05/02/17 I had my left leg done and the pain is unreal. The right was done on 12/15/16 and although I thought that was a tough one and still is the left makes me feel like I whine about it constintly. "Ouch " is frequently coming out of my mouth (awake or not.) The major complaint is a pinching in my butt cheek that goes all the way to the back of my calf and to the inside of my foot. I believe it to be Sciatca or muscle pain. It would be great to have someone dig there fingers deep in there and massage the entire length. The other pain just comes as it wants and leaves immediately. It feels like a sharp pain someone refers to it as lighting, which is associated whith a dull pain either right before or afterwards. Any advice? I have a great doctor but feel like a pest.
Hi. I too had my first TKR in January and my second in April. Both times I endured the same problem in my buttock, on the side of the op, it was awful. I finally wore a Sacroiliac belt, every day. It relieved the pain both times. The pain finally disappeared after about 8 weeks. I do hope this helps. The pain is as bad as that from the op. Good luck
Sciatica (pain from the lower back through the hip and butt and down your leg) is a frequent complaint in TKR patients. It comes from changing your gait ("walking funny" to avoid the knee pain. As you do that, you can "throw your back out". Actually, it's not so much your back as your pelvis and hips. When they get out of alignment or the SI (sacroiliac) joints get locked up, you can have sciatic pain. Very common.
I got mine 5 weeks post-op. A few weeks with a chiropractor at 2-3x/week fixed me up just fine. No pain meds...just chiro. Also helpful is Voltaren Gel (RX in the US); great topical anti-inflammatory. Also, pick up a $20 TENS unit at your local store. That helps block the sciatic nerve impulses.
Last October, I had severe sciatica down both legs...it wasn't sciatica. It was spinal stenosis at L2/L3. MRI and then a CT/Myelogram with contrast confirmed it. LLIF (lateral fusion) surgery fixed it in one day. Check that it's not really stenosis...