Extremely hot knee discomfort

Hi Janice

Try not to do to much, do your exercises by mid afternoon at the latest so that you are resting your leg, keep icing and drink water by the bucketful, then when it's time to go to bed the leg should be rested, I still take an ice pack to bed and wrap a large bandage around my knee and the ice pack to keep it in place, it does help, but my knee still gets hot at night if I do too much on it.

if you are worried then speak to your doc about it

Gillian 9 weeks post op tkr

Interesting question janice. My knee is hot all the time and I just assumed it was normal. I'm at just over 6 weeks. 

Janice do you have a fever ? Or redness around the incision area.

Hi janice,

4 weeks post op here and my knee is still hot,especially after exercise and standing,my physio said its nothing to worry about,unless the wound is red and inflamed and you have a high tempreture,as said if your really worried speak to your GP...x

It's just part of the healing process. It's inflammation in the entire bone and soft tissue. What you need to watch for is if it starts turning red, showing any signs of swelling on the incision itself or any drainage of any kind that looks discolored and/ or a low grade fever. A call to the surgeon shouldn't be delayed if this happens. The epistaph or type of infection that comes from the skin has a 28 day incubation period. I am speaking from experience as I have been battling it for 18 months and have had to have a total of 8 weeks antibiotic infusion, 9 month heavy antibiotic use and. 4 months without a prosthesis in place. Finally had my 3rd new joint put in 5 weeks ago today. The fever and unusual drainage are the key but peace of mind is definitely important so the phone call is well worth the effort.

One additional thing, try loering your activity level. When this stage is reached most people think they are ready to resume full activity level and hit the floor running , so to speak. Actually you are several weeks away from that. The Dr may want to add an anti-inflammatory drug to your meds. Naproxen type meds are both over the counter and by script but can certainly give a lot of relief if you aren't allergic to them or if they don't upset your stomach. The last 2 things......elevate when sitting or lying down. Just make sure the leg isnt hanging or otherwise slowing blood flow. Increase your water intake. Without fluids the tissue won't heal as fast and pain up and down the leg increases. Get back to us if you need additional info. Someone on here will help guide you through it.

Hi Janice,

I'm 11 was post op and I still have the same problem. As I go to bed and settle to sleep,I apply some bio freeze pain relieving gel to my knee. It essentially freezes it without using ice. Remember to use a rubber glove to apply it as it smells and your hand would cool and smell too. Hope this helps. I also have it in a spray which I take out with me in my bag. It helps too but is not quite as effective as the gel.

Thanks to you all for your tips.  I shall be buying some freeze gel Pru and trying to avoid doing exercises too late in the day.  Appreciate your help all.

Now at 6 months I am doing a lot and getting that at night so as others have said perhaps need to slow down in the latter part of the day . Nothing to worry about. I slept with me knee out of the bed for ages.

Let me know if the Biofreeze works for you too. 

Hi, I slept with the ice packs for the first few weeks. It's hard to keep them in place but it did help. At 4 weeks sleep is almost non existant...I am over 3 months PO and my knee is still warm/hot. This condition can last a long time. Ice packs are your friend. Remember this will get better with time.