Hi all, not been around much lately as the dark clouds have been hanging around a bit too much......
Anyway, I realised a while ago that much of what we experience post TKR is the norm......so I'm just checking - I'm 9 weeks out, and I've started to experience a real sore stiffness in the back of the knee, going down into the top of the calf muscle.....I'm putting it down to different muscle groups coming back into use, but would appreciate others thoughts on it........
I'm 11 weeks and the stiffness at the back of the knee is what i struggle with the most lately. It's definitely muscle related, in my case at least. The day after a physio session I always end up with a lump in the area. My PT said its because I'm working that muscle more than its worked in years (my leg hasn't straightened for years before op) It's difficult and painful but the more I massage it, the better it feels.
My calf is also hard and painful. Again this is because the muscles are getting used to being used again. The more stretching I do the better that gets (that pain has almost gone over the last week). The best stretch I've found for this is hanging the heal of the operated leg off the edge of the bottom stair (so you're balancing on the ball of the foot). You'll need to hold on as you let your body weight go through the leg. Hold it for 30 seconds. You should be able to feel the calf really pull and stretch.
You also need to remember to stretch out the thigh muscles too.
I was told that the more I did these, it would help loosen up the muscles and therefore be less painful. It is certainly better than it has been so the idea is working for me.
Hello Terri. I'm getting this too. I'm 8 weeks post op and it's the thing that is bothering me the most right now. At least on here eye can find out that it's normal or not eh. I hope you start to feel better soon. I'm on countdown to going back to work, seems impossible the way I feel right now! X
It wouldn't hurt to mention it to your PT. I had something similar, but I felt it almost immediately after surgery. It felt like a knot or something that hurt terribly. If I put heat on it, that helped, but I was told heat was not good for the healing of the knee. I would massage it and the PT had me do some other stretches to loosen it up. It seriously took months. But stretching it really did make it feel better.
Snap to your details,, I hope its the different muscle groups, seeing a Doc on Monday about diabetes blood results so will havea chat with him and physio Tuesday. As we are all in the same boat will report back.
Same thing here. Eight weeks post and I have stiffness and achiness all night. Just things coming back to life I think. At least I hope. Burning is almost gone and I can feel both sides of my knee when I touch the skin.
Yes Terri I wss the same. I had a really good physio session and experienced this muscle pain afterwards. As doctor simply said "Don't worry, good work, keep it up."
Hope other things are settling down for you.
Take care and keep in touch
Praying for you
Love Sarah xx
Thanks Kathryn, I had wondered about doing that particular stretch you mentioned, as it feels as though everything is "bunched up". Im definitely going to incorporate it into the other ones I do, see if it helps. I have to agree, also, that the muscles are working in different ways, and much harder, than theyve had to do for a long time, so its bound to take its toll I suppose......
Thanks for your reply Elaine, I never thought Id be thankful for being made redundant last month, but at least I havent got to worry about the return to work.....Im allowing myself some time out (especially as Im facing a TKR on my other leg in the next few months 
before launching myself back into the rat-race.....not had to job-hunt for 25 years, so that should be fun......
I hope that it goes well for you, at least youve got us all on here to rely on xx
Hi there, I remember in the very early days after surgery I had the same knotty feeling you described, my Physio said it was just things reattaching themselves....seems to be the answer to most things! Funny that I only just remembered that, it must have just worked itself out with the physio exercises.
Hi Hazel, it would be good to hear what the Physio has to say about it, Im on a temporary break from Physio at the moment, I have an assessment in 2 weeks to see how Im getting on without it, but I think I'll probably give them a call before the appointment and see about restarting it, Im really missing it.....
Thanks Sarah, its so difficult to balance isnt it, a really good session leads to more pain, but if we dont do enough then we end up with a different type of pain! xx
Snap Sherri! The numbness is all but gone (SUCH a relief as I had no feeling at all on the outsied of my leg from mid-thigh to ankle for 5 days after surgery!). Its such a shame that as we get better in some ways, there is something else just around the corner! And it has to be at night!!
You guys are the best! Ive been a bit silly, not coming on here as much, because Ive been feeling so down (lots of other bad things going on at the moment, including being diagnosed last week with probable Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in both hands, for which Ive got to undergo investigations, tests, ands worse case scenario is surgery...) As soon as I come on here, Im reassured that the niggly, unusual things that are happening due to the TKR are actually normal, and we are all practically Textbook! The timeline in particular fascinates me, as although we are all different, and we all have very different knees, we seem to hit the same hurdles at the same point....
Just talking about it to people who understand is cathartic, and makes me feel like theres a light at the end of the tunnel - although it seems to be a ruddy long tunnel and a very dim light!
TKR - THE GIFT THAT JUST GOES ON GIVING!!
I had carpal tunnel in both wrists. Surgery one month after the other. It is a piece of cake compared to the knees. But still, who wants to think about another surgery. At a little over three months I had an umbilical hernia and had to have surgery again! It was during that hospital stay that the nurses saw all my hair loss. I lost 1/2 my hair from the stress of the knee surgery!!!
Lucky you! I'm still numb from top of thigh down to just below the knee . . no sign of it going at 17 weeks! I think it may be permanent now,.
Hi terri my husband has had both wrist operated for carpal tunnel syndrome. . and it really isn't much to worry about! and here speaks someone who believes you should tell people the truth, and not pussy foot around! OK it wasn't me, buyt I know my husbands, and I know he would have been complaining bitterly if it was painful . . Of course, it's annoying. . .for a few days it does make things a bit difficult, as tghe wrist and hand are bandaged. . . but it you are losing feeling in your fingers, maybe getting pain in the wrist and arm at night, then it's worth having it donw before the damage is permanent! Because that is what can happen if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, and leave it for a long time. After a TKR it really is a walk in the park!
WHOOPs I meant husband. . .I only have one, honestly!
Haha are you sure? Needed a laugh, thanks!
And thanks for the reassurance about the CTS surgery, I was starting to build it up into some horrible, scary prospect. But as its sometimes taking me up to half an hour to regain the feeling in my hands in a morning, I didnt feel i could - or indeed should - delay any longer.
I think you are right. the pressure on the nerve will finally destroy it, and it will be too late to get the feeling back. . It takes several months (in my husband's case) to get the feeling back, so don't be disappointed if it isn't immediate! He couldn't do buttons up on his shirt . . or any careful work . . .and at night the pain in his arms was keeping him awake. the test they do is not bad either. They do insert a sort of blunt needle . . but it doesn't draw blood or anything like that! I;ve had it done on my legs, and on the head . . Not so nice on the head..but still nothing really bad! Quite typical if you have low thyroid. . . .