Muscle/Scar/weather pain question-

[FrogFeathers]

This will be kind of convoluted, but bear with me...

We all know what arthritis pain feels like when the weather changes. We've been there, which is why we're here now.

And, some of us, even before this surgery, knew what scar pain felt like.

I'm six months out from my knee surgery and my scar is a delightfully beautiful mess (I do love my scar- I have a blog for him in my signature where I talk about him like he's a separate entity).

What I'm wondering about is weather changing and pain. I still have arthritis in various parts of my body (other knee, hand, wrist, and tendonitis/bursitis in other parts). So, I can feel it when rain is a-comin' (you have to say "a-comin'..." if rain is on the way, really, you do!). Today, after weeks of mostly dry, sunny weather, we had rain a-comin'. I woke up at my usual early morning time and as soon as my feet hit the floor, I could feel it. I ached. Lo and behold, the weatherbug on my desktop predicted it as well.

Now, twenty years ago, I had my gall bladder out in an Army hospital I have an ugly scar about six-ish inches long running along my ribcage. Till I got used to it, it would hurt and twinge and otherwise be a annoying. What I'm asking (finally! She gets to her point!) is about the muscles in our surgical knees.

My scar hurts and twinges and itches at times (almost all the time) and it intensifies when the weather changes. But, my knee also aches. Almost like it did when it was my own real knee. I know it isn't really the knee joint itself hurting me, because its all bionic and robotic now. But, is the pain that feels like my knee joint actually my muscles? And if it IS the muscles, is this going to continue for a while?

Here's the kicker about the whole thing- I can't take Ibuprofen or related products because they make me swell.

 

[Texas]

Hey Frog I agree with knowing the weather will change.........Mine just gets achy ..But i know you have other arthritis so I know that cant help .......sorry you have all that.....wow thats tough with no Motrin or anything If you need to take a pain med go ahead..........I know if you have that much arthritis that has to hurt.......Take care...............)

 

[Linda2]

All I can contribute is that my 14 month old knee doesn't ache as much as my 2 month old knee when the weather changes. We still have a knee capsule and synovial fluid in that capsule, so I guess it must exert pressure on the soft tissue. Jo will know more than I do!

 

[FrogFeathers]

Ah, the fluid thing makes sense. I'm wearing jeans today, so I haven't checked to see if I'm swollen at all (it "feels" puffy, but I can't tell for sure). I'm not going to drop trou here at the computer as it is in a main room of the house. :hehe: "look out kids, Mom's takin' her pants off..." I can't afford the therapy!

I take acetaminophen, but it does very little. At night, I take two 5/500 Vicodin (have for years) just to get enough relief to sleep. Some days are better than others, of course.

 

[Linda2]

I don't think you even have to see the swelling for it to be present and for you to feel it. It doesn't take much in a confined space!

 

[Josephine]

I had a chuckle when you said "I know it isn't really the knee joint itself hurting me, because its all bionic and robotic now." So you think your knee is only made of bone, do you? Forgot about all the capsule, ligaments and muscle, did you? :hehe: Not to mention the bone left behind and where it meets the metal. That still all reacts to weather changes just like before.

As it happens, I bought a barometer to check out that theory and found it seems to be a fact most of the time. Interesting - always thought it was old-wives-tales!

 

[FrogFeathers]

It struck me as strange that it felt the same way (though, less intense) as the arthritis pain did. Before I found this site, the stuff I'd been reading made the surgery sound like a cure-all for EVERYthing! "Knee pain, gone! Arthritis, gone! Elbow callouses, gone! Nearsightedness, gone! And those pesky neighbors... gone! All with this fantastic surgery!"

I sure will be glad when I can get back in shape... things seemed to hurt less when I was in shape.

(I'm choosing to ignore I was also years younger back then... shhhhh... don't say anything to break the spell!) :hehe:

Just for the record... I'm like this in real life too, but with an American accent. :D

 

[Pat29627]

I know the weather affects me very much. It's raining and last night was rough even with a 1/2 tramadol (all I'll allow myself almost 6 months out) and after waking at 4:15, I finally got up and took another 1/2 tramadol at 5:15. Hands, wrist, hips and knee and sciatica were all burning. I take Celebrex every day...would love to stop it but the pain is too much then.

My daughter watches the barometer, her RSD leg pain is very sensitive to weather.

I'm ready to go to soft warm up pants. My jeans still make my poor (still nameless!) scar feel kind of raw. Most of my nicer smooth pants are too tight and getting tighter everyday. I'm telling myself it's because I'm building muscle. lol

Pat

 

[FrogFeathers]

I know the weather affects me very much. It's raining and last night was rough even with a 1/2 tramadol (all I'll allow myself almost 6 months out) and after waking at 4:15, I finally got up and took another 1/2 tramadol at 5:15. Hands, wrist, hips and knee and sciatica were all burning. I take Celebrex every day...would love to stop it but the pain is too much then.

My daughter watches the barometer, her RSD leg pain is very sensitive to weather.

I'm ready to go to soft warm up pants. My jeans still make my poor (still nameless!) scar feel kind of raw. Most of my nicer smooth pants are too tight and getting tighter everyday. I'm telling myself it's because I'm building muscle. lol

Pat

I really need to get myself a barometer! I keep forgetting to check them out when I'm out of the house.

I have three pairs of jeans I can currently wear. Two are loose (I bought them big because at the time, I still swelled all over) and one fits perfectly. The "fits perfectly" actually hurts Fronkensteen- rubs him raw like you said. The two loose pairs do all right as long as I don't swell too big (I did swell yesterday, but not hugely so).

I have my old blue ratty track pants, a grey cloth pair (that I hate because they're tight enough to show all the flaws), a black velvet-y pair that are too warm for summer, and the other day I purchased a black pair of PJ pants that don't look like PJs. If I wear them with sneakers and a T-shirt, they look like track pants. If I wear them with a blouse and nice shoes, they look like dress pants. (I still hate wearing them in public though. I have an outright aversion to wearing PJs in public and despite these not being PJ-y looking, I feel like a hippocrite!). :hehe:

Most days, I rotate my trackies and save the jeans for when I have to go out in public. I'm so sick of my trackies.

 

[Josephine]

I got mine off Ebay (of course!) Nice little digital one for a couple of pounds.

 

[Pat29627]

Wonder if I should get a barometer or just attach a wire and make one that goes by my knee pain lol?

I wear elastic waist shorts or knit pants at home. Not stylish, but I can't stand the tight stuff for too long.

Pat

 

[skigirl]

Dear Frog,

At the beginning of the summer, faced with the fact that there was no way I was going to wear shorts, I went to the local Salvation
Army store and bought five pairs of capri pants for $3 each. It was Tuesday and I even got the senior citizen discount of 20% off!!!

Now, I can wear all of my own pants that are size 12---the size 10's are still in a special box!!!! I am so hoping that I open that box soon since my ski pants are in that box!!!!

My ski pants are like my conscience---they cost lots of money--about $300 a pair, so I can never outgrow the two pair that I have. I am already hitting the elliptical trainer for an hour a day that I regard as ski pant therapy!!

You must have really sensitive skin. I am a redhead and my skin is pretty white but I can barely see the scar and have never felt any itching. Can you put a compression stocking on while you are wearing jeans? That should help with the swelling so that your poor scar is not rubbing on the pants. Or, try the SArmy route and buy more pants!!!

 

[FrogFeathers]

I can't do the Salvation Army/Goodwill thing around here mainly because ours are really bleh and I'm also very plus-size.

I don't usually have sensitive skin, but I do scar very ugly. I do like my scar though and I will show it off at every chance I get. I have two skirts that are both long (almost to my ankles- those flow-y peasant skirts) that I wear on a regular basis now too. I can't wait till the swelling goes down enough for me to be able to wear normal-length skirts and cute shoes (at the moment, I wear my long skirts with my "ren faire" shoes- a pair of EarthShoe ankle boots from Walmart that I specifically bought for the ren faire). :hehe:

I have a 20 year old gall bladder scar that is still dark pink, almost the same as Fronkensteen is- but its completely flat and I can touch it without it being sensitive. I find it weird I never named that scar. I suppose that because at the time I had a newborn child to take care of and naming my scar wasn't a priority!
:lvros:

As I lose the weight, I have several pairs of jeans that will start to fit, then get loose. I gained weight so steadily after my knee went bad that I can lay out those jeans and use them to mark each pound gained.

I have an appointment tomorrow at the VA physical therapy (for my shoulder, which IS NOT arthritis, thankfully!) and the PT that I'm seeing is also the "edema specialist", so she's submitted a request that she get to treat me for that too. Hopefully that'll help ease some of the other pain I've got too. I've suffered with all-over edema for five years this December.

 

[backbay38]

I'll just chime in here with what my surgeon told me at my 3 month check up (don't see him again until the 1 yr. point in January). He said the reaction to weather will gradually go away during that first year. Since I don't really have that kind of reaction -- I don't think about it. I have some arthritis in my hands and one foot but I don't really notice that it's better or worse with weather. Mostly has to do with exercise--lifting heavy weights at the gym which bothers my hands or too much mouse-time on the computer and perhaps what I eat (never did check that out but there are supposed to be arthritis-unfriendly foods.) As for the scar -- mine is still pretty pinkish but I keep puting cocoa butter-aloe on it and toward the end of August I started wearing shorts again --just around where I don't care about people seeing the scar because they don't know me. But I stay with pants or long skirts anywhere else.