Day 12

I've removed the final bandage today. The incision hasn't healed completely yet, there's some scabbing and light bruising there. The picture is here for those interested, but I don't think it's presentable enough to be displayed directly in the post just yet.

I've been icing twice a day since the sutures were removed. The swelling/hematoma decreases noticeably after icing. It would probably have been a good idea to use the ice during the time the old thick bandage was off for showers.

There is a new sensation from the knee. I feel a distinctive longitudinal line of tension midway between the lateral epicondyle and the patella, like there is a thin band stretched there that gets tight when I bend the knee under load. Could be that they had cut the IT band away from the fascia along that line during the operation, or it could be some scar tissue. We'll see how it develops.

The functionality is still slowly improving, though maybe not as quickly as in the first week. It's good that I'm about to start physiotherapy soon, it should help to kick start the recovery and keep it on the right track so I don't develop bad patterns of movement.

Day 6

The knee felt sorry of bloated and tight in the morning, and there was a distinctive feeling of pressure all around the incision site when fully flexed. It also gets sore quicker when standing for a while or when having it fully flexed for a period of time. I took a paracetamol to calm it down a little.

The useful range of motion (with some load, not just passive) seems to be improving, and I am becoming able to apply more force with the quads.

The area around the incision started itching in the evening. It stopped when I removed the adhesive bandage - guess it's just the hair growing back and not a sign of an infection.

Day 4

The knee still felt a little inflamed in the morning. I took an ibuprofen with breakfast for a change and it helped. Feels better otherwise: I'm able to do a few steps up stairs before it even starts hurting, and it also hurts less trying to go down stairs. I actually climbed the full three floor to my apartment semi-normally later in the day.

I'm allowed my first full shower today. I removed the adhesive bandage so I could take a look at the actual incision for the first time too. It's not very pretty, but it looks fine. I won't be embedding a picture directly in the post, but here's a link to it for anyone interested.

I took another ibuprofen with dinner after the shower, just in case. That's two ibuprofen for the day, no paracetamol.

I'm other news, the ankle swelling send to be gone, while the one under and around the incision is unchanged, noticeable only when the knee is flexed.

Day 2

I had no pain this night, or at least none that would wake me up - guess the paracetamol did its thing well. There is less pain today, it is now more of a soreness. The swelling around the ankle looks about the same as yesterday.

I removed the outer bandage today, that was a big relief. The first layer or two over the knee were quite snug, they actually caused some light abrasions around the patella. That explains the pain there from the first night. Other than the marks from the bandage, which disappeared during the course of the day, the knee looks pretty good. There is visible localised swelling at the incision site when the knee is flexed, but no hematoma in sight. I took a paracetamol after removing the bandage to prevent swelling and inflammation now that the pressure is off.

The ridges in the middle are marks from the edge of the protective pad under the bandage. The redness to the left is a light abrasion; another one is just about visible to the right.

This right after removal of the bandage; most of the marks disappeared within an hour. The adhesive bandage won't be touched for a couple more days.

As soon as I removed the bandage, max knee flexion went up to 90 degrees (if done carefully, no load). At that point, internal pressure at the incision made it too uncomfortable to go further. Range of motion has kept improving throughout the rest of the day.

Day 1

Didn't sleep very well this night. I would get into an position that's uncomfortable to the left knee and the pain would wake me up. Some of the pain came distinctively from the patella region for some reason; it wasn't from somewhere inside the joint, but from the outer edges of the patella.

The pain is not too bad during the day. In total I've taken one aspirine (in the morning before picking up the prescribed medication), two paracetamol (one at the end of the day before going to bed) and one ibuprofen during the course of the day.

Knee flexion has improved since yesterday, I can do 40+ degrees from straight now. This is just passive flexion, no weight on the leg, no pressure on the knee. When not moving I'm keeping leg extended and elevated most of the time.

I'm able to walk slowly and carefully. Bearing weight is no problem, but the part where I need to bend the knee and bring the foot forward can be tricky. When stepping forward I can't really use the stabilising muscles around the knee because that puts strain on the IT band; instead I just lock out the leg and put weight on it completely straight and that seems to work fine at the speed that I'm going. I go up and down stairs using the right leg only to do the work. I've had two walks of 15-20 minutes to keep the leg moving and to stimulate circulation.

I've noticed some swelling in the ankle and foot in the evening. Can't tell if it was there before, I wasn't really looking. I'm guessing it's a light swelling that started in the knee area and then the fluid descended to the foot. It's not big or painful so I'm not really worried.