the first week) because it's already my longer leg. I went to the chiropractor a lot for that, but it's been fine since then.

It also straightens you out, if you aren't straight already, so if you have had boot work done, you will need to get it redone. That one threw me for a major loop during my first ski season back: I could not turn right. After being under-edged my entire life, I was over-edged. Throwing my upper body around trying to make a turn, just weird stuff.

The third thing was that my proprioception was all screwed up for a year or more. It has improved quite a bit, maybe not completely, but envision that they are cutting your leg off and reattaching it. Sort of. But there are a lot of nerves and all those things that need to grow back. Your connection to the ground. I have always had very good proprioception, but suddenly I was just lost in space. Especially when moving. Chairlifts were terrifying. I have been riding them for 50 yr, right? Suddenly it was the scariest thing I had ever done. I would not ski a run where I could not see the entire route below me, either. We were at Bridger Bowl and there was this fun little chute with a big boulder in the middle, where you had to turn past it and dogleg to the remainder. I literally could not envision what to do and HIKED BACK OUT. Those of you who know me from the past know that such terrain is (was) my favorite ever. It was really disconcerting.

So -- these are a few unexpected things that you may or may not have to deal with. The pain relief was amazing, especially after the first year. I never even think about it now. But there were some other effects that did get in my head, mainly because I didn't know they could happen. Things have mostly improved, but not entirely, and I am sure some of it is just normal age-related change. And it is always in the back of my head that I don't want to eff up this leg, so I am quite a bit more cautious than I used to be.

 

[VTsnowflower]

Thanks for sharing all this! A lot to keep in mind. I’ve been thinking I should get my boots adjusted before getting on snow. There’s a shim that should be removed, at the very least. I think some of my current hip issue comes from the body now trying to straighten out everything the body did to compensate over the years. I hadn’t considered that proprioception might change so much. I’ll stay alert to that. I’m most concerned about how all this will mess with my head.

 

[brooksnow]

It also straightens you out, if you aren't straight already, so if you have had boot work done, you will need to get it redone. That one threw me for a major loop during my first ski season back: I could not turn right. After being under-edged my entire life, I was over-edged. Throwing my upper body around trying to make a turn, just weird stuff.

The third thing was that my proprioception was all screwed up for a year or more.

I had similar things happen with my second hip replacement. When I started back skiing I struggled, thinking my angles were off because I couldn't engage my right outside edge to initiate a parallel turn. Like @pinto I was throwing my upper body around like a beginner trying to make something happen.

I had a chance run on the bunny slope with a very very experienced instructor (anyone remember Natalie at Sugarloaf? RIP) who said it wasn't my angles, it was my timing. With that comment and a "follow me" she helped me figure out that the feedback had changed. With changed proprioception I didn't have the same sense of when to do what to make the turn occur.

I probably had more trouble with my second replacement because the first was done in the summer and the second on Halloween. With the second I was gently back on snow in mid December with my Dr's OK. I had much less time to get used to altered feeling of the leg. Considering I could barely walk before the replacements: Yay technology!

 

[pinto]

Thanks for sharing all this! A lot to keep in mind. I’ve been thinking I should get my boots adjusted before getting on snow. There’s a shim that should be removed, at the very least. I think some of my current hip issue comes from the body now trying to straighten out everything the body did to compensate over the years. I hadn’t considered that proprioception might change so much. I’ll stay alert to that. I’m most concerned about how all this will mess with my head.

Yeah I was just breezing through the first three months like nothing. So I was expecting that to continue, but the speed bumps didn't come until later. Again, just something to be aware of!