ancient-one
US Veteran
My wife had one of those after surgery and in rehab. It helped.
Ice Water Machine for Knee Surgery Recovery
- Thread starter Onomea
- Start date
I mentioned about how my brother had rotator cuff surgery back in March, and that he had one of these machines . We estimated that it cut his recovery time in half.
OP
Well, in the middle of kinda a rough night. Feel decidedly less chipper than I did 24 hours ago. I figure residual effects of anesthesia dissipated post op second day afternoon, some seven or eight hours ago. Now 0100 moving into post op second day. Looking forward to 0130 when it'll be four hours from my 2130 oxy dose, and within my prescription to take another hit.
Nurse called me yesterday afternoon for 24-hour follow up. She advised swelling today and tomorrow, second and third post op day, will be the worst.
Glad to have the machine.
Nurse called me yesterday afternoon for 24-hour follow up. She advised swelling today and tomorrow, second and third post op day, will be the worst.
Glad to have the machine.
AJ
US Veteran
Does the Doctor have you taking a pain med besides the Oxycodone? Like I wrote before we used Tylenol 1000 mg four times a day. Worked well for most of our patients. Will be some rough spots. Can not stress enough the importantance of exercises!
within my prescription to take another hit.
Do you play Quicksilver Messenger Service while doing that?
I have that machine; it was on me when I woke up after the rotator cuff repair. I thought it was cool that I had a mini-chiller connected to me!
All the HVAC chillers I've worked on, it's one of those "Why didn't I invent this?" things. I didn't re-order my script this week, as he probably wouldn't want to refill it anyhow. They were only 5mg vicodin anyway. I only have another 5-6 months rehab to go now!
Good luck with that new knee. My buddy had both replaced back in Dec. I think, rode out his sick days till retirement in March, and he's been bike riding for the past 2 months, doing great. Modern medicine!
Do you play Quicksilver Messenger Service while doing that?
I have that machine; it was on me when I woke up after the rotator cuff repair. I thought it was cool that I had a mini-chiller connected to me!
All the HVAC chillers I've worked on, it's one of those "Why didn't I invent this?" things. I didn't re-order my script this week, as he probably wouldn't want to refill it anyhow. They were only 5mg vicodin anyway. I only have another 5-6 months rehab to go now!
Good luck with that new knee. My buddy had both replaced back in Dec. I think, rode out his sick days till retirement in March, and he's been bike riding for the past 2 months, doing great. Modern medicine!
Arlo—You keep taking care of yourself and doing what the medical folks say.
I want one of those machines with a full body suit. The heat index was 110 degrees here by noon this weekend!
OP
Thanks, AJ. Doc has me on Tylenol, too. Two pills with the oxy. Same time schedule.
He actually prescribed one to three oxies every four to six hours, but on the bottle says one to two, so I've limited, per above, to two max, and usually wait five hours. Pain is much better at the moment, so I may go back to one at 0545.
Though I am cautious, watchful, I am not very concerned about oxie addiction. Had the same prescription/dosage in 2019 for that op. Refilled once, and wound up with a number of extras.
I've written here before about my being baffled by oxie addiction as in my case it has no affect on my mood that I can discern. I don't get a high. It only mitigates physical pain for me — which is what I want.
Others here have explained to me that if I were to take more of it at a go, beyond my prescription, it would cause a high. (Again, I do not want a high and have no intention of taking more of it, a higher dosage, than prescribed.)
I can also see how if someone had chronic pain, that over time, to alleviate the pain, as oxy tolerance developed, self administering higher dosages could well lead to addiction.
But, my belief is, since my pain is not chronic, and is temporary, caused by my knee replacement, it will lessen as the days pass, as has been my experience with my previous two knee ops, and my dependance on the oxie will lessen as the pain decreases, and then disappear as I recover.
(In the discussions here, some folks believe that some people have addictive personalities. Frankly, I'm skeptical. I think we all need to exercise care. While I have handled oxie well, so far, there have been periods in my life where I consistently drank too much. In retirement, alcohol consumption is something I watch closely as I know I have a predisposition to overly indulge.)
As for exercise, PT, I am a big believer in that. I think my overdoing PT, doing it too enthusiastically, after the first op may have contributed to my left knee's partial replacement spontaneously dislocating while I slept. (The floating wafer popped out.) I think I may have become too flexible. After that was repaired, by going in again and replacing it, I did the PT, the exercise, more conservatively, especially the stretching.)
This time, for the full replacement of the right knee, I began PT ten days before the op. Three sessions at the clinic and then daily at home on my own. Starting a week post op, I have ten supervised sessions scheduled over five weeks. Since the op two days ago, I have been doing the post surgery exercises on my own, both in the hospital before I came home, and here at home. The quad clenching, the knee bending, the foot pumping etc.
0600. Four hours and fifteen minutes. I feel much better than I did four hours ago. Just got up with the walker for a whiz and back. Hurts, of course, but nowhere near as bad as last night. I'll take one oxie this time with the aim to stay ahead of the pain. See how I feel in another four or five.
I respect your extensive experience in knee rehab, AJ, and appreciate your comments in this thread and others. I read them with care.
I appreciate everyone's comments, find them valuable, to be sure, and am grateful for them. I hope my posts, and those of others on this topic, are helpful to those of us for whom these joint replacements are necessary. Your comments and experiences have been helpful to me.
He actually prescribed one to three oxies every four to six hours, but on the bottle says one to two, so I've limited, per above, to two max, and usually wait five hours. Pain is much better at the moment, so I may go back to one at 0545.
Though I am cautious, watchful, I am not very concerned about oxie addiction. Had the same prescription/dosage in 2019 for that op. Refilled once, and wound up with a number of extras.
I've written here before about my being baffled by oxie addiction as in my case it has no affect on my mood that I can discern. I don't get a high. It only mitigates physical pain for me — which is what I want.
Others here have explained to me that if I were to take more of it at a go, beyond my prescription, it would cause a high. (Again, I do not want a high and have no intention of taking more of it, a higher dosage, than prescribed.)
I can also see how if someone had chronic pain, that over time, to alleviate the pain, as oxy tolerance developed, self administering higher dosages could well lead to addiction.
But, my belief is, since my pain is not chronic, and is temporary, caused by my knee replacement, it will lessen as the days pass, as has been my experience with my previous two knee ops, and my dependance on the oxie will lessen as the pain decreases, and then disappear as I recover.
(In the discussions here, some folks believe that some people have addictive personalities. Frankly, I'm skeptical. I think we all need to exercise care. While I have handled oxie well, so far, there have been periods in my life where I consistently drank too much. In retirement, alcohol consumption is something I watch closely as I know I have a predisposition to overly indulge.)
As for exercise, PT, I am a big believer in that. I think my overdoing PT, doing it too enthusiastically, after the first op may have contributed to my left knee's partial replacement spontaneously dislocating while I slept. (The floating wafer popped out.) I think I may have become too flexible. After that was repaired, by going in again and replacing it, I did the PT, the exercise, more conservatively, especially the stretching.)
This time, for the full replacement of the right knee, I began PT ten days before the op. Three sessions at the clinic and then daily at home on my own. Starting a week post op, I have ten supervised sessions scheduled over five weeks. Since the op two days ago, I have been doing the post surgery exercises on my own, both in the hospital before I came home, and here at home. The quad clenching, the knee bending, the foot pumping etc.
0600. Four hours and fifteen minutes. I feel much better than I did four hours ago. Just got up with the walker for a whiz and back. Hurts, of course, but nowhere near as bad as last night. I'll take one oxie this time with the aim to stay ahead of the pain. See how I feel in another four or five.
I respect your extensive experience in knee rehab, AJ, and appreciate your comments in this thread and others. I read them with care.
I appreciate everyone's comments, find them valuable, to be sure, and am grateful for them. I hope my posts, and those of others on this topic, are helpful to those of us for whom these joint replacements are necessary. Your comments and experiences have been helpful to me.
Sounds like things are going well!
I had a ice machine on my surgeons advice. I bought my own, the hospital only had a couple of loaners.As far as the oxys the little dose they prescribed I might as well of used M&Ms. (My state sort of took over control of how much could be prescribed) I only took oxys for a couple days as they were useless. The Tylenol seem to help out a bit and I seemed to heal good for a Diabetic.
Being a lot of nerves were "disturbed" all would be going fine and out of the clear it felt like I got a horsefly bite at the knee site. That got my attention
I knew as time went by things would get better and after a month or so the "horsefly bites" were over.
AJ
US Veteran
Our patients were instructed to take the Tylenol, 1000 mg, every six hours. Not to exceed 4000 mg in a day (hard on the liver). We told them to use the oxycodone for breakthrough pain. Their dependence on the medications normally lessened as time went by, some faster than others. Usually by the end of two weeks the intake of any pain meds had decreased.
Watch for constipation (caused by pain meds). Move around as much as possible (sitting in one spot is your worst enemy). Drink at least 64 ounces of fluids a day. More if you can. If you are constipated after three days you can try "AJ's Cocktail" as they called it at work. Four ounces of apple juice, four ounces of prune juice and 45 cc's of Milk of Magnesia then heat it up like a cup of coffee and drink it down as fast as you would a cup of coffee. Works better when it is hot. Should go within 6 hours or so (sometimes faster). Biggest problem with the use of any narcotics is constipation.
Exercise is your friend! It may hurt, but that will go away. Do the exercises as prescribed. Don't over do them, this will cause problems. Listen to the therapists and your doctor.
I was the chief nurse for an Orthopedic Camp for Hip & Knee replacements for 15 years at the local hospital until I retired.
Watch for constipation (caused by pain meds). Move around as much as possible (sitting in one spot is your worst enemy). Drink at least 64 ounces of fluids a day. More if you can. If you are constipated after three days you can try "AJ's Cocktail" as they called it at work. Four ounces of apple juice, four ounces of prune juice and 45 cc's of Milk of Magnesia then heat it up like a cup of coffee and drink it down as fast as you would a cup of coffee. Works better when it is hot. Should go within 6 hours or so (sometimes faster). Biggest problem with the use of any narcotics is constipation.
Exercise is your friend! It may hurt, but that will go away. Do the exercises as prescribed. Don't over do them, this will cause problems. Listen to the therapists and your doctor.
I was the chief nurse for an Orthopedic Camp for Hip & Knee replacements for 15 years at the local hospital until I retired.
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Justin T
Member
Called MLS Laser Therapy.
They used a laser on the area where she had surgery for purposes of wound healing and scar tissue mitigation.
We all put on some special laser-proof goggles and a machine containing the laser was passed over the affected area. She went for ten sessions over a period of about two weeks.
The surgical incision and trauma resulting from the surgery were minimized to an incredible degree. Pain management was a breeze after the first week-no special pain meds needed after the first several days after she got home.
It wasn’t covered by insurance but worth every penny. she was using the foot about 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule.
Arlo, Wishing You a speedy recovery... I had an ACL replacement, Autograft, over 25 years ago, I cut the Physical Therapy short to go back on the Street and it was a mistake...now getting PRP treatment, had two so far. Really helps.
Follow Your Dr’s advice and call them if You have any questions/ concerns....As we get older, it takes longer to heal/ recover. They wouldn’t have given You the RX for the pain pills if You didn’t need them...Sounds like You have a good handle on it.
Don’t make any Command decisions while you’re on the pain meds.
Follow Your Dr’s advice and call them if You have any questions/ concerns....As we get older, it takes longer to heal/ recover. They wouldn’t have given You the RX for the pain pills if You didn’t need them...Sounds like You have a good handle on it.
Don’t make any Command decisions while you’re on the pain meds.
Onomea, first of all, I hope you continue to recover as quickly as possible. I also want to thank you for bringing up the ice water machine. I will definitely remember this when I have to have my knees done.
Larry
Larry
OP
Some years back I did research into a cooling helmet to use for cardiac arrest patients who survived. As I recall, NASCAR had a helmet that circulated cold water.
As it turned out, "therapeutic hypothermia" didn't work as well as the initial studies indicated, so I stopped looking into it.
As it turned out, "therapeutic hypothermia" didn't work as well as the initial studies indicated, so I stopped looking into it.
Praying for a quick recovery ......... and no other knee problems down the road.
Don
Don
jdh
US Veteran
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Cool-A-Clava:
Cool-A-Clava | COOLSHIRT SYSTEMS
Or torso and head cooling:
White Hooded Coolwater Shirt | COOLSHIRT SYSTEMS
My wife is have both knees replaced next week, I am definitely going to get one of these machines. She is going to check and see if it is covered under Medicare United Health care insurance. Either way I am buying one.
OP
Best of luck to your missus, Bigdog357. The machine will help. I did not look into it, but you may be able to rent one (or two) from a medical equipment supply house. Just do the math to be sure it is cheaper. And, if you can swing it, a timer helps because you can set and forget. Gotta set it so it goes on, then off, in cycles. Either manually every twenty minutes — some say 30 — or auto switch.
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AJ
US Veteran
Our hospital gave the EBI as they are called to the patient. It was included in the surgical package. So the insurance would pay for it. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW31j3huXV0[/ame]
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