28 Jul Knee Replacement Gone Wrong – Astym Therapy After Surgery Got Me Back Into Life
Due to a misaligned knee replacement, I lacked 28 degrees of extension in my knee. I could walk, but it was painful, and any time I tried to extend my knee as far as it would go, I had terrible pain, so the extension deficit was getting worse and worse. I saw several orthopedic surgeons who specialized in revisions, and they all said it was too soon for that. I’d had regular PT and it didn’t help. At 51 years old, I thought I was doomed to limited activity, pain, and a significant limp for the long haul.
Since the surgery, I had been keeping up with a knee replacement message board. There were many people in that community whose knee replacements had not gone well and Astym therapy was one of the treatments that had been successful. When I looked online for where I could find a practitioner in my area, I found Jennifer at SERC. I was skeptical, and she didn’t make any promises, but we agreed to try it for awhile and see if it could help.
I felt better after just a couple of treatments, and as we continued, I began to gain extension in my knee. The change was gradual but significant. By the end of our treatment, I had gained 17 degrees of extension, had almost no pain with walking, and significantly increased the strength in that leg.
I am a homemaker, and before Astym therapy I had to have someone else clean my house, and most of the time I had to ride the motorized cart at the grocery store. If I tried to shop on my feet, I would come home and spend the rest of the day icing my knee, hip, and ankle. Now, I can do all of the things I need to do, and usually there is little pain involved. My knee is still misaligned, and I still can’t take long walks or shop all day. But I am thankful that I can now do everything I NEED to do, and it doesn’t take me days to recover! I’m back to getting great exercise in the pool, and I no longer have to miss out on thrift shopping with friends. Thank you, Astym, for proving those surgeons wrong!
Suzanne Holland, Astym Patient
Kansas City, Missouri
Clinic: SERC
