TKR LTKR 4/29, sooo much swelling

[benne68]

Walking through the house without my cane for about 10 minutes at a time now and my gait is better than it has been in years.

Good to hear! Gait is so important to our recovery. Use the cane as long as you need if it helps you with your gait. Slow and steady.

 

[Hey Jude]

Hi, all…

Had L TKR on 4/29. RTKR was done 12/4/14 so it’s been a minute since I e been through this. My biggest question at the moment is how much swelling is “normal”? I have a lot of bruising both above and below the knee. Swelling below isn’t horrible thanks to constant TED hose, but when you get to my knee it kinda looks like a funnel. I’ve been using ice packs but am now switching to an ice machine and have been trying to elevate as much as possible. It’s hard to get more than a pillow under it though because of the swelling in my thigh (I do get 2 under it lying flat at night)). Working with PT, quad strength is limited and he thinks it’s just due to the swelling. Also intermittently getting some nervy pain which can be pretty intense but meds do relieve it (I had CRPS in the right from a prior injury, put in remission and then reactivated after that replacement). Follow up with surgeon is on 5/12. Just curious what to expect with swelling and is there anything else I should be doing. Thanks!

Hello. I found your post when I was searching for ”swelling”. I hope by now you are benefitting from your new knee, but I am having a very similar problem with swelling as you did, so wondered if you had any tips.

Your description of your leg above the compression socks looking like a funnel was just like me when I came home from hospital. I’ve since dispensed with the compression socks and my whole leg (calf, knee and thigh) swells as soon as I am vertical. My skin feels so tight and sensitive, and I’ve had to order new jogging pants as my normal ones no longer fit.

It is only 2 weeks since my surgery and the medics and physio say I need to do more exercise to get the swelling to go down. But it makes it worse for me. Whereas after resting, icing and elevating it is definitely improved. I’d be interested to know what worked for you.

 

[Susie-Q]

I'll never understand why medics and PTs think you can exercise your way out of swelling. They have obviously never had a TKR before. At your stage of 2 weeks post-op, more exercises will only anger your tissues and lead to MORE swelling, not less. You are still healing and icing, elevating and resting are the best medicine for you right now along with gentle movements, ankle pumps and trips to the bathroom, kitchen, etc... (and taking your pain meds as prescribed by your doc)

Here's an article that might help

Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

One word - fluid! Swelling is fluid in the tissues and is a perfectly normal reaction to trauma - anything from hitting your thumb with a hammer, twisting your ankle or have a knee replacement! All of those will cause the body to send blood to the area to protect and start the healing process...

bonesmart.org

 

[MamaLeni]

@Hey Jude Hello! Sorry it took a bit to respond. What helped the most was drastically reducing my exercises, icing it as often as possible, and keeping it elevated every time I sat or laid down. I also started doing some lymphatic massage which I think helped (a simpler version would be simply doing upward gentle strokes to stimulate flow, but there are some more in depth techniques that can be found online or with the help of a massage therapist). Also, make sure you are taking in plenty of fluids, this sounds counterproductive but you need to have enough going in to flush anything out. Compression stockings for me seemed to make it worse so with permission I went without and wore sequential compression cuffs on my legs instead.

Time and patience, rest, and try not to stress about the swelling. Remember that your ROM will come eventually whether you are pushing exercise or not, and pushing it = angry tissues/inflammation = more swelling. Also FWIW, at 12 weeks I still have days where that leg swells HUGE, just depends now on my activity that day. Best of luck to you and I’ll be watching your progress!

MamaLeni

 

[Jockette]

 

[campcol1]

To add to the discussion, I had rtkr 5/11/22. My recovery has been very good with full extension and flexion very early. I was walking 2 miles and even started swimming. However up until 2 weeks ago still had daily swelling and discomfort which increased following my exercises. Then, I go and break my rt right foot. I was very upset about the setback and inability to exercise. I was stuck in a boot. I thought this would set me back on knee progress but to my benefit, the knee swelling is drastically reduced along with pain. Not doing anything but rest and evation has helped my knee. I can even go up and down stairs without pain, foot over foot. With me, it was forced rest but it works. Also, foot is on the mend. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, I guess - less is more.

 

[Hey Jude]

@Hey Jude Hello! Sorry it took a bit to respond. What helped the most was drastically reducing my exercises, icing it as often as possible, and keeping it elevated every time I sat or laid down. I also started doing some lymphatic massage which I think helped (a simpler version would be simply doing upward gentle strokes to stimulate flow, but there are some more in depth techniques that can be found online or with the help of a massage therapist). Also, make sure you are taking in plenty of fluids, this sounds counterproductive but you need to have enough going in to flush anything out. Compression stockings for me seemed to make it worse so with permission I went without and wore sequential compression cuffs on my legs instead.

Time and patience, rest, and try not to stress about the swelling. Remember that your ROM will come eventually whether you are pushing exercise or not, and pushing it = angry tissues/inflammation = more swelling. Also FWIW, at 12 weeks I still have days where that leg swells HUGE, just depends now on my activity that day. Best of luck to you and I’ll be watching your progress!

MamaLeni

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. Since I posted, my medication has been increased and it’s made a huge difference to my wellbeing as I can now sleep and even read a book today while lying on the bed and hardly thought about my knee at all! A big difference from the constant pain and worry I was experiencing.

Re the leg swelling, at almost three weeks since surgery, it is now starting to come down. I’ve been prone to swelling in the past (hot weather, long flights etc.) and my surgeon did tell me to expect a longer than average recovery period. I’m going to try exercising just little and often and get lots of resting, icing and elevation in between.

Best wishes for your continued recovery.