TKR Am I normal?

Cedar41

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I had Right Total Knee Replacement and I am happy to find this forum. My surgery was Jan 21st for total knee. I had partial knee in 2004 so I’m surprised at the pain from this surgery although Im female older (73) now and have arthritis in my lower back. My question is I had spinal block with this surgery and I’m having terrible sciatica pain. Is this common, is there a normal pain from spinal block or is this unusual.
Another question is I’m still very sore in my thigh from I assume from the tourniquet but also my calf and chin are very tender to the touch so I’m curious what is the cause of this
Thank You
Also if I want to reply how do I do that
 
Last edited:
@Cedar41 Welcome to BoneSmart and the other side of surgery. Can you tell us which knee was replaced? I'll pop the information in your signature for you.

I had sciatic pain post LTHR. You are walking differently now and just had a major procedure. The impact may have aggravated your sciatic nerve. Is the pain on your op side? I found very light hamstring stretches helped but you may not be able to do them until your new knee is ready.

Are you working with any physio? Someone with spinal expertise might also help.

All those other aches and pain are totally normal at this stage in recovery. Ice and elevate and take any pain medication as prescribed. All this will ease. It just takes a bit of time.

I'll leave our recovery guidelines here for you:
Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary

2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this Activity progression for TKRs

6. Access these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
I had a spinal block both times and never suffered with sciatica so think it more likely the new gait. After my first TKR I suffered terribly with low back pain when walking that I put down to my legs being uneven. So far, after the second one it hasn't been a problem, but I'm only doing 10 minute walks at present so keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't recur as I become more active.

I do have a tender calf this time, did have it checked to rule out a DVT, but no idea why you would have a tender chin. I hope things improve for you soon.
 
Had 1st lumbar fusion (age 24) with a ruptured disk and right sciatic nerve damage (took me a year to walk again without dragging my foot; steel slatted back brace for 6 months); sciatica most of my life afterwards.

2nd spinal reconstruction age 53 (broke back at 1st fusion; put in cadaver bone graft between vertebrae and lifted spine off of nerve, 2 titanium clamps, 4 pedicle screws, more bone graft to hold everything together. Lots of sciatica for 3 months then only occaisionally. Was much better than every day all day and night. Now, several times a week at night.

2 things really help me now -- a TENS machine (LG for about $100 purchased online) and 4% Lidocaine patches. Gets me thru many nights. Before knee surgery also would lie on floor with knees at right angle (on chair) for 15-30 minutes at a time. Moving thru-out the day helps, sitting can be deadly.

Knee surgery and PT have aggrevated the sciatica. Worse for me is sleeping on my back and with knees mostly straight. Will have to grin and bear it until can lie on my left side again.
 
Scroll down to the bottom of the thread, you'll see a box into which you can type

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If you want to quote some text to make a specific reply, highlight it and click 'Quote'

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and at the bottom use the 'insert quotes' button

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Hello @Cedar41 - and :welome:

Please will you tell us which knee was operated on each time, so we can make a complete signature for you? Knowing the exact date will help us to advise you appropriately in the future.
Thank you.:flwrysmile:

It's possible that you chin is sore because the anaesthetist was holding it forward during your surgery. Sometimes it's necessary to do that, to maintain your airway while you're sedated.

Your leg is moved around a lot during the surgery and it's also possible that it was held by the calf at some stage during the procedure. If your calf pain increases, you should notify your surgeon, just to make sure that the pain isn't caused by a blood clot.
 
Today marks one month for my new knee. I started PT in town last week and been told my range of motion great
today I’m trying to switch from Percocet to Tramadol, so far so good
i actually walked up the stairs normally this am, but holding on to rails.

hoping everyone has a great pain free weekend
 
My TKR was Jan 21st. I still cant seem to get my energy level up to what I’m use to. Is this normal. I walk up and down stairs many time a day but by 3 I’m pooped.
Also the back of my thigh where the tourniquet was really hurts when Im drive. I
just wonder if I’m expecting too much too soon or is it normal to have lack of energy and pain from the tourniquet and is there anything I can do to help it
 
Hello again, @Cedar41 .

You'll notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just post what you would like it to be and we'll change it for you.

Don't worry that we won't see your questions because, between us, the staff read all new posts every day.
 
My TKR was Jan 21st. I still cant seem to get my energy level up to what I’m use to. Is this normal. I walk up and down stairs many time a day but by 3 I’m pooped.
Yes, you're completely normal.
You're still very early in this year-long recovery and most of your energy is still being directed towards healing your knee. There isn't much left for anything else. You just have to let this tiredness go away slowly as you continue to recover.

Did you read this article in the Recovery guidelines I left you earlier?
Energy drain for TKRs
It explains about the energy drain.

Also the back of my thigh where the tourniquet was really hurts when I'm drive. I
just wonder if I’m expecting too much too soon or is it normal to have lack of energy and pain from the tourniquet
Yes I think you are expecting too much, too soon. The back of my thigh used to hurt when pressure was applied to it by a chair or car seat. I think it's because the seat pushing at the back of your thigh actually causes a slight change in the angle of your knee replacement. As your knee continues to heal, this pain should decrease.

You're only just over 10 weeks into a recovery that takes about 52 weeks, so your knee still has a lot of recovery time to go. It's still a work in progress, not the finished article, so try to be patient with it. Where you are now is not where you're going to end up.
 

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