TKR Second TKR Recovery

Teachfirst

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Hello! I've been following this board for a year now...first post. I had a TRKR on Nov. 23, 2020. Everything went great. Recovery was about 6 weeks with no issues. Things went so well, I scheduled surgery to have my left knee replaced a week from tomorrow on Nov. 22. About 2 months ago I started having stinging in my right knee. I'm thinking it was my knee further waking up. Now, I have stinging, burning, feeling full kinda like inflammation but no swelling...nothing major I just feel tad uncomfortable. There's no pain when walking, but sometimes I hear/feel a clunking type sound. I discussed this with my surgeon when I went for my appointment to schedule left knee and he was not concerned. I guess my question is this normal for one year out? I'm especially nervous since I'm about to have my other knee done.
 
Teachfirst, :welome: as a posting member to Bonesmart! The following guidelines are probably familiar, but I’ll post them anyway:


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
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
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
the BoneSmart view on exercise
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
Activity progression for TKRs
6. Access these pages on the website
Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications
Wound Care In Hospital

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.


If your surgeon is not concerned I would relax a bit. Did he take x-rays?
I am not a year out yet. Maybe others can chime in here.
 
Hi and welcome to our community, @Teachfirst.

It is always possible to have pains and twinges like you're describing even a year out from surgery. Can you provide some additional information about the pain for us, please.....like how severe on the 1-10 pain scale is it? Is the pain constant or does it come and go? Are there specific things that you do that results in pain or does it just come out of the blue with no pattern? Does it happen when you are moving or still? How long does it last? Is there anything you can do to make it better? Does something that you do make it worse? How frequently do you get this pain?

Chances are very good what you're feeling is related to your nerves reconnecting. Nerve tissue grows VERY slowly and so the one-year time frame fits with that.
 
Thank you for your reply. The pain is only a 1. Mostly, just a constant feeling of low grade burning and stinging. No pain with walking or movement. I'm mainly concerned because there was months of no pain whatsoever! Tonight, the stinging is coming from the top of my incision and it is very tender when palpatated. I'm beginning to wonder if it could scar tissue?
 
The best thing to do if it concerns you is to make an appointment and check with your surgeon. What you describe does not sound like anything to worry about to me, but it might make you feel better to have your doctor confirm that for you.
 
I'm 2 years out on my left knee, and noticed as my right knee gets progressively worse, my lelf knee is also complaining maybe because it's now having to be the stronger of the two, my surgery is in December, this could be a reason for your 1 year old knee but it is always best to check with your doctor to be on the safe side xx
 
Thank you for your replies. I needed reassurance that this is not abnormal! I did check with my surgeon and his conclusion was maybe scar tissue but he seemed unconcerned.
 
sometimes I hear/feel a clunking type sound.
I still hear clunking and I'm 5 years out. Of course, I have no kneecaps, so it's easier to hear! I also can feel it, but it's no pain with the 'noise'.
the stinging is coming from the top of my incision and it is very tender when palpatated.
If this continues, I think you should contact your doctor. It's best he knows about it. I don't think anyone of us can expect to be totally pain free all the time after this surgery. There are times when I feel a little discomfort in my new knee, but it's so much better than what it was before the surgery, so I'm happy. That's really all of us can ask for...to be much better than before!
 
Thank you for your reply. The pain is only a 1. Mostly, just a constant feeling of low grade burning and stinging. No pain with walking or movement. I'm mainly concerned because there was months of no pain whatsoever! Tonight, the stinging is coming from the top of my incision and it is very tender when palpatated. I'm beginning to wonder if it could scar tissue?

I was getting that too, almost 3 years out from RTKR. The ortho PA thought it was IT band inflammation. I don't know, but when I got LTKR the problems with the other knee seemed to stop, maybe because of PT on both sides making them stronger.
 
My LTKR is on Monday! Right knee seems a little better. I'm a teacher so preparing to be out for a few weeks, getting Christmas semi ready, and getting my house under control has me exhausted! They haven't said how long I can stay in the hospital after surgery, but I'm hoping two nights. My mind and body need the rest!
 
@Teachfirst Best of luck for a smooth surgery on the 23rd. I will be thinking of you & praying you up. Since your knee surgery is so close to Thanksgiving - turkey leg will have a whole new meaning for you.
 
They haven't said how long I can stay in the hospital after surgery, but I'm hoping two nights. My mind and body need the rest!
Most of the time you can get your surgeon to agree to let you stay in the hospital for a few days if that's what you want. He can usually find a reason and if all else fails, tell him you just don't feel safe going home quite yet. I know what you mean about wanting to be mentally and physically ready to begin your recovery. It's very important and one reason I believe the "quick in - quick out" procedures done so much these days are not for everyone.
 
I had my surgery yesterday and got to spend one night. I was doing so well I felt it would be silly to try to stay another night.

Surgery went well, but I was incredibly nauseated afterwards. Finally, they gave me phenergan and I was much better. Had therapy twice today, once at the hospital and one with my therapist in my hometown. Both went well, but the swelling has started to kick in, so I have been icing and resting.
 
Well, day 3 was rough. I had lots of swelling and most movement was painful. I had a scheduled PT and they were very understanding and gentle. Today, the swelling was noticeably better, as well as the pain. I showered, washed hair and dried, and swelling is back. I have spent most of the day elevating and icing. I'm about to go try some gentle knee pulls. I read the article! I would love to hear from others about their first couple of weeks. I had a RTKR this time last year, but my husband says I have forgotten the bad. I remember plenty of rough days, but overall I did have a good experience.
 
I would love to hear from others about their first couple of weeks.
A lot of the recovery threads start at day one, just read through some of them to get an idea of how others fared.
 
Could admin change the title of my thread to reflect my recovery from 2nd knee replacement on November 22, 2021? Thanks!
 
I’ve changed your thread title. Just let us know if you prefer something different. We’re happy to change it.
 
Today starts week 3. I had my first check up and my doctor said everything looked good! My numbers are 1 and 111. No more staples!! They told me to keep it uncovered which makes me nervous and relieved at the same time. I also hope to wean off the daytime pain meds this week. I started this past weekend with good results....just an achy knee at the end of the day but no actual pain. I've been sleeping in the recliner for two weeks. ☹️ I just can't find any way to get comfortable in bed. I'm a side and stomach sleeper and the urge to rollover and curl up is too great. At best I get two hours of sleep, up/awake for 30 min., fall back asleep and repeat the process. Tonight I am going to start in the bed and see how it goes. That wooden bar in the recliner is killing my back!! I'm going to therapy 3x a week. I think that's everything. This is my second TKR and oh how I wish I had documenteted everything the first time around!
 
@Teachfirst I didn’t document on my first either but I had made some posts on FB and I was finally able to figure out how to go back to 2016 and look at my posts. I did do updates every few weeks and that has shown me a lot about this TKR. At that time in 2016, I thought I was having a terrible recovery but I was very active starting about 3 mon doing camping and hiking and had went back to a physically demanding job after 10 wks. There is no way that I could hike right now.
I didn’t sleep through night on my first one for about 5 wks. This one I have slept pretty good since about week 3-4 and I am grateful for that!

Happy Healing!
 

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