I had TKR 15 days ago.i cannot believe the constant pain. Nights are worse, I can't sleep .i ice 4 or 5 times a night. So glad I installed a small freezer in the bedroom. I do the exercises & can get 90 degrees. Can anyone tell me when the pain subsides. I'm on Paracetamol,codeine & ibuprofen.
Hi Eileen I'm 4 weeks now and although it aches the pain is getting a little easier and don't need as many pain killers. the not sleeping is still and issue as you can't get comfy on your back can you. Just all feels so tight but physio assures me this will come. not sure I've got past should Imhave bothered to do this to myself, but I think the corner has almost been turned. good luck x
At about fifteen days I cried with pain and having to do so many exercises! A couple of weeks after that it started to get a little easier, less pain (stopped codeine as it was knocking me out). Make sure you keep icing and elevating as often as possible. Hang in there it will suddenly improve. ,I'm now at eleven weeks and I cannot believe how much better I feel and how much easier I am moving around. Best wishes for your recovery.
Hi Eileen. I think everyone is different .
I am nearly 8 weeks post op found I turned a corner about 4 weeks but some night still uncomfortable but mosthe people seem to say that a normal.
The one thing that helped me was to do my last set of exercises 1 hour before bedtime. I place a pillow between my knees and sleep on the unoperated side.
It might be worth seeing your GP for Tramodol but they will only givery you a short course. It will get easier but it's still painful if you overdue it but the exercise is important. Stick with the programmes as they say on hete😊😊Best wishes Jan
6 weeks for me , which would seem about the average with luckier healers faster and unlucky ones slower.
Good healing
I think around four weeks it began to become tolerable, although it takes a lot longer than that to be rid of that dragging deep ache . . but the worst was over by four weeks. But everyone is different. You may be quicker!
I am just shy of 4 weeks post op. I really saw a difference in 3 weeks. My knee still aches but it is much more tolerable. I take tramadol before I go to bed and that seems to help.
hang in there
"Can anyone tell me when the pain subsides?"
Nope. It's different for everyone. At 2 weeks, you're what we here call a "Kneebie". Welcome to the club. This may help...
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/the-tkr-experience-or-wish-i-had-another-kidney-stone--524499
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/staying-ahead-of-the-pain-563395
Put aside all thoughts of time frames and expectations. For each of us, the journey is different but there are similarities. Be prepared for advances, setbacks and plateaus (the worst). It's all normal. This takes 9-12 months before you're feeling anywhere near normal again...but some effects can linger 18 months or longer. Any other expectations are delusional.
This hurts...a lot...get used to that...especially at PT. Brutal and medieval. I swear the guy had a Rack and Iron Maiden in the corner plus a dungeon master's cowl hanging on the wall. Gotta be strong...no other choice.
So, I'm not sure where you are, but your pain is not being adequately addressed. Unless your physician is into torture , if you call him, they can give you much stronger meds than you are on. You'll never get past 90 degrees if they don't get your pain to a point that you can work the darn joint. Stand up for your rights!
I had TKR nearly 5 years ago and had this problem with sleeping for quite a while afterwards.
Try sleeping with a pillow either underneath the knee or between your legs (or both).
5 years on I can assure you that the pain does subside but I can't remember how long it took for that to happen.
I went to sleep initially when I went to bed but would then wake up about an hour later with my knee reaslly aching and it took me ages to go to sleep again.
I have always been a good sleeper so this was a real shock to me something I just had not considered.
Hi , I to am 4 weeks today since my TKR but I am still taking 8 cocodamol a day , pain is still terrible but not as bad as 1st week . I can tell each week it's getting s little better but having problems with swelling . I am putting ice on 4 times a day . Good luck Eileen x
While what you say is pretty true for most of us, I have been reading of some people who have a totally different experience. one lady was back to leading hiking groups at thirteen weeks in the Italian Alps . . . I know, seems impossible to most of us mere mortals, but no reason to believe she was lying! regarding agony at PT, I refused to go down that route. I decided to do it on my own, and only ever went up to the 'OUCH dammit that hurts' stage, rather than the literal scream that the physio wanted to evoke. Maybe I was a bit slower, but I am now at 0 extension, and 135 bend, which is OK for me. I don't hold with accepting too much pain!
If we look at recovery times as a normal bell curve distribution (not saying it is but humor me), then 95% of us fall within two standard deviations from the mean. For argument's sake, let's say that those two standard deviations run from a 6-month recovery to a 12-month recovery with the mean at 9 months. That leaves the other 5% at 3 or more SDs from the mean (2.5% lower than 6 months / 2.5% higher than 12 months). These are the "outliers". Every distribution has some.
On the left side, are the 13-week mountain climbers while the 18-month recoveries are at the far right side. All understandable...all part of a normal statistical bell curve distribution. Think...smoking will eventually kill you. Proven fact...but not for everyone. I had a 103-year old great-uncle who smoked his little black cigars every day and never got lung cancer. Outlier.
The thing to remember is that this 5 % are the exceptions and NOT THE RULE! The rest of us mortals are stuck in the 95% umbrella and have to deal with real life. I have pity for those at the far right end of the curve...they need to be brave souls...
Hi
I was the same did not do too much exercise as pain too great, so did my own thing which also worked out for me as well.
good healing
Hi Chris. I know what you mean @ the pain nobody mentions it before. I'm 17 days ( & counting) post op & also thinking ,why did I have this done.the nights are worse. I ice 3 or 4 times during night to get some relief. The good & positive thing is, TKR is generally a very successful op everyone I have spoken to say it's the best thing they ever did. I think we just have to keep doing the exercises & rest & when the swelling goes down it will all get easier. Some of us take longer,it depends how much help you get & how much you can rest in between times.
Hi Jan, thanks for your reply,it's very encouraging as I am only just into my third week. I suppose maybe the pain isn't quite so intense, it just keeps me awake. For 2 weeks I've been on codeine,& paracetamol, I haven't taken the liquid morphine or Tramadol the hospital sent me home with, as I couldn't cope with the side effects. Now I'm off the blood thinning the doc said I can have ibuprofen & at night. Yes I do the exercises only 2-3 times a day & I walk indoors, so far every hour. with one crutch now ,as physio told me to. Good luck too for your full recovery, I can't wait for mine .
Hi Sheila. I'm only a week behind you & am @ the same. I take paracetamol & codeine, & now I'm off the blood thinners doc said I can take ibuprofen,I can't take the liquid morphine or Tramadol as can't deal with the side effects. I ice regularly. Do you do much @ the house. .? I've started to as my husband had a stroke & it's not easy . I'm looking forward to a full recovery. Good luck for yours too
aww thanks martinavelo,that's encouraging. I'm at least halfway, but even though the pain seems a tad more tolerable, unless it's me getting use of o it. I feel guilty only doing exercises 3 times a day but I do walk about with one crutch, good luck
hi Robin, is Tramadol all you take. I have some doc gave me but made me nauseous also the liqui morphine. Am frightened to take it. I eiither lie awake with a he pain or if I take them I'm awake bein I'll. I take codeine paracetamol & ibuprofen. Good luck
three times a day sounds pretty good to me!!! I did start walking quite a lot around four weeks. . into the cold and rain, but it never seemed to stop, and I live in tenerife! I think it helped. . . .Used both crutches to ensure that I used the right movement, and had to concentrate on that after years of dragging a sgtraight leg! Brain kept getting in the way!