Total knee replacement pain

Hope you're ok today after your op x

It is great now...even at six months when i think i am all done improvements happen! I can walk faster now...actually rush around. That is new! Have not done it for several years!😊 get zings of nerves in leg....still being resurrected! Just little.

"Great kid,  Don't get cocky." - Han Solo, Star Wars Episode 4

A lot of people see a nice "rush" at around six months.  All that huge pain is behind them, they have a lot more mobility, and they're feeling more "normal".  Just don't get caught up in the "illusion" that you're done.  Still lots of work to do to strengthen your quads, glutes and core.  You will start seeing a decrease in the "swollen look", heat from the knee and the nerve pain.  However, you are still susceptible to pushing the knee too far on any given day and encounter a swelling episode.  Stay safe; use a pedometer to track your advances.

This is GREAT progress...just take it in stride and keep up the good work.  All that muscle work is intended to support the new knee and take the pressure off of it to do all the work.  Important stuff.  At nine months, you should notice that the knee looks more normal and you should be past the swelling danger zone as your strength has returned.  Climbing stairs will be much easier by then  Expect the nerve issues to linger as well as the clunking and popping sounds.  The one-year mark will be an amazing time as there should be only minor lingering effects.  It's coming...just stay on track and enjoy your current "high".  Use it to propel you to the next level.

Thank you for your response.

What a relief it is to enjoy the knee!

My clunk has reduced a lot... quite miss it!

It does not swell at all at the moment which I am surprised about...just tiny bit occasionally, on medial side, but nothing worth getting an ice pack out for.

The only pain I have is old pain...my medial ligament was sore before the op and seems to have resumed its former state...!

Now nerves better I can feel it! 😊😃

I agree about the continued work. I do exercises in pool with floats for resistance three times a week, plus 30 mins on static bike, lots of stretches and various other exercises, mostly quad and core, as much as possible.

I feel the op is such a major matter, there is no way I would put myself through it if I wasn't prepared to continue with the strengthening. Admittedly it is harder to discipline oneself when all the other responsibilities crowd back into life!

Stairs are now feeling good...recent development, at six months ish. Won't be running down the escalators in London though...!

My knee feels like my own..I am surprised as I was not expecting it. Obviously it is different...no patella tilt like it had previously, for a start, and it is a bit bigger...but really feels at home.

Thank you for your kind encouragements...

Rest of body still gets very tired...it is that that reminds me a lot of healing still going on.

What a relief to just get on with things now. Saw the matissse exhibition at the RA yesterday. Walking, standing, for as long as needed ...no worries, no problems...no need to even think about the knee. Bit achey at end of days but very mild.

😊?🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰 happy bunny!

You're at a tipping point where, since the pain is mostly gone, you don't even think about the knee anymore.  For the past six months, it was the center of your world...now it's not.  That's a huge spiritual lift.  Remember...it keeps getting better...well, almost.  Kneeling will always be an issue because of the nerve damage.  Use a 3" foam pad or old pillow indoors and a pair of SWAT padded tactical knee pads outside for gardening, car work, etc.  (Have something in the trunk of your car in case you need to kneel down to change a flat tire...)  

The strengthening work will be a lifelong necessity.  Can't stop and slide back...only causes more pain.  I'm putting off #2 for at least a year...I need to have some of the more gruesome memories fade a bit more.  Enjoy the freedom...it gets better...

😀😁😃 gruesome memories!?

Ahhh, come on! I think you enjoyed your jokes with the physiotherapists! That is why you have that cowl hanging behind the door isn't it? 😀😁

Kind of them to give it to you as a souvenir!

Know what you mean about not being in a rush for number two!

Kneeling I am fortunate with.. started practicing very early on on bed, because wanted to kneel for yoga ( not with bum on heels type). So i can kneel easily...make sure on something soft.

Feels little odd.

That is all. Kneel all the time. But not on one knee. Always make sure the load is on both. Don't want to mess up my knee!

Well..."gruesome" is overkill.  Some people wonder about my writings and the "attitude" behind them.  There are those who say I'm too scary...sorry, I tell the truth from my perspective.  Sugar-coating this op doesn't help anyone.  Other's enjoy some straight-forward talk...I appreciate that.  Still, others like the occasional humor, literary hyperbole and/or movie references.  Can't help it...I'm chock full of those.

All of this stems from an incredibly lucky and tragic lifetime.  I have been married to three great loves of my life, have three fantastic, successful children (one grandchild), I'm still working fulltime doing what I enjoy in IT at almost age 70 and play blues bass with my band on weekends.  But...and there's always a but...I have endured 28 operations in 17 years, had to deal with the death of my first wife from breast cancer in 1983 at the age of 34 (our daughter was 5), weathered a divorce after 25 years of marriage to my second wife, became caregiver to my third wife in 2010 when she had brain aneurysm surgery after we were married for only six months and felt the crushing blow of my daughter's battle with breast cancer when she was 35 (100% cured from using a specific medicinal plant legal in Colorado).  I deal every day with my wife's limitations and severe depression while trying to recover from both hip and knee replacements plus two spine fusions.  It has not been easy...however, I seem to be a survivor, and I can't be bothered with trivial matters like a slightly swollen knee when I have to care for my wife and work every day.  Somehow, you get to prioritize things in your life and, for me, pain is not one of them.  It's there...I let it go and move on.

"I'm on a mission from God." - John Belushi, The Blues Brothers.  The problem is, I have no idea what that mission is so I take it day by day.  I do this forum as a way of giving something back to people from the wealth of my experience.  If I can make one person a bit happier for one day, that's enough for me.

Yes, it is good to share one's experience and also it is interesting to read of others experiences. You certainly have been formed in the fire!

Major surgery puts people in a difficult place. I guess people's experiences are going to be hugely diverse. The good thing about this forum is the variety.

I think on the internet it is very easy for people to take things in a way that may miss the intention behind them. We can only speak with our own voice. We only get a tiny snippet of the reality. As long as the limitations of the form of communication are born in mind, forums can be useful places. I have found this forum useful personally.

Blessings.