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 am the same at 8 months. I had MUA's on both knees because I couldn't straighten after some months, but my last one didn't make any difference. Except that it hurts more...all around the knee cap. This knee has always hurt, right from waking up in the recovery room. My quads have historically always been very tight, and this hasn't helped. Like you, I have to stand for a while and let my leg ratchet down before attempting to walk. It's so frustrating. I've had another X-ray which shows that my knee is perfectly aligned, but my consultant has said that it must be excess scar tissue. I could well have to have the knee opened up again at the year stage and have the tissue cut, the spacers replaced and the knee washed out. I would then have to be on a CPM machine again...and have the leg splinted at nighttime. Not a nice thing to contemplate!
Yes I am the same. 6 months and leg aches down the side. The pain goes on..... I still have problems walking downstairs and bend not that great. Back to consultant next week!
Hi Suzi. I am 8 months tkr and my knee is still tight and swells. I can go up and downstairs OK and straighten it completely however would like the bend to get better. Most days it is not too painful but I do get lots of either muscle pains in both legs
I think probably my body is having to walk normally which it hasn't for years. I know someone who had a tkr and they said it takes at least a year till you feel normal again
I am now 7 months post TKR. My knee doesn't hurt but it kind of locks up. If I stand still it clicks at the back when I bend it. It clicks at the back quite painfully and quite often, I'm hoping that will pass.
My other leg, which had nothing wrong with it until my spinal block, which went wrong, is still numb down the outside.
Last week I got horrible pains in my good leg called shin splints. The doctor thinks it's because it was taking the strain off the TKR leg.
Hi Suzi & Caz - good to see some familiar names again 😄
I'm going into my tenth month and although I don't have pain per se, I still can not bend it as normally as my other knee and it's not completely straight either, as I feel a pull when walking. Strangely riding the stationery bike, I feel no pain or stiffness at all. It's just the walking where I feel the pull.
My knee is also still swollen a bit.
I was wondering if those of you in the later months as I are still doing the exercises we were given at the beginning? I'm just walking & riding bike, so maybe that's why bend & straightness is not there yet?
Hi Betty I'm about 9 months post op and my knee is still giving me pain at times too. My bend is only about 105 but the straight is really good. I run a small nursery - plants not children, and have to do a lot of standing and walking so didn't do much other exercise since about beginning of March as I thought I was doing enough walking. I now wonder if that's why it's got painful again. I have started exercises again and although painful at first, the knee definitely feels better afterwards. Like you, I wonder how long I have to keep these exercises going. They are pretty time consuming. Just lately though, the other knee has been playing up. I know it will need replacing but after the first time, I intend to get lots of injections before going down the TKR route until absolutely necessary!! All the best to you xx
Hi Ruby - yes, I'm thinking I should go back to all those other exercises again, but as you said, they are so darn time consuming! Especially as we progress in our healing & getting on with our lives again, the exercises are hard to fit in!
My other knee is "holding it's own" for the time being, but I fear a hip replacement may be in my future. I have a lot of groin pain & people say that is usually coming from the hip. When I go for my one year check up for my knee, I will have more x-rays done.
Thanks for replying and good luck to you. I'm envious of your job - I love gardening, plants - nature!
Oh Betty I think it's the nature of the beast - you get one thing sorted (or nearly in the case of our knees) and something else decides it needs looking at!!! I don't know what's worse, hip pain or knee pain😊 The nursery has kept me going these past few months as I'm sure I would be getting very depressed by now if not for growing these lovely plants and making up hanging baskets etc. I live on a farm and we diversified from sheep farming to growing and selling plants. I'm sure it was lambing season that finished my knee off lol. I hope it all goes well for you at your year check up and that the pain you are in goes very soon. My year check is in August so I will carry on exercising, icing and walking and see what happens then.
take care love and don't overdo the exercising xxx
Thankyou Sarah. I know I'm still at an early stage but no one tells us that to begin with. My surgeon said I would hate him for 6 weeks and then start to feel better! Well I'm not a hater but hey guess what - I'm still not keen on him lol
The muscles feel so tight and this tightness above the knee is annoying. It seemed to go away for a while but it soon came back!
I'll just look forward to the end of another 6 months!
Nice to hear from you again I think you're right Betty! I know the surgeon on my last visit told me to keep on with the stretches to get it straight. Keep on with the pedal exerciser. And suggested hydro therapy again - this at 6 months! I can't get time off work but I'm walking and stretching a lot and use the pedal thingy!
Nothing seems to be happening tho. But I guess it will. He also suggested rubbing in Voltarin. That seems to help - I think!
Hi Suzie, my surgeon explained that the large ligament above the knee is sliced lengthwise during surgery and takes a lo-o-ong time to heal. That might explain the tightness above the knee. I'm only at 13 weeks, but my physio has taught me some basic massage techniques for that ligament and the thigh muscles. She's really keen on strengthening all the muscles above the knee, so I need the massage to relieve the pain from the excercises!!! I know you're back at work, but it might be worth finding someone who can show you a few massage tips. The voltarin might be working, but it could also be the heat and massage while rubbing it in?
Nice to see you. We only need Jean and Rolland to complete the "old group". And Soobeedoo, last seen on her bike riding around the British countryside.
Before these shin splints attacked me last week, life was too idyllic, I should have known. Hubby and I were walking every day along the seafront in glorious weather. I have lost the 10kg that I put on from before my op, when I was inactive. Des has lost 12kg, just to outdo me!
We are all booked up for our holiday in July to Mauritius, Paris and UK.
Off to see Spandau Ballet soon, and AC/DC in November.
I have physio for these shin pains, he massages that big muscle that run down the leg from the knee. It really hurts when he massages, but after I get relief.
I have also come to the conclusion that I have to do my old exercises because my bend seemed to be deteriorating.
Nice to see you back to normality. How is your daughter now, much better I hope. I am 6 months now and am having the shin pain and awful aches in the ankles. Looking back on the newly ooerated ones now it seems odd to think back to the bad days doesn't it? Still glad to see how you and the others that gave me good advice when things were bad in the early days are doing. Good luck to everyone xx
Arent the shin and ankle pains awful? I find a hot water bottle helps. Its still comforting to pop on here and find out that you aren't the only one suffering with something. Kind of makes it normal and not so scary. I was terrified when I couldn't stand last week.
My daughter is doing much better. Thanks for asking. They are monitoring her periods and, all being well, will give her the fertility drug next month. She has told me that if it doesn't work, she will demand a hysterectomy. The endometriosis will only come back again and again.
