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6 months TKR and in pain

Posted , 52 users are following.

suzidownunder
suzidownunder

Hi everyone. I'm now 6 months post TKR right knee. It's healed very well. No problems and I try to treat it the same as the other leg.

Walking stairs etc are fine

I can put up with the nerve pain - annoying though it is but the muscle pain is really getting me down.

I still have that tightness above the knee which I can feel when walking.

And on standing or trying to exercise the muscles in the side of the leg and thigh are very painful and I need to hobble a few steps before I can walk.

I have good bend @ 130 but only 2 degrees

for straightening (but still trying)

Is this the same for everyone? Pain wise?

3 likes, 92 replies

92 Replies

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  • sonya_88608
    sonya_88608 suzidownunder

    Posted

    I think all knees are different. I am 55. I've had both knees replaced - 1 three years ago and my second knee 6.5 months ago. All is well, I guess... but both knees are equally swollen (very)... and more troubling is pain upon standing... it is to the point that I dread standing up!!! The pain (equal in both knees) seems to be in the joint itself - or behind the patella. I don't understand why this is happening.

  • scotty52875
    scotty52875 suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi Suzi...I had both knees replaced, 6 weeks apart.  My latest was November, so I am a l ittle over 6 months out.  I just cut the front and back yard with a push mower this weekend and very pleased.  I am pain free with the exception of the night.  My knees hurt at night while laying in bed.  It will wake me up, not terrible but discomforting.  I do stairs very easy, no trouble sitting or standing.  But, when I get home from work, I will use a hot rice bag and rub my legs, it just feels good.  I had the muscle and nerve pain, but I honestly believe it has gone away.  Just keep working.  I was only 127 with the bend, but 100@ on the quads.
  • kathy64251
    kathy64251 suzidownunder

    Posted

    I had the same problem and found that my IT Band, runs from your hip down the side of your thigh and under your knee and down your calf. There are exercises you can do to loosen the band, ask your doctor. I have no pain or tightness anymore. When it does get tight all I do are the exercises and its fine. Look up IT Band.
  • blingbling33146
    blingbling33146 suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi there I have not been on this site for at least 6 months I am 16 months post op and I still have terrible tightness round the back of the knee my bend is 120 so yours is brilliant but the knee itself does not hurt but surrounding muscles do.i should of had my second knee done already but to be honest I cannot bear the thought of going through it again. It seems to me it is what it is everyone is different there is no right way that things go everyone progresses differently and at their own pace.I wake every morning very stiff knee can hardly bend until I get moving I am a carer still working so I still bend over to deal with my clients feet because I cannot bend down enough.Anyway you are doing great so don't be hard on yourself.

  • Smoozy
    Smoozy suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi Suzi , I'm a Susie too and I'm at 6 months from tka too! I wasn't able to have therapy though due to losing my insurance but I did home exercises and walking going up and down stairs and now swimming every day but anyways I too have pain on lateral side of the knee and above the knee. I thought it was me only, I also still have numbness on the side of my knee still. I can fully bend and straighten my knee though it always feel stiff or fluid filled . My knee also clicks and it's annoying that I sometimes wish I didn't have the surgery. ??

    • sherron26912
      sherron26912 Smoozy

      Posted

      Hi Smoozy

      Has your knee improved any? I am about 5 mo out from my TKR & still having more problems. I think I walked better with the old woreout knee. It's swelled just as much as before the surgery, but much more stiff. If you're old enough to remember Gunsmoke, I walk like Chester now with a limp & a click. I did my therapy & I'm normally tough when it comes to pain etc. I can deal with the pain if I could just walk normal. Had xrays...everything is aligned, but the limp is significant enough to tear a tendon in my other foot from this weird gait I have now. Everyone I had talked to prior raved about how much better they were after surgery.....so I'm like..."I'm ready for better"! The surgeon did tell me about a year, but do you think it's normal to get worse instead of better? The PT said my bend range is awesome....anyone have any idea of what I can do to get better?

    • Smoozy
      Smoozy sherron26912

      Posted

      Sorry thus is late in coming, it will be a year the end of June and I’m sorry I had it done! I still have knee pain but my knee doesn’t bend like my other knee. I did fall though twice and fluid developed but that was back in end of July and I had done a month of therapy. I haven’t done the other knee because I was gone for so long from my job and I’m not sure if I want it to be like the new knee . I can’t get up and out of the tub like I used to . Maybe because I’m not a year yet and my falls delayed it. How are you doing?
    • Smoozy
      Smoozy

      Posted

      Actually it should say end of January not June 
  • brendal
    brendal suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi Suzie & all

    ?I had a total knee replacement end of June 2017. A few weeks later I had to go back for a manipulation as my knee didn't bend .I spent 4 days in the hospital after the TKR. I didn't have any physiotherapy while I was there. On the second day the resident came and took off my bandage and said it looked good and that someone would come and put on a new bandage. After 3 hours I called for a nurse as my incision had started bleeding. I went home on the 4th day but didn't start physio till  4 days later. When I left the hospital I was at 60 degrees they told me I should be at 90 degrees to leave but no one told me to stay. I went for physio 4 times a week for 4 months and I finally stopped when I was at 112 degrees. I went back to see my surgeon and told him that the therapist  said my kneecap doesn't have any movement. His comment was oh I guess I put in pieces that are too big for your knee. He told me he can redo it. I have pain in both my knees all the time so I am not sure if its arthritis. It is still very hard going down the stairs. I need to take Tylenol to help me try to sleep. I will hold off getting the knee redone and it will be with another doctor. I feel I wasted 4 months of my life.

  • Huge-research
    Huge-research suzidownunder

    Posted

    Oxford uni-compartmentalised knee (partial knee replacement).

    Pretty disgusted with my op (12/09/2016) outcome. Researched many consultants- picked on of UK'S "best", meticulous and extensive exercise regime. Add 2 physio's - 1 to deep massage wound to avoid scar adhesion & another to monitor / detail exercise. Knee sore/ weak / painful - x-ray looks lovely. One wonders how often op.s are truly successful - it's impossible to find "failure" info.

    Anyone with similar experience? - damned if i can do anything else to improve matters.

  • miss_dalla41769
    miss_dalla41769 suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hello I'm miss Dallas I'm 7 weeks into my total knee replacement no matter. How much I exercise sometimes it's not enough this knee still gets stiff I've. Been doing a lot of. Reading .there are things they should have told us my range. Goes. Up and down cause I'm stiff. Hardly no pain do you have any advice

    • tina79566
      tina79566 miss_dalla41769

      Posted

      I almost 6 weeks out from my left TKR. My range of motion is about 95 and I can almost totally straighten my knee. My knee stiffens up as well. My therapist says that I need to constantly stretch and push it further each time so that the scar tissue that is forming will be pliable or it won’t move at all. Every time I sit I push my foot back further to stretch it. I can now do full rotation on the recumbent bike!! I am also working on using me left leg first on steps. Something I haven’t done the past 3 years. Most of my pain seems to be at night on the outer side of my leg and bending it to get in my vehicle.
  • Lscott0723
    Lscott0723 suzidownunder

    Posted

    I am approaching 6 months. I did my right knee three years ago. After two months almost no pain. For some reason at about four months it has gone down hill. Terrible pain when I first stand. Can walk for about 10 minutes. Will not flatten. I stretch everyday. Just no response. GEtting very nervous. 
  • catherine73953
    catherine73953 suzidownunder

    Posted

    I would think of 2 things, 1)  you streched in a way that gave a tear and it needs to heal.  2) a possible infection.
  • christina_69003
    christina_69003 suzidownunder

    Posted

    Hi everyone, I had a take almost 4months ago, while the pain I had pre surgery (bone on bone) is gone, I have other issues. My ROM is 115 and can pretty much straighten it. My issue is the muscle or ligament on the right side of my knee hurts like crap upon standing but after a moment or two I can walk without any pain.the other issue I have is the skin around my scar is really tight almost to the point where is seems to constrict movement of my knee. I suppose I need to give it time but after reading some of the discussion it seems this is going to take another 8 months to be normal?
    • elaine52112
      elaine52112 christina_69003

      Posted

      Christina, much of my pain after 6 months after surgery like you has been muscular.  The area around the right knee on which the surgery was done has given me a lot of pain especially all along the IT band and behind the knee which I have been told is the Popliteus muscle.  My chiropractor recommended a Naturopathic Physician as I have been thinking about getting PRP (platelet rich plasma).  I went to the recommended doctor who is a good listener and took notes.  He then examined the areas where I was complaining of pain.  After examining me and at times hurting where he was pressing, he told me that I have very tight muscles which probably have gotten that way as a result of the surgery - one will walk differently after surgery - the new gait can cause muscle strain.  He recommended trigger point injections with saline and also prescribed Lidocaine cream.  Lidocaine will have a numbing effect on the painful area.  He asked that I come back so that an ultra sound could be done to make sure there was nothing major going on.  Upon doing the ultra sound, the tech told the doctor that I have a complete tear of the glutus minimus tendon.  He did say that this condition would respond well to a PRP treatment.  I do not think that our knee surgeons would have found this problem after all they want to do knees!  However maybe some of them would proceed with ordering an ultra sound.  

      Sorry for the long response.  I strongly suggest that you find a Naturopathic doctor to visit and tell them about your muscular problems as a result of the knee surgery.  

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