I'm so sorry you're still struggling after surgery. I can understand how 5 months of frustration and pain takes a toll. I won't swoop in sounding like I have all the answers, but I read your entire thread before commenting because I saw some shocking similarities, so I wanted to share my own experience to see if anything helps. I will try not to write a novel...
I was in a car accident at 21 & subluxated my L4-L5-S1 vertebrae. I didn't know what was wrong for 8 months as it started slowly. I thought it was back pain from stress & too much sitting, as I was trying to graduate and taking a heavier load. By 9 months, I begged my parents to pay for a physical therapist. He gave me a sheet of exercises/stretches, & he put a lot back in place from the car accident (he said it was obvious!!!), but he could only do much because I lived 5 hours away, so he couldn't work on the knots and trigger points every week because I wasn't close enough. I also didn't have good insurance to pay for weeks of PT back at college (poor college kid!). Apparently, time also was the problem---things had been messed up for so long that it would take months to strengthen the muscles needed to hold everything in correct alignment, and the longer things are subluxated, the more stretched out the ligaments get. That's NOT good, as ligaments are not meant to be elastic. I had tried a chiropractor twice, but the PT said it does no good to put things back in place if the surrounding muscles/ligaments can't KEEP them in place. It took 18 months to be pain-free, and I did those stretches/exercises religiously 3X a day, every single day!!!
FF to age 34 (pregnant with 1st & ONLY baby!!)----difficult pregnancy because that accident had stretched the ligaments in my left hip to where they don't work well anymore. I was miserable the entire pregnancy because my left hip subluxated again. I had a difficult birth where they made things worse, pulling & stretching the ligaments more. It took 3 years & 5 different PTs until I found one who knew what she was doing with lower backs & could fix me. I was told to only work with a lower back specialist for the rest of my life. By the time I found my miracle worker, my left hip was 1.3 inches away from where it was supposed to me. She taught me that she also could only do so much--I had to be diligent and do my part consistently. I was going to have to "manage" my back forever. If vertebra are subluxating, there's a cause, and if they don't go back in position and stay, you'll need help and management to keep them happy and in position. If I decided to have more kids, she said this would happen every single time because those ligaments simply can't hold my left hip/pelvis/SI joint region where they're supposed to be. It was 1 of 2 reasons we chose not to have more kids.
Now for the KNEES!!!! I've had 12 knee surgeries since age 25 (8 of those since 2010----after my son and after all of the back nightmares). My knees screwed up my lower back more times than I can count----with and without knee surgery. I actually see that same lower back specialist-PT twice a year for maintenance and trigger point problems in my glutes/hips, as there's only so much I could do on my own. ((It's ALL completely separate from knee PT)). Anyway, she and I have become good friends after 15 years of this. MOST IMPORTANTLY----I see her after every knee surgery, no matter what. My gait gets off, certain muscles tighten up, too much sitting causes knots in my glutes/hips, sciatica sets in--it's just become part of my process to not hurt. The longer knee recoveries meant my back/hip muscles were weaker and not holding things in place well. There are so many little muscles that need to work right for our SI joint, pelvis, sacrum, and vertebra to stay happy and moving well, and that never gets addressed at PT for knees. I even see her sometimes right before surgery to make sure things are as aligned as well as possible, especially if we know it's a long recovery (like both TKRs). I worked for 3 months before the first TKR to perfect my strength on that side.
Last but not least----both feet & an ankle became affected before & after my first TKR. My body got used to everything compensating for something else. I ended up needing to go to specific PT for ankle and feet after the 1st TKR and before the 2nd TKR (5 yrs later). I was told this often happens because the joint space shrinkage in the knee causes one leg to shorten, then the TKR fixes it, and the body had to adjust AGAIN!!!
Anyway--I hope something here helped, as I think physical therapists with lower back specialization and manual therapy are AWESOME!! I've met a lot of people who they've helped besides myself. It sounds like you might have found one now and in time, you'll feel better. I know it's depressing though to think about anything taking more time to feel good. She should be able to work on those knots though to get you relief of some sort.
And please forgive my novel!!
United Kingdom
