TKR New here - post op Day 6 and uncontrolled pain

After pushing and stretching for hours each day
It is not necessary to push and stretch for hours each day. Occasional, gentle stretches will do the job.
I'm guessing I'm looking at a small time frame so overall,
There is no timeframe. We all recover at our body’s own healing rate. No one can tell you what that should be.

This recovery takes time, an average of a year. You need to accept that. Working hard is not helping you, as you have found out. You are going to have swelling with activity for a while yet. Try not to do more than you have to, so you don’t cause extra unnecessary swelling.
 
I agree with Jockette. Hours each day of pushing and stretching are not needed, and as you've mentioned you wound up with lots of swelling and pain.

Ice after activity/PT yes, but that is not to say you are supposed to get lots of pain and swelling after activity. My PT told me if I had increased pain for more than an hour or two after PT I had done too much.

Just stretching and bending to your limit a few times a day (not lots of repetitions) really does the trick--at least it did for me.

It's really a trial and error process as to how much is too much. But what I found worked for me was to ramp up gradually. If I felt pretty good later in the day and the next day after doing a certain amount of bending etc, I would try to do just a bit more the next day. If the activity seemed to make the swelling and pain much worse, I'd do a little bit less the next day.
 
Hi there,

I'm almost at Week 5 and would echo all of the great advice everyone has given. The hardest part for me during that first week was expecting some amazing result and wondering if I was "behind" in my recovery. It took a few weeks to get some decent sleep, although I was never at 9 or 10. I'm so sorry. That must be excruciating.

I was always hesitant to contact my Dr if I had a question but have learned that's the right thing to do and it has helped alleviate some concerns.

Ice is my best friend and I am taking PT at my own speed which, again, is always a challenge if you are competitive!

Hang in there. It does get better and you are stronger than you know.
 
It appears that stretching to the point where you make progress causes you to swell so much (even with ice and elevation!) that you lose that progress entirely. It's feels like you end up right where you started after all the hard work.
That is true. Why do all the hard work, just to have to stop and recover from that work just to get back to where you were. If you just do gentle movements in your everyday activities you will recover nicely. Many never take PT, letting their daily activities be their rehab. That's how I did it after 12 knee surgeries. No PT for me meant a great recovery! It can for many others, too.
 
I'm now 8 weeks out and frustrated. My pain and swelling are not as severe but still bad enough to interfere with daily life. I'm able to bend 110 degrees but it causes sharp, pinching pain on the side of my knee. And I still can't get my knee straight. I am able to slowly go up and down stairs but I wince and flinch in pain with each step. I'm still waking up with sharp pains.

My insurance company decided I no longer needed PT so they're not going to pay for it. I'm on my own now, not able to do ADLs and really regretting the entire surgery.

I'm trying to keep my sense of humor but I'm still waiting for the stage when I will be glad I had the replacement. My old knee hurt just as much but I could actually walk with it. Is it common at this stage to still regret doing it?
 
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@spring7799 Sounds like you have swelling that is interfering with your mobility. Are you icing and elevating 45-60 minutes several times per day? Ice will reduce the swelling that is causing your pain. I know it takes time. But if you focus on decreasing the swelling you will be able to get more active.
 
@spring7799 2 months is still really early days in your recovery which can take up to one to two years, the extra swelling will prevent you from doing certain activities and will cause you extra pain, we are all so keen to get moving , we tend to neglect our healing process, once I accepted that this takes far longer than I anticipated, just with my daily living activities and the occasional small walk, I was never a fan of PT and when I did go it was just gentle movements, do as Jaycey suggested Ice plenty :ice: seriously this is our best friend, let your knee heal slowly, rest and elevate as much as you can, enjoy the time to read, watch movies, chat with friends because in a few months you will be looking back. I have now past my 1 year, it was tough going at first but patience really did pay off, keep your sense of humour and positivity you too with time will soon reap the benefits xxx
 
Stairs will take a while to be comfortable. Take it a bit easy on yourself. At around 8-12 weeks, what I did was to try maybe half a flight "normally" and half taking it one step at a time. And no more than 1 flight a day if possible. Gradually it got better. Going down is generally a bit more difficult that up.

At 2 months I was a bit frustrated. As much as I knew it was really not that far along in the recovery in the big picture, you just want it to be over. Hang in there. Gradually you'll find you are doing daily activities with less and less thought given to the knee.
 
8 weeks is very early in this 52 week (one year on average) recovery. I had the same issues as you, at 8 weeks. It is par for the course for many of us at this stage.

Try to relax and let your body heal, it will.
 
Hoping to get some feedback. I'm now 15weeks since my TKR and my ROM is good but I'm still having a lot of swelling and specific pain in the same spot that I had early on, on the lower medial side of my knee. This is the area that was excruciating when doing my early PT and the area where I feel the nerve pain at night. My surgeon said my leg is still swollen but the xrays look normal and he prescribed yet more PT.

When I'm walking or riding a bike, I feel a “catching“ sensation when it gets to a certain bend and pinching. It's causing enough pain that I'm walking differently trying not to bend it.

The surgeon thinks it is ok but I'm really getting concerned because it still hurts more than before the surgery and I'm really regretting this.

Has anyone had something like this? I'm wondering if I should get a second opinion or if it's too early into healing yet.

Thanks for any advice.
 
My surgeon said my leg is still swollen but the xrays look normal and he prescribed yet more PT.
At 15 weeks you really don't need PT anymore.
I'm still having a lot of swelling and specific pain in the same spot that I had early on, on the lower medial side of my knee.
I had this, too. I requested my surgical report and found out that my OS had done a medial release. This was why I had pain here for so long. Tendons take a while to heal. It would probably be a good thing to request your surgical report to see if you get an answer.
 
It's important to remember that we all heal at our own pace and even though your surgery was in September, you're still recovering. I can pretty much guarantee that if you try to do more exercises at therapy sessions, you're going to continue to have swelling and it and the pain could get worse. Find out what he wanted the therapy to do. There are some massage techniques that could help you. I'll ask @Pumpkln to chime in and give you more details. But increasing exercises and pushing your knee won't help. You might even see some improvement if you cut back on the exercise and activity for a few weeks.
 
Spring7799,
There are manual therapy techniques that may help you such as Counterstrain, Muscle Energy, Zero Balancing, Myofacial Release, Anatomy Trains, and other techniques requiring advanced training. You will want to find someone with certification in one of these techniques.
I agree with Jamie, cutting back your exercise and letting your knee heal may help with your symptoms.

Where is your pain located on the chart? Having a better idea of the location will help us advise you.
Thanks!
aa knee-references-horz.jpg
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Thank you so much for the advice! I appreciate all the kind help.

The pain is in D/LF3. This is where I'm getting sharp pains at night, where it hurt the most during any PT and where it still hurts each time I bend it.

The therapy he's recommending is aqua PT . My insurance won't cover it so I've been doing my own knee bends, leg lifts and walking in the water.

The audible clunking and catching sensation (feels like a flap that catches on a gear and then suddenly is released) is happening anytime I bend about 50-60 degrees whether I'm riding a bike, climbing stairs or walking. I'm getting the catching sensation even when treading water.

Walking still feels painful, tight and stiff with this weird catching sensation. The only way I can avoid it is to walk without fulling bending my knee which I think I started to do unconsciously and why he said my gait is not where it should be.
 
I didn't have serious pain with it, but I did have a sort of catching sensation when bending my leg, in the spot behind the knee that you describe. It gradually went away over many weeks as I continued healing.
 
It could be Pes Ansernus of MPFL pain. It also may be your medial collateral ligament.
Your PT should be able to address any of these.
Here is a link to an article in the library that may help.
Pes Anserine and MPFL pain
 
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