Posted , 8 users are following.
Hi all
?Lots of posts about first months.... but I'm 5 months in and still having a lot of pain and swelling. Anyone else experience this? Discouraging to say the least...
0 likes, 8 replies
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roxanne95518
Posted
molly16973 roxanne95518
Posted
Rcurry17 roxanne95518
Posted
max07424 roxanne95518
Posted
Hi. I am only just 2 months after my knee replacement and to be honest the pain is manageable, but i am concerned that the last few weeks the pain has stayed the same and the swelling doesn't seem to be going down at all. I am icing regular and doing the exercises and i also go to physio once a week, i am on gabapentin and shortec tablets when i first went on them they reduced the pain considerably but now they don't seem to be doing anything? idrive a bus for the local school and i have been told i cant drive the bus for 4 months but they have asked if i will go back to work and work in the school,? i have said ok but don't know how my knee will be with working in school, the job is not sitting down it is being an odd job man on site, to be honest i am walking fine a little pain but seem to have probs walking downstairs i cant seem to put one foot in front of the other, this morning for some reason i had a lot of pain in my knee which i haven't experienced of late, i know its early days for me but i want to go back to work but worried my knee might not cope i am also worried that they might sack me if i dont go back earlier than 4 months? max, i hope your pain eases roxanne i know pain cant be easy but others i have spoken to have little pain at all i wonder why that is? take care max
kim87231 max07424
Posted
Hi. I am only 5 weeks post surgery & my HR started bothering me regarding my absence. My union rep assured me that they can't sack me when I am off sick....I am in the UK. Are you in the US? Not sure about the rules there. Anyway, my union delayed the meeting & reassured me that they can't sack me. I think perhaps you ought to speak to your union rep as you don't want to be forced back to work when you are not really ready....2 months is still very early days in this long recovery journey. Maybe tell them that you will consider returning again at 3 MTHS should your knee allow it. Good luck.
michele68649 max07424
Posted
I think it's to soon to go back to work and although it's not driving the bus odd jobs could mean standing or walking a lot. don't be in such a hurry 6-8 weeks listen to your knee be patient
CHICO_MARX roxanne95518
Posted
Usually, the basic swelling had greatly subsided by now but I found my new knee still slightly larger that the other one even at a year. But swelling and major pain together on a daily basis is not usually reported as both have decreased a lot by 6 months. Questions:
- Do you have your 0 / +120 ROM back? Do all the work for that?
- Have you started the exercise program to rebuild your dead quads, glutes and core?
- Did you go back to work too soon and putting too much stress on the new knee?
The muscle rebuild is mandatory since daily life should put all the pressure on your muscles, like before the operation. If the muscles aren't back to normal, all that work falls on the knee alone which cannot take the load and therefore causes more pain and swelling.
The only exit route is to rebuild all that musculature so the muscles do the work and not the knee...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/post-tkr-exercising-565527
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/mastering-post-tkr-stairs-552728
Your muscles have to be reborn...
jenny80029 roxanne95518
Posted
Check you are not overdoing things...pull back a bit if possible and see if things improve. I didn't feel quite back to normal till 6 months. Still had some aches ( though not bad) and needed to listen to knee right up to a year. Don't worry, things still in progress. Lots of healing still happening.
You might find some posts from people in later stages in then forum if you look back in the archives!
You can choose older posts by picking through the page numbers shown on the KNEE PROBLEMS main page. Look to the right of the page subtitle "All discussions in this group" and you will see page 1 but flick on the arrow to see other previous pages also.
You may like to go to my profile by clicking on the image next to my name. I kept a journal of my own knee replacement journey, and I have been told by several people they found it helpful to read, or skim through. It's got a lot of general information in it, and gives you one person's experience right from hospital to the 12 month mark!