Gardening after knee replacement ?

11 years ago

Getting a total knee replacement in January or February. Doc mentioned gardening as one thing that will be impacted and I noticed it also mentioned on a couple of websites. Can anyone tell me what exactly is impacted? Is it mostly just problems kneeling? Sitting back on my haunches? Other? Will I be back 100% (for a 60 yo) by the 2016 season?

Thanks. I certainly wouldn't be able to garden next year with the pain the way it is so need the surgery and am just trying to set my expectations and know if there's anything specific I should ask my doctor.

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Comments (11)

maire_cate
11 years ago
I discussed that with my surgeon before having both knees replaced 3 years ago. I specifically asked him if I would be able to kneel - he said about 50% of his patients are able to kneel but that many of them avoid it. I could kneel with great difficulty before the TKR and I only did it when absolutely necessary. I was 62 when I had mine done

As for gardening I was able to garden before the surgery but I didn't kneel - it was too painful and too hard to get back up again without something to hold onto. I was flexible enough to be able to dig, plant and pull weeds by bending from the waist. And that's more or less how I garden now. I do have a thick foam pad that I kneel on but I still avoid kneeling if at all possible.

A lot depends on your physical therapy after the surgery. Be prepared to work hard. It is very slow at first so don't get discouraged but after the first 2 weeks the progress picks up.

Write down your questions so that you're prepared when you see your surgeon again. Ask him what level of activity he thinks you'll be able to return to. My surgeon told me that he has patients who play tennis, sky dive, ski etc. But he also cautioned me that the artificial knees will last longer if I take care of them. He recommends that tennis players who don't want to give up the game should consider playing doubles instead of singles.

One of the factors in determining your outcome is what shape you're in now - can you kneel now? can you sit back on your haunches now? I know the pain is stopping you from doing it but if you didn't have pain would you be able to bend that far?

In physical therapy they measure how far you can bend your leg and they measure progress by the increase in bending it back. I forget the exact number but I think they consider 125 degrees the minimum angle to allow for ease of walking up steps. I think it's important to have a frank conversation with your surgeon so that you know what to expect.
phoggie
11 years ago
No one of the ones I have known to have had TKR can kneel. I know it is very uncomfortable for me to do so. Whenever I do any gardening, I bend from the waist...but since back surgery, that does not work well either.
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My case is not normal, but here it is: My hip replacement odyssey started in 2001. The first operation fell apart before I left the operating room. I had a second one a few days later, which was a makeshift attempt to put me back together so I would still look human. On the outside I looked normal, but inside I was deformed. I couldn't lift my leg or stand on my operated side at all. I lived like that for eight months until I found a good surgeon at a university hospital who had real surgical skills. The third surgery put me back together in such a way that my body acted as a complete unit again, albeit with diminished capabilities. The first team of local yokel doctors apparently were trying to break into the financially lucrative hip replacement business, but had mediocre skills. At the time, I didn't realize they could perform an operation like this again so close together. I thought I would have to wait a couple of years to have it done again. 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Now, while I can figure out how to do many things in a different way than before, it usually takes so much more time and trouble than it used to, that I give up. Part of the problem is that I am a single parent who has to work for a living. Because everything I do takes a little longer, I have a difficult time doing the just the regular daily chores that I did before the surgeries, which makes it impossible to take on additional tasks. I've had to lower my expectations of myself a great deal. I am the sort of person who enjoys taking on and completing big projects. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment. It is a very disappointing situation to have to settle for less from myself. My child is in college now, so I am starting to get a little time. I've always wanted a garden and, now that the economy is going downhill, I have decided that I need to become more self reliant. I'm really going to try to start a garden this year. I have a difficult time getting up and down from the sitting or kneeling position. For many years I thought that, if I fell while trying to cross the street, I'd get run over because I couldn't get up. In the last 3 years I figured out how to get up off the ground if there isn't a piece of furniture nearby to pull myself up on. First, I have to roll over until I am on my hands and knees. [To roll over, I have to hold my legs together as a single unit and roll my entire torso over at the same time.] To get off the ground when on my hands and knees, I have support my torso with my hands, as if doing pushups, and then carefully reposition my legs so they are bent under my body in a crouching position. Then I can lift myself onto my legs and stand up gradually [being careful to support my body on my nonoperated side leg as I stand up without putting any weight on my operated side hip joint]. As someone mentioned here, I can't use a shovel. 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If you are meeting with a physical and/or occupational therapist before your surgery you could ask them to work with you to simulate the gardening activities limitations you might encounter after your surgery. I'd take my partner or the one who might help you adapt your garden to make it accessible along on such a visit. the purpose of the visit would be enable you to make preparations to make your garden work for you as you are rehabbing. Temporary solutions could include something as simple as creating a raised bed by putting bales of hay or straw end to end and filling the resulting opening with soil. I suffered through a couple of years not being able to garden waiting for raised beds to be constructed. Had I known about the baled hay option, I would have been in heaven digging in my not so pretty dirt pile. In my experience, preparing ahead of time for the adaptations that are necessary after surgery gives one a sense of hope and creativity which I've found are essential to healing. There are a few good reference books on accessible gardening - one I found most helpful was Gene Rothert's The Enabling Garden. good luck to you - I think you should do well with all the support the garden web forum folk are offering. You might find it fun to post unique ways you've learned to cope with your limitations. We all can learn new creative ways to imporove the quality of gardening after surgery or disability. I was astonished to find that I could do several hours of gardening a day sitting in a secretary's office chair with the little car totes bags attached to the back of the chair. With one non casted leg, I was able to roll around with ease - freeing my hands for the clipping, etc. I wanted to do. Didn't need to invest in a wheelchair and the size of the office chair permitted me to get in much closer to the plants. This of course worked best on paved surfaces - the driveway and walkways.
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I tore my ACL while operating a small 35 property lawn and garden maintenance business 15 years ago. The first few weeks I was on crutches leaf blower in hand. Thank god for friends pitching in to man th mowers, tillers and wheelbarrows. Since then I have found that adjusting the weight onto the supporting knee helps. You can't rely on that for ever though as it wears the supporting knee out faster. It is tough until the flexability comes back over time really. I still feel the effects 15 yrs later. I still watch over extension when driving a shovel into the ground. You will know it if it hyperextends. The best thing to do is work on strenghtening the surrounding muscles with physio. There are carts you can design to aid you when weeding(check out some ceative ones on you tube!) Good luck with the rehab and above all don't over do it!
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Sorry I'm so late in getting back with responses to all of you. I sincerely appreciate the time you've taken to write and help me get past my fears. And each of you have touched on different aspects of the surgery/recovery process and shared valuable information and experiences. I need to have both knees done as they are both "bone on bone", but actually do not hurt all of the time. That makes it easier for me to question if I'm doing the right thing. I used to enjoy walking as a form of exercise, but now have trouble with any distance walking. I do water aerobics instead. I can not shop on concrete floors for more than 30 minutes. I find myself not doing things I used to if it involves much walking and that feels very limiting. I did get a RX for "pre-hab" PT to get in shape for surgery knowing it was in my future. I did that for several months last summer and have continued with the exercises at home. I've also been doing water aerobics for the same reason. I'm slowly getting prepared. Fori: I'm hearing a lot of comments about people wishing they would have done it sooner. I hope I feel that way! Rita: I hear you-that's why I'm not waiting. Gscience: Your sister sounds like she really turned it around! Hhireno: What the bff's boyfriend is now doing is really encouraging! Aok: Your MIL gives me hope! Jmc & 3katz: I hope I'm one of those wishing I had done it sooner! Iowa: Hoping for results like your dad and not your aunt!! Cawaps: Yes, the risks are one of my fears. I always think I will be the one that is the exception and things will go wrong. And my doctor does a spinal block and I've never had one. Cooper: That is why I'm going thru with it now, rather than waiting. Mojomom: Your DH gives me hope! Maire_Cate: I wish I had the nerve to have both done at the same time and could get it all over with at once. I don't. I do use a pad now for gardening and also one inside for any kneeling purposes. Glad to hear you can still garden. I may need to purchase a garden cart. Westsider: I do hope your pain has lessened and things are looking up. Anglo: I am hoping the pre-hab will pay off. Faron & Maire: I've heard great things about the ice machine and have already purchased one and it is the Breg! Southern Vesta: I think I, too, have gone thru the grief stages. I haven't had other surgeries affect me like this. Kathy Yata: Sounds like you've come a long way and your trike sounds interesting. Thanks, Liz
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morz8 - Washington Coast
11 years ago
Are you otherwise strong, fit? Male of female...I think men have legs somewhat stronger than women, at least most women I know including me ;)

I've had a joint replaced but not knee. Our tech had his knee replaced about 4 years ago and you would never know its been done (he has rheumatoid arthritis, it wasn't wear/tear/osteo).

His doctor said since he already downhill skied, he could continue that. He hikes, swims, walks but does not jog or run for exercise, golfs extensively. It seems like he told me singles tennis isn't recommended. He can, but rarely does, squat, at least not on purpose.

He hikes off trail every day for work with DH, and sometimes in very rough terrain, slippery, over logs, through creeks. They both fall. He's never hurt himself or complained of pain or swelling - the one time one of them slid and fell down a wet clay bank and hurt himself, it was DH and his knee, not A with his replacement.

Ask your orthopedist to show you how to get up and down from the ground safely, and practice before your surgery.
And for reference, our tech is over 6' tall, in his 60's, not so much as one additional ounce anywhere on that body.

Best of luck to you, I hope you are feeling much better so you can be more active soon....
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
My favorite gardening companion is my mobile seat. I bought mine from Gardener's Supply about four years ago but several companies sell them. Sturdy and easy to use, I've even cleaned mine off to bring it inside when we were painting the trimwork! Really saves the knees and back.

Here is a link that might be useful: mobile garden chair
sylviatexas1
11 years ago
maybe you can get a partial knee replacement instead?
emma
11 years ago
I would not take the chance. I have a torn meniscus and if it ever stop hurting I will not take a chance of going through this kind of pain again. I will use a handy man from now on.

I have heard some people who have been through that say they aren't suppose to kneel.

This post was edited by EmmaR on Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 0:41
Marilyn Sue
11 years ago
I know I can not put weight to kneel on my knee I had replaced. It hurts as there seems to be no padding where the knee should have some. I can kneel on my other knee even though I need a total knee replacement there too I sit to garden, one of the carts made for that is too low for me, so I sit on a plastic lawn chair or a little plastic table, even a five gallon bucket, turned upside down.

Sue
roseluver
11 years ago
I have had both knees replaced, I am an avid gardener, I cannot kneel at all, I never work in the yard without taking my cell phone with me. When I fall, I cannot get up. Several times over the years I have fallen and my husband has had to call for help to get me up. Good luck with your surgery.
roseluver
11 years ago
I have had both knees replaced, I am an avid gardener, I cannot kneel at all, I never work in the yard without taking my cell phone with me. When I fall, I cannot get up. Several times over the years I have fallen and my husband has had to call for help to get me up. Good luck with your surgery.
roseluver
11 years ago
I have had both knees replaced, I am an avid gardener, I cannot kneel at all, I never work in the yard without taking my cell phone with me. When I fall, I cannot get up. Several times over the years I have fallen and my husband has had to call for help to get me up. Good luck with your surgery.
jsfox
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you all for the information. I've been reading but couldn't post until today. Not quite as encouraging as I'd hoped, but better to be prepared than totally disappointed.

Partial is unfortunately not an option. Also have sciatica so bending over is sometimes less than ideal. I guess we'll see.

This post was edited by jsfox on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 15:51

Gardening after knee replacement ?

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maire_cate

phoggie

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Gardening after knee replacement ?

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