Latest / The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement / Episode 88: Has Your Knee Replacement Progress Stalled? (Why Plateaus Are More Common Than You Think)

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Episode 88: Has Your Knee Replacement Progress Stalled? (Why Plateaus Are More Common Than You Think) · The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement

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  It's easy to reach that point and wonder if you've
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  gone as far as you're going to go. Most of the
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  time, that conclusion comes much too early. Let's
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  dive in. Welcome back to the Total Knee Success
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  Podcast. I'm Michelle. If you listened to the
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  last episode, we talked about five signs that
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  indicate someone is making meaningful progress
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  after a knee replacement. We looked beyond the
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  calendar and focused on everyday life instead.
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  Walking, stairs, sleep, daily activities, independence.
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  Today I want to stay with a similar idea because
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  sooner or later almost everyone reaches a point
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  where they wonder if they've stopped improving.
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  At the end of this episode, you'll have a clearer
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  understanding of why progress sometimes seems
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  to stop, what may be happening during those slower
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  stretches, and when it's appropriate to reach
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  out to your healthcare team. Maybe the first
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  few weeks brought noticeable changes. You could
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  bend your knee a little farther. Walking became
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  easier. and you relied less on your walker or
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  cane. Then, almost without warning, it felt as
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  though everything slowed down. Your exercises
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  looked much the same from one day to the next.
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  Your knee was still stiff, and you weren't seeing
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  the kind of obvious improvements that had become
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  almost routine. It's easy to reach that point
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  and wonder if you've gone as far as you're going
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  to go. Most of the time, that conclusion comes
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  much too early. One reason this happens is that
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  our expectations are shaped by those early weeks.
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  At first, improvements can be surprisingly noticeable.
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  You gain motion, you walk a little farther, or
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  you become more comfortable doing something that
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  seemed impossible just a few days earlier. As
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  time goes on, those changes naturally become
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  less dramatic. Instead of noticing something
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  different every few days, you may notice something
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  different every few weeks. That slower pace can
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  feel like you've stopped improving. even when
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  meaningful changes are still taking place. One
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  encouraging finding from long -term studies is
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  that many people continue improving in physical
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  function well beyond the earliest stages following
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  knee replacement. That doesn't mean everyone
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  follows the same timeline, and it certainly doesn't
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  mean progress happens every single day in a noticeable
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  way. But it does remind us that a slower pace
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  of improvement is a common part of the process,
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  even when it's harder to recognize. It's easy
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  to mistake a slower pace for a permanent stopping
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  point, but those aren't the same thing. Think
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  about someone learning to play the piano. During
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  the first few weeks, every practice session may
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  bring obvious improvement. Then their progress
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  becomes more subtle. The songs become a little
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  more challenging, and their skills take a little
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  longer to develop, and it can feel as though
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  nothing is changing. However, something is changing.
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  the learning is still taking place under the
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  surface. The same thing often happens after knee
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  replacement. Early gains are usually easier to
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  recognize because they're more dramatic. Later
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  gains are often smaller, even when they're still
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  meaningful. Or you may be working toward a gain
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  for several days and not notice a difference,
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  and then suddenly there's an improvement. And
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  this is a reason plateaus can feel discouraging
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  when they really aren't true plateaus. More often,
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  there are periods when your body is adapting
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  to everything you've already asked it to do.
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  Strength can continue to develop. Endurance often
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  improves very gradually. Walking may become more
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  efficient and balance can continue to improve
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  over time, though you might not notice the difference
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  every single day. Those changes do not always
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  announce themselves the way they did during the
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  first several weeks after surgery. Instead, they
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  gradually become part of how you move throughout
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  your day. Your knee also does not exist in a
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  vacuum. If you've been more active than usual,
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  spent the afternoon gardening, walked farther
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  when traveling, or simply had a restless night
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  of sleep, your knee may let you know about it
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  the next day. And that doesn't automatically
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  mean that you've gone backwards. Sometimes your
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  symptoms are simply reflecting the extra demands
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  you've placed on your joint. There's an important
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  distinction between a temporary slowdown and
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  a reason to contact your healthcare team. Increasing
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  redness, drainage, fever, a sudden loss of function,
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  or pain and swelling that continue getting worse
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  instead of gradually settling should be discussed
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  with your surgeon or healthcare team. Those situations
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  are very different from feeling as though your
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  day -to -day progress has become less noticeable.
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  When someone tells me they feel as though they've
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  plateaued, I often encourage them to widen the
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  window they're using to judge their progress.
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  Comparing today with yesterday is usually not
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  very helpful because every day is influenced
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  by sleep, activity, stress, and dozens of other
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  factors. But looking back over the past month
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  often tells a very different story. You may realize
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  you're walking through the grocery store without
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  searching for a place to sit. Maybe you're climbing
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  the stairs with a little less effort than you
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  were a few weeks ago. Perhaps you're standing
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  long enough to prepare dinner without thinking
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  about your knee every few minutes. And those
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  aren't really dramatic milestones, but those
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  are the kinds of things that you can really see
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  change in. And that's exactly the kind of changes
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  that tell me you're continuing to move forward.
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  One of the challenges with slower progress is
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  that it asks us to pay attention a little differently.
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  Instead of looking for a new achievement every
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  day, we might begin noticing that everyday activities
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  require a little less effort than they used to.
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  Those changes are pretty easy to overlook because
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  they gradually become part of our routine. That's
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  why I encourage people to pause once in a while
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  and look back over the past several weeks instead
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  of focusing only on today or yesterday or the
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  day before. I also think it's worth remembering
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  that there is no prize for getting through this
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  process as quickly as possible. People might
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  be anxious to get it over with, but there really
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  is no prize. Your goal generally won't be to
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  reach a certain milestone before someone else
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  or to match a timeline that you saw online. Hopefully
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  your goal is to build a knee that allows you
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  to do the things that are important to you, and
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  generally that takes the time it takes. Sometimes
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  improvements are easy to dismiss because they
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  become a part of everyday life. but they're often
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  the clearest signs that your body is continuing
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  to adapt. That's also one of the reasons I encourage
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  people to stay consistent, even during the weeks
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  that feel uneventful. Exercises prescribed by
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  your healthcare team don't stop being valuable
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  simply because the improvements become harder
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  to notice. Walking, strengthening, stretching,
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  and gradually returning to your normal activities
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  continue laying the foundation for what comes
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  next. And if walking is one of the areas that
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  still feels like a work in progress, my book
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  Walking Like Yourself Again takes a deeper look
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  at rebuilding a smoother, more natural walking
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  pattern after knee replacement. You'll find the
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  link in today's show notes if you'd like to check
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  it out. Not every slowdown is a plateau. There
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  are actually times when it makes sense to contact
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  your surgeon or healthcare team. I mentioned
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  this before. Just remember, that those situations
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  are different from feeling as though your day
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  -to -day progress has become less noticeable.
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  And reaching out to your healthcare team isn't
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  a sign that you've failed in any way. It's simply
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  part of making informed decisions about your
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  care. For everyone else, remember that a slower
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  season doesn't automatically mean you've reached
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  your limit. Sometimes the biggest difference
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  is that your progress has become a little less
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  obvious because your life is becoming more normal.
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  You're spending less time measuring every bend
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  of your knee and more time getting on with your
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  day. That's exactly where many people hope to
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  be. And if today's episode found you during one
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  of the slower stretches, I hope you'll give yourself
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  permission to judge your progress over months
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  instead of days. A single afternoon rarely tells
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  the whole story. Looking back over a longer period
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  often reveals changes that are easy to miss while
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  you're living through them one day at a time.
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  If you'd like practical tips, research updates,
• 8:50
  and encouragement delivered straight to your
• 8:51
  inbox, I'd love to have you join the Total Knee
• 8:54
  Success Insider Newsletter. You'll find a link
• 8:57
  in today's show notes. In the next episode, we'll
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  be looking at six knee replacement myths that
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  maybe you should stop believing. This is about
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  myths many patients still believe after surgery
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  that simply aren't true. If today's episode found
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  you during one of those slower stretches, remember
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  to be consistent. Change is coming soon. Thanks
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  for joining me. I'm Michelle and this has been
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  the Total Knee Success podcast. This podcast
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  is for educational purposes only. Discover more
• 9:30
  at TotalKneeSuccess .com and be sure to subscribe
• 9:33
  and share because every step forward takes you
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  closer to living the life you love.