What pain is considered normal after TKR?
Posted , 20 users are following.
11 days post RTKR and experiencing a lot of severe pain. Neuropathic pains at night are about a 10. The kneecap is super tender to touch and has sharp pains on moving. I'm taking the meds as prescribed but they barely keep the pain bearable and certainly not those at 3 am which are searing down the whole leg.
?Had physio today which seems to have made it all worse.
?Everyone I speak to seems to make more progress with less pain than me, although I know we cannot compare against others of course, I do wonder if my pain is to be expected or something to worry over? Today sat next to a guy who only took one dose of painkillers after surgery and has great results with his knee. I have been similar with other types of surgery so never expected to be so floored by TKR.
?Old knee very painful and limiting but at least I could manage the pain. I am going back to the GP to review the meds. The ones I have not strong enough really and making me drowsy with low BP and feeling faint, not something to be when on crutches.
?I know it can get better with time but do high levels of post op pain and neuro pain indicate something not going right (no signs of infection etc) or can these too resolve?
?It is hard to perform the excercises in this state causing concern about range of movement etc.
0 likes, 77 replies
chris00938 cynthia89958
Posted
Oh Cynthia, that sounds SO painful and my heart goes out to you! I was the opposite end with pain and really didn't have any but I know many on here did. I'me thinking Clive, for one. Have you got your dressing off now and is the wound healed? If that side of it is OK and IF you can get in a bath then that's what helped Clive so much. What helped me hugely (I'm now 4 weeks post op today) was when Sue told me about using heat before exercises. So I got a jug of hot water, soaked three flannels in it, and wrapped those around the knee and covered with towels to keep the heat in and refreshed the flannels again a couple of times, so there was heat on it for 10 - 15 minutes. It made so much differnce with exercise that it was little short of miraculous! It all makes sense really - when you exercise, you're told to 'warm up' and before then I was icing constantly so even before exercise, which was crazy! So everything was tightened up before I was trying to stretch it!
Regarding the pain, the only problem I had was a pinching/cramping at the back of the leg on extreme bend, so I can't speak from experience but it does seem that everything seems to come under the realms of 'normal'! The after effects of the op seem to range so hugely that you can't begin to imagine them! I think because they've cut nerves and everything else then getting some nerve pain is probably normal. I had a few twinges on an area that's still mainly numb but guess it might get more feeling as it all heals. I had a very good range of movement right from the start but was still hung up about it thinking there is a window of opportunity to 'achieve' and was probably pushing myself too fast. There is not a limited time to achieve this bend, from what I now understand, so don't get as anxious about it as I was. But do try the heat. Also, Chico recommended Voltarol which I'm now using three times a day for a week, as well, to help that pain at the back of the knee on the extreme bend. But everyone progressed at their own pace and everyone experiences this op differently. I'm waiting to get my second knee done and I know that experience might well be very different from the first knee - that seems to be how it goes! Get the pain meds you need though. I know what you mean about blood pressure. I nearly passed out on my second day in hospital (the day I should have come home) because my blood pressure dropped to 60 something over 40 something but it happened before after a major op, so I guess now I'm forewarned and perhaps it was the meds both times. But I came off them all on my second day apart from codeine at night for a couple more days, and then it was just paracetamol and Ibuprofen for a few more days, but you need to find what's good for you.
eileen15268 cynthia89958
Posted
Hi Cynthia. So sorry that you're feeling so awful. I can fully sympathise with you & know how it is. I am 9 weeks post now it is much easier though nights have never been good & I still struggle for more than 2-3 hours at a time. I ice ice ice , it does help. I've been back to my doctor several times to get different meds but nothing takes it away completely. The good thing is everyone I talk to say it's the best thing they ever did. So like us all , hang in there. This Thread is so amazing
& Tkr folk who know how it is ,hold each other up, it truly has been my saviour knowing I'm normal & not the only one lying in bed with pain & getting so much encouragement & help. Now at 9 weeks I am much better & feel human , I pray that you will soon be able to cope more & the pain is controlled. Hugs
chris00938 eileen15268
Posted
Eileen, are you also finding that the op itself seems such a long time ago now? I'm post four weeks and my husband and I were both saying it feels like months ago now. It's all gone very quickly in a way. And four weeks post op feels very grown up somehow LOL!
Duckfan chris00938
Posted
I just entered my 5th week and I agree it seems like years ago. I'll be glad when my knee is no longer the topic of conversation.
chris00938 Duckfan
Posted
LOL! I know just what you mean Duckfan! I felt today as though I was begining to milk this, if you know what I mean - that I should be moving on more and not giving it so much thought now. The sticks are a thing of the past and while I'm still icing several times a day I just feel as though it's all getting a bit boring now LOL! I suspect that the dramas are behind me and it's just a steady progression to forgetting about it now. I hope I'm not wrong though LOL!
eileen15268 chris00938
Posted
Yes Chris op feels a lifetime away. Mine was 21 January. Those days & nights were extreme & now after 9 weeks although I don't always feel brilliant I can see how far that I have come. I guess now I've had enough & want to get my life back to normal but I know it won't be for a while yet. A good night's sleep would help. Thank god for this forum it helps me & encourages me no end. x
chris00938 eileen15268
Posted
I hope you can very soon get that good night's sleep Eileen. It certainly makes a huge difference! Yes, I SO agree. If it hadn't been for this forum I'd have been in an utter panic several times! We've all learned SO much through our own and others' experiences! Mostly, that 'it's normal' LOL!
eileen88018 chris00938
Posted
Yes it does seem longer Chris 4 weeks tomorrow for me and I went out for the 1st time today except for GP last week but decided to go to Tesco food shopping with my husband just to get me out of the house for an hour or two ...bad mistake half way round I could feel my knee going tighter and tighter but I percerviered came home took painkillers fell asleep for less than an hour it seems to have eased a bit now thank the Lord my own fault shouldn't of done that much on 1st day lol
Duckfan chris00938
Posted
Yes I don't miss cooking and washing clothes. I wonder to if I'm not enjoying the pampering a little to much. Nahh🤣🤣
chris00938 eileen88018
Posted
Ouch - that sounds sore Eileen! I think you need to start these trips very gently. My first one was to a cafeteria where they did lovely cakes, so I could do an eight minute walk from the car to chair, sit for about 45 minutes, and then an eight minute walk back, and then I very gradually increased it. But I'm sure with ice and elevation now you'll be fine again soon. When I feel I've pushed it with walking I've left off the bending exercise that day to give it a chance to recover:-) Our whole bodies need building up after this trauma, and it is tiring doing stuff. I cleaned a bit of the kitchen today LOL! That was a milestone LOL! But you might sleep better tonight, for the exercise:-)))
chris00938 Duckfan
Posted
It was when I told my husband that I'm really able to do drinks now (and his) that he began to point the way to the kitchen LOL! I don't think I actually went in it for the first week or so LOL! But seeing the cooker wasn't clean today got me going and starting a bit of cleaning:-))))
eileen88018 chris00938
Posted
Ha ha I know Chris my husband tries his best but he cleans in a fashion lol. He is a decent cook though and I'm rather getting used to this after 35 years working very long hours as a support worker in other words I'm getting lazy lol. I'm going to drag this out for a while longer I think pay back time 😂😂😂
chris00938 eileen88018
Posted
LOL! Like it LOL! Yes, my husband prepared a full roast dinner VERY well the first and second Sunday after I came back, all on his own! I was impressed. But I wouldn't let him loose with an ironing, so this week, four weeks after the op, the time has come for me to catch up with it!
eileen88018 chris00938
Posted
Yep the ironing is something I must tackle this weekend . he cleaned the kitchen floor today it looked awful when i asked him what he'd used he showed me the spray Omg dettol surface spray some things you just have to do yourself lol
marilyn10235 eileen88018
Posted
I agree with you ladies. My husband did a good job, but he's no cook, doesn't iron, doesn't seem to notice dust, thinks the vacuum is for Saturday only & as for the washing machine - just don't get me started!!!
It was soooo good to take back control!! Not that I'm a control freak (I hope) of course lol!!!
Marilyn
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chris00938 eileen88018
Posted
Oh bless him LOL! At least he tried LOL! My husband has just said he's going to steam all the floors this weekend. We did them just before I went in (I was neurotic about infection and even put all my clothes I was coming home in through a Dettox wash LOL!) so it's getting back to routines now. I got woken up three times by the phone this morning and leapt out of bed and marched into where my husband was, complaining, because I'd not slept well and never gave the knee a thought LOL! Normality is definitely on the way!
chris00938 marilyn10235
Posted
LOL! I have to admit that my husband really is very well trained but to the point of him being obsessive. He won't go out anywhere unless he's vacuumed through first - every room. He started doing it many years ago when arthritis crippled me. The only morning he didn't go out without vacuuming was when we had to leave home at 5.30 to get to the hospital for the knee op for 6.30. Dusting - yep - he's good. His weak point is windows and ironing. But it's SO good for me to look forward to the day where I can do the vacuuming again myself. It needs that other knee done though!
eileen15268 chris00938
Posted
chris00938 eileen15268
Posted
Yes, I know:-))) I'll tell him:-))))