Latest / The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement / Episode 87: Five Signs You're Making Progress After Knee Replacement (Looking Beyond the Calendar)

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Episode 87: Five Signs You're Making Progress After Knee Replacement (Looking Beyond the Calendar) · The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement

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  Independence doesn't usually return all at once.
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  It comes back one activity at a time until, almost
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  without realizing it, you're spending more time
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  thinking about your plans than your knee. Are
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  you ready to get back to what you love after
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  knee replacement? The Total Knee Success podcast
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  is your trusted guide with practical tips, evidence
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  -based strategies, and no fluff. It's not personal
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  medical advice, just solid education to help
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  you manage pain, regain mobility, and get back
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  to living the life you love. Let's dive in. Welcome
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  back to the Total Knee Success podcast. I'm Michelle.
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  In the last episode, we talked about the comparison
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  trap after knee replacement. If you found yourself
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  comparing your knee to your sister's, your pickleball
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  partner's, or someone in an online group who
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  claims they were doing cartwheels a week after
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  surgery, I encourage you to go back and listen
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  to episode 86. Comparing your progress to someone
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  else's can leave you feeling behind even when
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  you're making excellent progress for your own
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  situation. By the end of this episode, you'll
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  have a clearer understanding of the functional
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  changes that tell you far more about your progress
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  than the calendar ever can. Today we're shifting
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  the focus from timelines to function. It's easy
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  to become focused on how many weeks or months
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  it's been since surgery. But the calendar only
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  tells you how much time has passed. It doesn't
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  tell you whether you're walking with a smoother
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  gait, climbing stairs with greater confidence,
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  sleeping more comfortably, getting out of the
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  house more often, or handling everyday activities
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  with less effort. Your surgeon's timeline is
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  important. Tissue healing is important. Following
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  your precautions, it's important too. But those
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  dates don't tell the whole story. Real progress
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  is measured by what you're able to do in your
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  daily life. Today I want to share five signs
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  I look for that tell me someone is making meaningful
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  progress after knee replacement. This isn't a
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  complete list because everyone's goals are different.
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  Your priorities may include gardening, golfing,
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  traveling, returning to work, attending church,
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  caring for a spouse, playing with your grandchildren,
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  or simply getting through a normal day without
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  your knee demanding all of your attention. Even
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  so, these five signs come up again and again
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  because they influence everyday life. Walking,
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  climbing stairs, sleeping, daily activities,
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  and independence. The first sign I look for is
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  walking better. Not simply walking without an
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  assistive device. That's an important distinction.
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  Many people are eager to put the walker or cane
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  away as quickly as possible, and I completely
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  understand why. Nobody really wants to use an
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  assistive device for an extended period of time.
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  Rather than focusing only on when the walker
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  or cane goes away, I encourage you to notice
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  how your walking is changing. Maybe your stride
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  is becoming a little more even. You may find
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  yourself protecting your surgical leg a little
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  less as you walk. You might also notice that
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  you can walk a little farther before you need
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  to stop. Those are the kinds of changes I like
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  to see because they tell us your walking pattern
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  is improving and probably getting more efficient.
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  Sometimes people are surprised when I encourage
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  them to keep using the cane a little longer.
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  They worry it's holding them back. In reality,
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  the right assistive device used at the right
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  time can help you practice a better walking pattern
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  instead of reinforcing a limp. If you're taking
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  thousands of steps each day with a limp, simply
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  to avoid using a cane, that walking pattern can
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  become more difficult to change later on. Every
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  step is another opportunity to practice walking
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  well. The more often you repeat a smoother, more
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  natural walking pattern, the more likely it is
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  to become your normal way of walking. One encouraging
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  finding from recent research is that improvements
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  in physical function continue well beyond the
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  earliest weeks after knee replacement. That's
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  important because many people expect the biggest
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  gains to happen right away. In reality, walking
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  quality, endurance and everyday function often
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  continue improving over the months that follow.
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  That's why I encourage people to pay attention
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  to what they're able to do instead of measuring
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  progress only by the calendar. If you've noticed
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  that your walking feels a little smoother than
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  it did a few weeks ago, take a moment to recognize
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  that progress. These changes may seem small while
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  you're living through them. They're often the
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  building blocks for returning to the activities
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  that matter most to you. If walking is one of
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  the areas you'd like to improve, my book Walking
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  Like Yourself Again After Knee Replacement goes
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  into more detail about some practical strategies
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  that many people find helpful as they rebuild
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  a smoother, more natural walking pattern. I'll
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  go ahead and leave a link in the show notes.
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  The second sign is climbing stairs with greater
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  ease. For many people, stairs serve as a measuring
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  stick for progress. They can walk around the
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  house fairly comfortably, but then they reach
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  a flight of stairs and they're reminded that
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  their strength isn't quite where they want it
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  to be. That's completely normal. Early on, your
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  therapist may teach you to lead with one leg
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  going up and the other coming down. And there's
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  nothing wrong with that. It's totally appropriate.
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  It's a safe strategy while your strength and
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  confidence are still developing. As time goes
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  on, improving on stairs usually isn't something
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  that just happens. It takes consistent practice
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  and, just as importantly, it takes building strength,
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  especially in your quadriceps muscle group. That's
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  one reason those strengthening exercises continue
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  to be so important even after you're starting
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  to feel better. As your strength improves, you'll
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  often notice that you're relying a little less
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  on the handrail or climbing the stairs with a
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  little more confidence than you did a few weeks
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  earlier. Those changes don't happen by accident.
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  They're the result of the work you've been putting
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  in. One day, you may realize you carried a cup
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  of coffee upstairs without thinking about every
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  step. Another day, you might notice that you
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  reached the top of the stairs before remembering
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  to hold the handrail. Those moments do sometimes
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  pass unnoticed, even though they're excellent
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  examples of functional progress. They're signs
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  that your strength is beginning to show up during
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  everyday life. rather than only during your exercise
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  program. That's one reason I encourage people
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  to look beyond the calendar. Ask yourself what
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  feels a little easier today than it did a month
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  ago. Often the answer isn't found in the number
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  of weeks since surgery. It's found in the way
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  you move through your day. That's what functional
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  progress often looks like. It isn't always a
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  giant leap. More often, it's a series of small
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  improvements that gradually become your new normal.
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  The third sign I look for is better sleep. Sleep
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  can be one of the most frustrating parts of the
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  first several weeks after knee replacement. Finding
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  a comfortable position can feel almost impossible
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  at times. You finally drift off only to wake
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  up because your knee is stiff, sore, or simply
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  refuses to let you settle in. That's why I pay
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  attention when someone tells me they're sleeping
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  a little longer before waking up, needing fewer
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  pillows to get comfortable, or making it through
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  the night more often than they used to. Those
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  changes don't show up on an x -ray, and they
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  won't necessarily be measured during a therapy
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  visit, but they often change how your entire
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  day feels. Better sleep usually has a ripple
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  effect. You have more energy for your exercises.
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  You're better able to concentrate. Everyday tasks
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  don't feel quite as overwhelming because you're
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  no longer starting every morning completely exhausted.
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  Sleep rarely improves in a perfectly straight
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  line. You may have a few good nights followed
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  by one that feels like a step backward. That's
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  normal and frankly quite common after knee replacement.
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  Instead of judging your sleep by a single night,
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  notice the overall pattern. Are the good nights
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  become a little more frequent? Are you finding
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  it easier to get in a comfortable position? Those
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  gradual changes often tell a much more encouraging
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  story than any one difficult night ever could.
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  The fourth sign is returning to your everyday
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  activities. When people think about measuring
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  progress, they often focus on their exercise
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  program, and that's certainly important. But
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  I'm just as interested in what happens during
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  the other 23 hours of your day. Are you standing
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  long enough to prepare a meal without needing
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  to sit down? Maybe you're walking through the
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  grocery store without searching for the nearest
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  bench. After running a few errands, do you still
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  have enough energy to enjoy the rest of your
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  afternoon? These are all signs that are progress.
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  These are all the moments that tell the real
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  story. They're the activities that give shape
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  to your day and they're often the first places
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  people notice meaningful changes. One day you
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  realize you've emptied the dishwasher without
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  thinking about your knee. Another day you carry
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  the laundry basket down the hall and notice it
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  wasn't nearly as difficult as it used to be.
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  Maybe you spend an afternoon shopping, meeting
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  a friend for lunch or enjoying an evening with
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  your family without your knee dominating every
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  decision you make. Those moments are important
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  because likely they're the reason you had surgery
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  in the first place. Very few people tell me their
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  goal is to bend their knee to a certain number
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  of degrees. They tell me they want to get back
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  to living their lives. That's why I pay so much
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  attention to everyday activities. They're often
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  a better reflection of meaningful progress than
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  any single measurement I record in the clinic.
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  As rehabilitation programs have become more patient
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  -centered, which is really a good thing, we're
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  seeing greater emphasis on helping people return
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  to the activities that are most important to
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  them rather than measuring success only by a
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  single milestone alone. Your goals may not look
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  exactly like someone else's, and that's perfectly
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  appropriate. The fifth sign is growing independence.
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  This is where all the other signs begin to come
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  together. At first, you may need help with simple
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  tasks. Someone drives you to appointments. They
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  carry groceries into the house or help with chores
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  that normally wouldn't require a second thought.
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  That's a normal part of the process. As your
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  strength, endurance, and confidence continue
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  to improve, the need for help gradually becomes
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  less frequent. Once you've been cleared to drive
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  by your surgeon, you begin driving again. You
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  feel comfortable meeting a friend for lunch.
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  You go to church or take a shopping trip or spend
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  an afternoon with your grandchildren. or enjoy
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  an outing without wondering whether your knee
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  will limit everything you plan to do. Independence
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  doesn't usually return all at once. It comes
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  back one activity at a time until, almost without
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  realizing it, you're spending more time thinking
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  about your plans than your knee. One of the reasons
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  I like to look at these five signs is because
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  they remind us that progress isn't defined by
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  a date on the calendar. Two people who are eight
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  weeks after surgery may have very different experiences.
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  And that doesn't automatically mean one is succeeding
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  while the other one is falling behind. Everyone
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  is individual. What tells a more meaningful story
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  is how your everyday life is changing. Are you
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  moving with better quality? Are ordinary activities
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  becoming easier? And are you beginning to participate
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  in more of the life that you enjoy? Your new
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  replacement isn't a race against the calendar,
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  although I'm sure it feels like it at times.
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  It's a gradual return to the activities that
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  make up your everyday life. The calendar tells
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  you how much time has passed. These five signs
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  can help tell how your life is changing. When
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  you begin paying attention to those changes,
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  you may notice progress that had been there all
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  along. If you'd like some practical tips, research
• 11:20
  updates, and encouragement delivered straight
• 11:22
  to your inbox, I'd love to have you join the
• 11:24
  Totally Success Insider newsletter. You'll find
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  a link in today's show notes. In our next episode,
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  we'll build on today's conversation by exploring
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  what happens when progress seems to slow down.
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  Does that sound like something that's familiar
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  to you? We'll talk about why plateaus are a normal
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  part of the process, what may contribute to them,
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  and how to recognize the difference between a
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  temporary slowdown and a reason to reach out
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  to your healthcare team. Thanks for joining me.
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  I'm Michelle, and this has been the Total Knee
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  Success Podcast. This podcast is for educational
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  purposes only. Discover more at TotalMeSuccess
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  .com and be sure to subscribe and share because
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  every step forward takes you closer to living
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  the life you love.