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TKR Another small step forward to reclaiming my life!

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Agreed Niki
I feel pretty confident I can even fell things pull when I push in the area that I'm dealing with scar tissues. I did pop a bunch of sutures that had not dissolved through my incision - hoping is is not more of them!
thank you again.
 
carousel66 said:
Agreed Niki
I feel pretty confident I can even feel things pull when I push in the area that I'm dealing with scar tissues. I did pop a bunch of sutures that had not dissolved through my incision - hoping is is not more of them!
thank you again.
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:scratch: I very much doubt any of that! Assuming this is your right knee we are talking about, that surgery was carried out over five months ago. Most unlikely that any suture material would still exist. As for it being scar tissue, you have to have scar tissue after surgery, that's what holds your incision together! But by now it will be very thin and fine and have pretty much merged into the surrounding tissues enough to be almost indivisible from them.

What you are feeling at this late stage is more likely muscle spasm and/or tendonitis.
 
What you are feeling at this late stage is more likely muscle spasm and/or tendonitis.
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yes my right knee.
I do not think it is a spasm? just bumpy sore tissue sensitive to being pushed , and the pain radiates into my incision scar when I push on it touch and becomes sore when my knee is bent.
the spot is right next (medial to) my patella, sort of where that divot/low spot beside my patella right on my joint line. But maybe I'm missing something. I will do some reading regarding tendonitis.
thank you!
 
okay I give up (sigh)
I'm going to go on the assumption that I have tendonitis. I think I have ONE last visit I can use with my PT I'm going to call them this week to confirm see if they will check me out and work out a home work out plan for me.
I'm going to stay off my bike for the rest of the month (CRY....) and no more walking at lunch (CRY....)
for the 45 min I have been getting up early in the morning I will work on core strengthening work as well as my leg work out I had not been doing (straight legs and clams etc). I'm also going to ROLL my IT bands even though they are very painful. I'm sure my body is all connected LOL and that horrible tight IT band is not helping my knee.
I will also get back on a routine for inflammatory meds (not just when I feel like it)
AND I'm going to go back and start getting massages again (I was saving money) she was doing great work on my legs and I know it will help)

Anything else I should do? not do?
thanks - I don't mean to be cranky I know the riding and walking was a really good mental boost and I was really struggling NOT feeling depressed. the bike and the walking was keeping me "feeling" better and happy!
thanks everyone,

NOW to go roll those darn IT bands and do my first core work out since I stopped PT - (not as fun as walking and riding the bike, I feel like a cranky 5 yr old)
 
:wacko: Just one of those nasty rollercoaster plunges! They are the pits. But you have a good plan laid out to fix the problem. So try to stay positive----
although a good long scream:arghh: may be in order to make you feel just a little better.:th_heehee: Hope it resolves itself soon. Judy
 
Judy thank you
I think I need a good long scream lol I giggled reading your post - need to find the scream
:arghh:
yeah that does make me feel better.
thank you again
 
https://bonesmart.org/forum/ilio-tibial-band-itb-issues-and-pain-exercises-t4039.html
rolling my IT band to help the tissue release.

Josephine - my IT band does not hurt unless I roll it - or dig into it with my knuckles, but I have had issues for YEARS with it being tight. I know it is still tight, I figure it being less tight and angry can only help me.
I'm also trying to stretch my hamstrings I think is some ways the knee giving me trouble feels out of balance, even my patella at times does not feel like is tracking smooth that it pulls slightly to the outside of my knee.

I can't wait for the day it feels as good as my left!

PT can't see me with out a new referral as I have been away for over 30 days. I'm going to make an appt with my pcp see if she can help me get back on track.
 
Okay feeling like not such an idiot.
My primary care doc helped me narrow down the pain
she came up with Patello-Femoral Pain Syndrome which I understand to be a pretty general statement - in other words could be different things causing my problems. But the pain in the following link is ME!!!
I found this link searching on bone smart
https://bonesmart.org/forum/fat-pad...rome-and-pfps-patello-femoral-pain-t9485.html
and I finally something makes SENSE!!!!!
the pain I feel when sitting oh my gosh it is the worst! there is nothing worse for me right now than sitting.... next worse thing? stairs are what hurt me.
the bursa and the tendonitis locations just didn't seem right to me and doc agreed based on location of my pain.

I'm a bit concerned about some of what I read about how easy this is going to be do correct.... I have "one" PT visit left until Oct 1st.
I'm open to feedback and suggestions.
My plan is to see PT have them build a program for me but also thinking a tens unit may also really help, what do people think??
thanks.


 
Catherine, I'm going to tag Josephine so that she can comment. @Josephine:

One thing, though....if you know you have tight hamstrings and IT bands, I would still continue to work on those. It won't hurt and may just help you. Remember how everything is connected....
 
thanks Jamie
I said the same thing to my doc, told her what I was doing (IT band roll and hamstring stretches) she agreed it is allllll connected.
I at least no longer feel like I'm loosing my mind.... and I knew I was not hurting this way (hot angry pain) at this stage of my LTKR. It was becoming excruciating to sit at work. I put my foot up on something to make it work like a foot rest today and that helped. I also iced 3 times today, and it felt SO much better when cold.
 
After 5 years on here, it still never ceases to intrigue me how often people want to or feel the need to pin a pain down on one structure, ligament or muscle. The phrase "everything's connected to everything else" is really true. Just because the primary focus of pain seems to be around, say, the ITB in the knee, it doesn't preclude similar inflammatory issues elsewhere in the thigh and/or the lower leg as well.

That's why I said this
No, you're going to roll them because they are painful!
Click to expand...
because I know and now you know, that the pain might surface at one point but it can be simmering away under the surface in lots of other places at the same time any one of which would be the actual focus or trigger point.

I find this proved frequently when I visit my chiropractor. I often (still) get irritated that he never really wants to listen to my litany of latest aches and pains because when he gets me on his table and prods a point in my back that I thought was fine, I nearly jump off the table! But he's a canny chap and very gifted and he doesn't have to hear me tell him where I am getting pain, he can see it for himself. So not infrequently, the part I thought was causing me problems is just the suckling root of the issue. The tap root or trigger point is elsewhere and when he's dealt with that, the peripheral sore spots seem to be so much better. Lately his favourite point of attack is the big muscles in my arm pit and the base of my neck. Sometimes I think he's taken tips from Mr Spock with the Vulcan neck pinch but the improvement in the pains in my shoulders and upper arms afterwards is amazing! Yet the place he was treating didn't hurt then and never did hurt.

So now you have a list of ITB, TB, PFPS and others but those are just the suckling roots. Your tap roots are probably places you haven't even been aware of yet. Like that ITB that only hurts when you massage it. I would respectfully suggest that it is pretty near impossible for any individual to adequately massage an ITB or any other similar trigger point. I think you need both hands and to be able to apply full body weight to it. Maybe the exercise on a foam roller would come closest but in my humble opinion and speaking purely from personal experience, you really cannot beat the expertise of a good chiropractor or therapeutic masseur.
 
I miss understood, read wrong your first comment on IT band rolling.

I agree with all you have written above, I have both a good Chiropractor as well as a good LMT (who works w/ my chiropractor) I just have not seen them regularly (at all) since before Christmas.

My pcp was great listing to me on tuesday she spent about 45 min with me, we both agree that everything is connected I also have had a major trauma of a TKR sometimes it is hard to sort out what is normal pain and what is not during a recovery.

I didn't go through a total knee replacement to end up with a very angry hot spot on my knee that hurts, burning and hot with in 3-5 min of me sitting down unless I can find a way for it not to bend (which I'm now doing at work). I have not been able to get rid of the pain on this location of my knee, but at almost 5 months out? it became clear to me I need to do something different it is too angry to be part of normal healing at this stage of the game.

I just want to be able to move, making a choice not to walk or ride my bike since Sunday has been a difficult mental blow, as working out (and really the walking) was helping me fight being depressed and I'm also trying to get going on my weight loss I had sort of stalled on since surgery.

I pushed through the 5 K a few weeks ago and it was a big mental boost but I also noticed then this pain I didn't think should be there at this point.

But I just want to feel better. I want to be on a plan/program to help this area heal. My LMT is awesome, she happens to work with my chiropractor. I saw her regularly during my early recovery. I am rolling my IT AM/PM I can only tolerate so much so I'm doing it AM/PM as much as I can stand. I am also doing hamstring stretches, found some stretches I can do standing at work.

I also have a little hand held massage device I'm using at work AND I'm icing.

I see my PT next Monday where I hope they can help me refine my plan that I can continue at home. I wish I had more than 1 visit left until Oct 1.

I also have a 90 min massage scheduled on Friday.
as well as an appt with my chiropractor.

thank you so much for your help. This really is an amazing group. I can't imagine going through this last year with out you all, a place that people truly understand the rejoicing and celebration we experience as we are able to enjoy the things in life we had given up as well as the struggles with what is often not a smooth recovery.
 
Catherine,
Wow, I am so sorry that you are suffering like this--and especially now at 5 months out when things should be really looking up. Your issues definitely sound totally different than the pain that I was feeling earlier in that area. I still do think that mine was related to the internal incision cause I can still feel that tenderness there right where my OS said that incision is when I press on it just like my external incision is still tender when I press on it.

It sounds like you are doing everything that you can to figure out a solution. Between the PT, chiropractor, and LMT, surely they should be able to help. Are you taking pain meds in the meantime? I know you have to work so that may not be an option. Do OTC meds help at all? Hang in there. Hopefully you'll have some answers and a plan next week. :friends:Thinking of you! Niki
 
Thanks Niki
tonight I have another piece of the puzzle.
I saw my podiatrist this afternoon for a follow up appt.
she watched me walk - I pronate on my right foot and supenate with my left! so then she measured my legs - Right leg is 1/2 longer.
on Thursday I will see the Chiropractor - get adjusted and measured again... I also now have a lift for my right shoe. If it is feeling good I can add another, but she said if it feels bad to take it out.
she also ordered a tens for me for my feet but I can also use it on my knee!!!! PT will give me instructions on Monday.
things are coming together. I know soon I will hurt less.
 
and ANOTHER piece of the puzzle! just say my Chiropractor
I think the lift is perfect as even after the adjustment my left leg was still shorter than the right. He thinks the 1/4" lift is very appropriate at this point.

and here is my TRULY unscientific feedback while my knee is sore at work today? it is not BURNING like it has been the last few weeks when I sit.

crossing fingers!!!

now to buy new shoes again! fun yet expensive :dev-godseesaw:
 
another bit of info that has taken me from being "frustrated" and depressed a week ago to feeling I have all the parts I need to have a plan to get my right knee pain free. The last step will be to work with my PT on Monday and make sure I'm on a good plan at home to get things back "in line"

Last night I had a 90 min massage w/ my LMT - I told her the info of the from the other 3 players this week (primary care/ portraitist and Chiropractor) after I was warmed up she said she had a hunch, and started working on my sartorius muscle and its tendon where it attaches near my knee OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL the way up to its attachments near my hip - HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!! B I N G O
it all is coming together.
she spent a long time working through muscles, trigger points etc with my right leg front and back and lower back. Trying to identify the players that are working together to cause this knee pain - we talked about what the purpose was of each of those muscles etc..... She is in full agreement that the pronation as I'm walking would be a very effective action to irritate to this muscle and tendon. She feels that it is trying to stabilize my knee as my foot is pronating each step. (that along with my IT band). she seemed happy or relived that the gracilis muscle was not angry.

after that a good work out on my left leg! it is not as angry but has some issues related to the supenation of that foot when I walk, there were for sure some sore muscles on the left, but not the issues on the right leg that REALLY GOT MY ATTENTION (scream!) when she worked on them. That is big progress from where my left leg was a year ago!
I have another appt with her on Thursday next week.
This morning I'm off to Portland Running Company to get fit for a new pair of shoes for walking.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
 
I hope this plan of attack helps you out. Keep us posted.
 
Catherine,
Sounds like progress--though painful progress! Hope the new shoes help. Let us know how things are progressing. So happy that you feel like you have a plan now. Nothing is worse than not knowing what is causing the pain and therefore not knowing what to try to alleviate it.

I have got to go get one of those massages! I've actually been afraid to do it since my TKR, but I guess at this point they're not going to mess anything up! :th_heehee:
Niki
 
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