Hi
I am still lurking around this site and have learnt a lot about knee replacement.
I will have to have a knee replacement at some time but I am terrified of this opertion so I have read a lot about it so that I am as informed as possible.
I am puzzled by the statement that it will never fell completely like a normal knee that I so often read and wondered if anyone could try and tell me how it feels different.
I have had a hip replacement which had to be redone but it feels pretty much like a normal hip apart from the occasional ache so I am just curious about why a knee replacement feels different to a normal knee.
8 months on, & I can say it feels like a lump of lead (which I suppose it is). Mine has not gone smoothly, & I am booked in for a revision, but I have not met anyone who hasn't said it feels like a normal knee. You are very aware of it. I have a friend who has got used to it, she also had both hips done previously, & said there is no comparision to the two proceedures. There must be folk who get on fine with their new knee, but they are not likely to be on a site that helps all of us with our woes! They are the lucky ones who get back to work asap etc etc. You may fall in that category!
I get on fine with my new knee and I am on this site!!
Yes it is not like a normal knee but if you get to the point where you need a knee replacement then your knee is not normal anyway.
If it'snot broken don't fix it!
Sarah x
I am only 12 week post op, so maybe mine is not a balanced view.My new knee is heavy (my prosthesis weighs much more than my old knee)it still feels like a bit of machinery, in addition to look at my new knee is much larger so my legs are now odd(this is not due to sweeling)I can actually hear it moving ! I have a large numb area due to nerve damage during surgery! people who have had it done longer than me tell me that they are still aware of it being different. Those are the negative aspects,but on a positive note apart from the expected post op discomfort , THE PAIN HAS GONE , so I guess this is the biggest difference, good luck
I had TKR 3 years ago. It was very successful.It is not like a normal knee but if your get to the point where you need a knee replacement then yur knee is not normal anyway.
Yes it is a long recovery period and hard work but well worth it in the end.
It is certainly nothing to be frightened about.
Take care and keep in touch.
Praying for you.
Sarah xx
I don't know if it will ever feel totally normal . .23 weeks now, and it still hurts going down stairs, is still totally numb on the outside of the knee, and there is still a feeling of tightnessI above the knee. . . but I can walk well, can bend to 120 which I think is about as far as I am going to get . .and apart from the occasional ache is pain free, so definitely an improvement on what it was like before.
Thanks for your reply and glad to hear that you are doing well. My main problem is pain when walking and the feeling of bones in my knee grating and grinding over each other. Going up and down stairs is very difficult and when I wake up in the morning have to come downstairs one at a time
Not sure how much longer I can wait before surgery
Probably not a good idea to leave it too long. . also important to prepare for it, strengthening arm muscles to prepare for using the crutches, and if possible strengthening leg muscles as well. Apparently that helps with recovery afterwards. My knee sounds as if it was similar to yours. . bruning pain after walking for a few minutes, unable to go up or down stairs normally. I had an arthroscopic op first, but it made it worse, so had to go for the TKR . . glad I had it done now! (I wasn;t for the first few weeks I have to admit!)
Thanks for the reply. I am doing some exercises already and trying to stay as active as possible. Do you find it easier to go up and down stairs after the op
well i try and explain why if i can ive got 2 new knees first you will never be able to kneel down which i really miss as i cant get down to clean out presses that are down low .because of this also if i bend the more than my knee will allow (ive got 110 on one and just under 100 on the other ) im in agony even if it only lasts a few minuites is scary .the knee is more complicated than the hip as its a hinge. another thing that the new knee cant do easy is to get up off the ground on your own without the help of holding on to something to lever you up i supose what im trying to say its different because i have to do things with my knee in mind rather then just doing it as i did before my knee replacement
I can actually kneel . .although I do it only 'in extremis' and on a very soft pillow or cushion. My bend is about 120, although after icing I did actually manage to get to 130 today . .I know kneeling is not recommended so I don't do it very often, but today I was trying to sort out linens which are in the spcae under the bed, and there was really no way to do it without getting on the floor. I'm nearly six months post TKR . .and I'm hoping that the stiffness and pain may subside even more, and I'll be able to go down stairs like a normal person. it certainly takes time. . how long ago were your TKR's???
I'm OK going up stairs now. . no problem . . but going down is still painful . . it seems to cause pain both in the knee and the hip, probably because I am not really doing the movement properly, trying to avoid pain. I'm not sure why it hurts, because I have enough bend to cope with it . .(120) Actually, at the moment I'm back to one at a time, but not because of the knee, but the ankle on the 'good 'leg, which I think is tarsal tunnel syndrome . . like carpal tunnel syndrome, but on the ankle, so I fear I may be back in the operating room soon! Still, I thihnk it will be a lot easier than a TKR . . .
What is a normal knee if you are in pain? I had my left done 8 years ago and it is fine the only thing I can't kneel down. My right is 15 weeks po and it feels similar to the left knee now, to mer its now 'normal' In winter I have felt the cold more in the left knee so suppose winter will also affect my right knee.
Don't worry about the op. If it takes your pain away and gives you a new quality of life then its worth going through the hard work of exercising, pain meds for a while.
Hi Christine,
I had bilateral TKR's 16 weeks ago. I think most of the people on the blog have had their surgeries more recently. At least I hope that is the reason people say they will never feel like a normal knee. I can say having them both done that neither feels the same. For me it's the muscle soreness and tendon issues not the "joint". So I'm hoping as time goes on they will feel like "normal"...though better than what I had.
When you say about bend, my physio told me this week that my new knee wouldn't go beyond 120 (I'm only at 90 on my own but he pushed it to 110 without pain). Is this not correct - do they go further?
It can't be explained, but when you have yours you will understand. Oh! You will have one, as soon as the pain gets unbearable, you are tired of taking pills, the shots or injections no longer work, but worst of all you can't do everyday thing, riding a long distance in a car, go fishing or do your job satifactory. sometimes the cure seems worst than the problem: but its actually not. I am 56 years old/ employed by a school system/ work with Special Neefs childreN; for the past 6-7 years I have worked with a program called Earlybirds. Which is DD students age 3-5. Some not potty trained or cannot feed themselves. I also work with a blind child for two years. So little people, little furniture. Carpet sitting etc. So I am looking forward to run, jump and skip again. 
Hi Christine, I'll be 5 months post tkr next week, and I suppose the knee still feels different to the other one, but most of the time I don't notice it. It's so hard to describe - it certainly doesn't hurt. When I first stand up after sitting for a while, it's stiff, but the old one was worse. If I said that it feels more solid than the other, does that make sense? Not heavy, but more substantial. It moves really well, I've got normal extension, and am over 140 degree bend (hoping to reach 150, especially after a physio told me not to expect much more than 120). Yesterday I walked up 3 flights of stairs without holding on and felt great afterwards!
It's a scary op, especially if you read this forum beforehand. Luckily I didn't, so ignorance certainly was bliss! I had nowhere near the pain that I was expecting, and on day 12 the physio took away my crutches and told me to stop limping. That was a shock to the system, because I was expecting to be molly-coddled for at least a few months. I did use a stick in the garden for another 2 weeks, and if I had to go into town, I used a stick to warn others to keep away.
I did a lot of muscle strengthening excercises before the op, which everyone tells me helped, I was very eager to get it over and done, and I remained positive throughout. Yes, you'll have bad days, but take your meds before you need them, and before any physio, rest as much as you can, hydrate, and when the mad miseries strike, just accept that that's all part of it. Not all of us have had a really dreadful time, and chances are, you could be one of the lucky ones.
Best of luck,
Denise from Oz
Hi Denise. I'm 5 weeks post op and my physio told me the other day that it won't go past 120, not that I shouldn't expect it to! I am only just over 90 bending it on my own but he pushed it to about 110 without it hurting me.
What exercises did you do to get such a good bend? I'm 49 so want to get as much movement as I possibly can!
my bi lateral was done in december 2012 but my tibia (shin bone) was broken during the op on one knee ,3 mths later i had broken cement in that knee and it had to be opened up and cleaned out .so that knee was not right later in sept 1013 i had keyhole mau to bend it that didnt work for long .so last august 2014 i had a revision tkr and im slowly getting there after a misserable two and a half years
I'm interested to know why you can't kneel down . . I can do this, but because everyone says it's a no-go area I don't do it except in extreme need. . Do you say you can't kneel because you know you shouldn't or because it causes pain, or is it that the knee wont bend enough??? I had to clear out old sheets and things stored under the bed yesterday, and did have to kneel to get down on the floor . .doesn't seem to have done any harm, but I am a bit wary of it. . . .