TKR 3 years post op

Nancan

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Hi all,

I have been recovering for 3 weeks now. About a week ago I have had ankle and foot pain. My calf muscle is sore as well. Is this just normal recovery or should I be concerned
 
Welcome to recovery, @Nancan .

I't not unusual to have pains all over your legs and hips, as your body adjusts to teh surgery and a new gait.

Is your calf pain just a general ache, or is it something that came on suddenly? It's probably a good idea to get that checked out, just to make sure it isn't a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Which is your replaced knee, by the way, right or left?

Here our the BoneSmart recovery guidelines - lots of helpful articles:

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. Try to follow this

6. Access to 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 the 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 the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Thanks,

I had a Left TKR.
 
Thank you for that information. I've added "Left" to your signature.
 
Hi Nancan,

im about 13 weeks post op now and I experienced pain in my lower leg, ankle and calf especially the first 7-8 weeks. When I drove or sat in a chair I noticed more pain. It eventually left. part of the healing process I guess.
 
@Nancan
I had bilateral TKR on July 6th. I have also been struggling with calf, shin and foot pain in my right leg. The pain starts behind my right knee and radiates down. The whole lower leg sometimes gets knotted up. My therapist usually spends some of my PT time massaging out the knots when it happens. When I finally pointed out where the pain was originating, he was able to determine that it was all related to a super tight right hamstring. So for the past month I have been doing stretches and exercises to specifically address the hamstring issue. It is slowly getting better. Please talk to your therapist about the pain you are feeling, so s/he can make a plan to address it.
 
Dear Ms. Ciz,

Thank you for your response. I go to PT in two days and will certainly bring up the issue.
 
Well, I went to PT and was told more than likely tendinitis which prompted a ultrasound treatment, biofreeze, and ice which was ok and I left feeling a bit better. Moving on to Fridays PT ( with new therapist ) she had me do a bunch of different exercises which left me feeling pain like I have never felt in previous weeks. My calf pain is horrid, I have pain all around knee and can barely walk to the bathroom. Someone please tell me this is normal! If not, I guess I need to call the doc this weekend.
 
she had me do a bunch of different exercises which left me feeling pain like I have never felt in previous weeks
Sorry - this is not PT, this is abuse! You should not be forced to do anything and the end result should not be mobility issues. Please say no to this treatment. It is counter productive (as you found) and only sets you back in your recovery.

Ice and elevate and don't do any exercises until this eases. If it were me I would cancel this PT.
 
Thank you for your response. I must say I was not in horrific pain during the PT appointment and when an exercise caused pain she stopped and went on to another exercise that didn’t prompt pain. It was after I came home when the pain went into overdrive . I am not doing any exercises today. In fact, I’m sitting in my recliner with my leg elevated and icing and I’m in only moderate pain. It’s when I have to get out of the recliner and move does the pain get really bad. So, again my question is “ is this the way it is with folks” ?
 
My knee replacement was on the 12th August so similar time to yours. I've also been told I have tight hamstrings and have calf pain too plus a pain behind the knee. I'm hoping as I walk it might kind of stretch it out. I've also been given a hard ball to put behind my knee to loosen it up - not used it properly yet. Been having some infection issues so have had to scale back the physio work and just rest a bit more.

Good luck in your recovery
 
So, again my question is “ is this the way it is with folks” ?
Yes, this is the way it is, for people who get inappropriate PT.

Regaining our ROM is more about Time than repetitions of a list of exercises.

Time to recover.
Time for pain and swelling to settle.
Time to heal.

Our range of motion is right there all
along just waiting for that to happen so it can show itself.

In the general run of things, it doesn't need to be fought for, worked hard for or worried about. It will happen. Normal activity is the key to success.
 
Thank you Babycatcher and Jockette for your input. Any suggestions on what I should do at this point would be greatly appreciated.
 
So, again my question is “ is this the way it is with folks” ?
This is the way it is with you because that PT treated your knee inappropriately . It was bad PT and no PT at all is better than bad PT.

It doesn't have to be that way.

In our recovery guidelines, we advised you:
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.


This is your knee, not your Pt therapist's knee and not your surgeon's knee. You are in charged of what happens to your knee and no one can do anything to your knee without your permission.
You don't have to please your therapists - they have to please you.

Your knee is telling you, loud and clear, that the PT session was too much for it - so don't allow anyone to persuade you to do it again.

You have the right to choose what exercises to do and what not to do. If your PT therapists' can't respect your wishes, you can always do exercises at home, or even choose to just let your normal activities of daily living (ADLs) be your exercise.
Saying no to therapy - am I allowed to?
CONSENT: what it means and how it can be used
 
Hi all,

As it turns out my pain got worse this past Monday and the Ortho surgeon ordered an Ultrasound to R/O DVT. Luckily, ultrasound was negative. I had an appt with surgeon on Tuesday... so, I have a TORN calf muscle! Doc says No PT for now and if I do go back should only have treatments and no exercise. My first PT Appt. was basically treatments which were a bit helpful but just having a hard time deciding what to do.
 
Hi All,

Just found out I have a torn Calf muscle. Pt has been suspended. Has anyone else had this happen? If so, what have you done to ease the pain and how long should I expect this to last?
 
Hi @Nancan
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. Don't worry that we won't see your new question as, between us, the staff read all new posts each day.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
Tagging other members and answering tags

If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.


Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts?
Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on. Please will you do that?
 
I'm sorry to hear you have a torn calf muscle.
That could take several weeks to repair itself. Meanwhile, it needs to be treated gently, so it was a good idea to stop PT.

Resting and elevating your leg should help with pain, as well as icing your calf muscle and taking your pain control medications on time.

Your knee will probably appreciate the break from PT as well and extra elevating and icing should help to reduce its swelling, so don't worry that your Range of Motion (ROM) development will suffer - it won't.
 
Nancan, I am so sorry that happened to you, it sounds so painful. PT can be great for you and some experiences can be horrible. I could be wrong ( it has been known to happen-Lol ) but I think your first few weeks of PT must have been responsible for your torn calf muscle , it doesn’t seem like it would be easy to do without some sort of stress ,I had a new PT guy on Monday and he really was so much tougher than the guy that knows me , I foolishly felt intimidated by him , and have suffered miserably ever since , I am mad at myself, I know better, but he was just so scary- my regular guy is out for 2 weeks. I just cancelled my appt for today and all of the rest of them , they love to make them for weeks ahead of time, I think I am just over it-
 
Hi Peaches,

My calf is still hurting and I am to return to PT next week. I am thinking of canceling all of mine as well.
I have a question for everyone at this point. I Unfortunately can not take NSAIDs as I have stomach and bowel issues that flare up when taking NSAIDs so I am still taking Norco 5 3 times a day , while I do go from 8-10 hours between doses I am very concerned about withdrawal symptoms . I am post op 7 weeks. Has anyone taken Norco this long? And if so did or do they have withdrawal symptoms?
 

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