Posted , 24 users are following.
6 months after total knee replacement and have this lower back pain that is worse in the morning , can feel it when I turn over in bed at night. Goes off a bit during the day but not getting any better . Anyone else experience this
2 likes, 37 replies
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lyn32416 jenny61596
Posted
Yes, me! And I thought it was my hips! They aren't brilliant. But now I believe my new knees since Mar 2016 are responsible for my spine and back pain. When I see my Orthopedic doc on June 19, I hope I will know more. I feel like my body and skeleton are not aligned! x
Cementless jenny61596
Posted
CHICO_MARX jenny61596
Posted
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/other-pain-after-a-tkr-641040
Go see a good chiropractor. Get your hips and back realigned.
Cathysf jenny61596
Posted
Hi. I’m 6 weeks post op with a TKR & have developed bad low back pain/ hip pain. I take only Tylenol/ ibuprofen for pain. I posted a message on this site last week. Apparently this is very common. Just waiting til my knee is a little more healed & then I will try to find a good chiropractor as suggested here. Meanwhile, it’s almost worse than my knee. MISERABLE.
Know you are not alone. Good luck in finding relief.
CHICO_MARX Cathysf
Posted
Yup... I got a case of sciatica at 5 weeks post-TKR because of the way I was walking. No mystery...hips out of alignment, locked SI joints, different leg lengths, etc. We throw out the alignment of our hips and that affects the lower lumbar vertebrae L4 through S2 which causes the pain. Chiropractor. Always works for me. No drugs, except some ibuprofen to help with the inflammation. I will see my chiro 2X/week when I'm in that kind of pain...then maybe once or twice a month. If you're not better in 3-4 weeks, something else is wrong.
greg74714 Cathysf
Posted
Me too my terrible, I had slight pain after 8 weeks , but then did 80lb on a leg press machine to try and bend my kness and that was it! can hardly walk now. At 1st just bad lower back pain and then it moves around i go a back stabbing sciatica, I yelled the other day so loud i scaird two women at the hospital while i was getting in the elevator. I told them i was sorry.
greg74714
Posted
Hi, how are you guys doing? I'm not well, going to chiro today.
jenny80029 jenny61596
Posted
The way I move has changed a lot for the better...I reckon it must be pretty common.
jancon jenny61596
Posted
kim87231 jenny61596
Edited
Hi Jenny. I too am suffering with lower back pain and feeling pretty miserable. I am 9 weeks post tkr. I did start to feel better & probably overdid it again! Will go to see chiropractor but can't lie on my knee yet. It's really difficult to know whether to do exercises or not as they seem to make the pain worse.
jonathan77371 kim87231
Edited
9 weeks out of TKR, right knee. Lower back - sciatica on right side killing me for 4 weeks. Had an MRI two days ago, see back doctor tomorrow. Pain is worse than knee and has really hindered my physical therapy. Same boat. Did you get yours resolved???
CHICO_MARX jonathan77371
Edited
Got my case of sciatica 5 weeks p/o. Hips and SI joints out of alignment and pinching the sciatic nerve because we subconsciously change our gait to avoid the pain. Went to my chiropractor. Three times a week for two weeks; twice a week for two weeks. Done. I've had lots of cases of sciatica over decades. This was an easy fix.
jonathan77371 CHICO_MARX
Edited
Hey Chico!
Thanks for the response!
Never been a chiropractor guy, gonna become one today. Actually have my appointment with the orthopedic back specialist today after my MRI earlier this week, interested in what he will say today. No matter, still going to a chiropractor that is a friend of a trusted friend, seems everyone agrees that is the right course of action. Do the orthopedic doctors ever just recommend you go to a chiropractor? Makes me wonder. Thanks again, this is really brutal.
CHICO_MARX jonathan77371
Edited
Mine does because there's nothing they can do for sciatica unless there's a situation that requires a surgical fix. I had that happen once when a bone spur at L4 was crushing the sciatic nerve root. My neurosurgeon fixed that immediately but only after I tried chiropractic and pain shots. Surgery is the last stop on the "ladder of care". Gotta do the climb. Hopefully, chiro fixes it within a few weeks.
jenny87164 kim87231
Posted
Hi,
I am also 9 weeks post tkr.
I am at that frustrated stage where I want to be doing lots more but as soon as I do I pay for it and have to back off.
Back and hip ache pain but I try and push through.
I have decided to have a quieter week this week just exercycling,walking and basic exercises.
I tried an aquacise class last week but it was probably too soon for it.
This site has been a breathe of fresh air as no one knows what to expect except those who are experiencing it.
Jenny M
CHICO_MARX jenny87164
Edited
"I want to be doing lots more..."
Your problem...check that...the problem that ALL OF US have had is expectations. Whether it be about pain, recovery time, being "better than this" by a certain date, etc., it's all one big delusion. I told my bandmates that I'd be doing a 4-hour gig with them the weekend after the op. Reality? I was still drooling on my pajamas at 6 weeks.
The fact is that this is typically a year-long recovery...some people sooner than that, some later. It's all individual and you will never predict where you will fall on the spectrum. Therefore, don't even try. The fact is that the KNEE controls your recovery, not you...and all those expectations and timetables in your head mean absolutely nothing.
So give it all up and concentrate on the time you put in, the work you do and the patience you have (or learn to have). In a truly Zen sense, the knee will be healed when it is healed. Period. You've already seen what happens when you push the knee beyond what it is capable of doing at any point along your path. Don't do that again...or pay the price...again.
First, get your ROM back...and keep it that way. These will help...
ROM Work
Next...and this will take months of determined effort...you have to rebuild all the muscles that support the knee which are now dead. Cycling is good for ROM (if your seat height allows for full leg extension) and as a warm-up. However, you need strengthening exercises for your quads, glutes, core, hip flexors and more...
Muscle Rebuild
You need to get your strength back so you can walk correctly, regain your balance and be able to do stairs alternately like a normal person again. This takes regaining all that muscle mass. You can't skip this step. It will also help you avoid lots of other pain that occurs when the brain subconsciously shifts your weight to avoid pain...causing pain elsewhere (see the link at the top of this thread).
None of this is easy...but it does pay off. I was doing 11,000 steps a day at 8 months and climbing stairs two at a time without holding onto anything at 14 months. At 3 1/2 years now, I have maintained a great 0 / +133 ROM and have zero pain after rebuilding all that muscle strength. You can too. Time, work, patience...your TKR Toolbox.
jenny87164 CHICO_MARX
Posted
my saving grace is I do laughter yoga every Saturday. SO laugh at the top if the stairs and move down handrail or not.
My knee is like a cantankerous relative. I LOVE IT. FIND IT VERY FRUSTATING AND IS A HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS .....but I am willing to keep going.
greg74714 jonathan77371
Posted
Me too. Jon how are you now? I got an xray and see a chiro today. I guess i should get a MRI? Greg
greg74714 CHICO_MARX
Posted
Just read this, thanks from me to chico, going to Chiropractic but he just had me get xrays not MRI i wonder if i should get that too.? Greg
jonathan77371 greg74714
Posted
Hey Greg. Well, ended up having a laminectomy, and then a decompression surgery, and then 8 weeks ago a 3 level spinal fusion😬 so, not great 😁. It just never let up at all. Doing better now I think, but they had to break me in order to cut the pain I'm guessing 60 to 70 %. It's a big surgery, still wearing g a brace except when I sleep. Time will tell. How are you coming along?
jane37411 CHICO_MARX
Posted
well said im 8 wks post op and starting to experience back pain that is exhausting after doing yard chores, i will definetly stick to your advice thanks