United States
Less than a month. Good!
TKR New to site! Misaligned left leg corrected. Hopefully right soon.
- Thread starter Lucy1
- Start date
Motherbone
senior
@Lucy1 My right leg is straight following my TKR but my left leg, unoperated and with a distorted knee joint, is terribly misaligned and is now about 3/4 inch shorter than the right. I found a product on Amazon called Even Up, which you strap to your shoe. It reduced the difference between the two limbs and allowed me to walk without my hips and pelvis tilting back and forth, which was absolutely destroying my lower back.
JamesAB
member
Regarding your back pain: prior to my TKR and realignment, My chronic back pain was virtually eliminated by taking up Pilates. Pilates was recommended by a surgeon who said he could do nothing for my back.
Thank you for the ideas. Funnily enough, have had my legs measured and apparently they are the same length. The problem with walking is the one leg is valgus. I am now looking forward to this second opinion. Lucy
Just wondering if anyone else found that the leg/knee that was straightened is more painful than the other knee that is bone on bone and needs replacing? The knee that was replaced and straightened feels heavy and back and hip hurts that side as well. Now am looking forward to this second opinion. Can't walk very far without pain. L.
Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you all. But after my second opinion I had many things to think about and consider. The surgeon who gave the second opinion said I definitely needed my right knee replaced and she would do it, but thought my expectations were maybe too high as she thought some of my pain was from my back and poor core strength on the left side where my knee was replaced. Had a back x-ray to find out I have advanced facet arthropathy L2-3 through L5-S1. Multilevel degenerative changes. My up to date right knee xrays indicate moderately advanced tricompartmental degenerative changes, joint space narrowing sclerosis and osteophytic lipping. Seeing a physiotherapist and she is helping me with back exercises which I think are helping. Ironic that most of my pain is on the left side with my good knee. Just grating on the right. My GP is talking to my original surgeon to see if he will move me up his list. I think because I complain more about my back than my knee I am not a priority, but my GP is very supportive and tells me if I don't do this my future mobility doesn't look very good. Hoping when I have two straight legs, (surgeon says just 5 degrees valgus which shouldn't be a problem) ? my back, feet, etc won't hurt as much, but wonder whether I may end up worse off and unable to do the physio required. Thank you all for your support. Hope I'm doing the right think moving forward on this. Lucy
I think you'll find that having your other knee replaced does help your back.
I also have arthritic changes in most of my spine, but my back pain has decreased since my second TKR.
I also have arthritic changes in most of my spine, but my back pain has decreased since my second TKR.
jboles
graduate
I hate to even type this, for fear that it might change, but since my surgery to straighten my misaligned knee my back has been soooo much better. Hopefully that will be true for you as well.
DLR
graduate
@Lucy1 hello fellow Canadian. I too had valgus knees. My first was replaced in Aug 2018 and the second last week. I had a lot of hip back and it band problems after the first and expect the same again. However the reason explained to me was being very knock kneed means all the muscle and ligament attachments on my outside of my knee had shortened over the years, now having been corrected it takes time and help to stretch and realign. I used physio who did dry needling on me and see a chiropractor every 5 weeks to keep my hip and spine aligned. I also have degenerative discs in my lower back due to arthritis but with this help I am pain free in my first knee and hope to get there now that the second is done. Hang in there...it is hard waiting on OS here in Canada
Thanks you so much fellow Canadian for responding as you know how challenging sometimes waiting is. So glad to hear that you are coming along. I saw my physiotherapist today and she said she would write a note to the OS just to let him know that I am doing all the right things, re: exercise, etc. but just maintaining and if I have to wait too long, the road back will be more difficult Thank you also for explaining the issue with shortened muscles. It sure makes sense. Keep up the good work and I'll be interested in your progress. L
Just saw OS today and have a date for RKR Monday, August 26th. So happy that it's going to happen. I know reality will set in very soon as I know the challenging journey and certainly wouldn't sign up for it unless there is no other alternative. The right knee to be replaced is more valgus than before and the left knee even has shifted as it compensates for the bad knee. So looking forward to being able to walk without pain.
Lindylee
post-grad
I've been very interested reading your story, as I'm another one with valgus knees. I had my left TKR 15 weeks ago, the right is bone on bone and needs doing and I can relate to much of what you are saying. My back and hip have been dire since I've been doing more and the left leg is more painful than the right at present, but reading information on the forum I think it is the IT band and surrounding soft tissue that's still adjusting to what is now a straight leg. I also have degeneration and scoliosis of my lumbar spine and, like DLR, I see a chiropractor. At present I'm seeing her every 2 weeks. I'll be interested to hear how you get on after your other knee is done, as I'm not ready to go ahead with mine yet, but hopefully we'll all be straighter and without all the back pain. Good luck with your surgery. I hope you have a successful and speedy recovery this time round.
jboles
graduate
@Lucy1 and @Lindylee both of my knees were valgus too. I had the left one done first and I had so much back and ankle pain in the right foot after my LTKR. Then I had the RTKR 6 months later. Hoping that it would be straight, but it wasn’t. I just had a revision on the right knee to correct the alignment. So far my back and ankle are so much better. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it remains that way with increased activity.
Hope things continue progressing for you. I am so looking forward to having straight legs for the first time in my life. As you know, walking is so difficult and very tiring. Sounds like you are on the right track now!
Lindylee
post-grad
@jboles I'm glad that things are improving for you now. It's encouraging for those of us who need the other one done. I'll be interested to see how others with valgus knees find out how things improve after the second knee is done. It might make me think about having it done sooner. The surgeon originally said this month, but he didn't bring it up at my review and I wasn't ready to think about it.Because of my scoliosis and lumbar degeneration my chiropractor said she thought it would cause problems and she's working on adjustments so I'm hoping to get sone relief soon and it will make walking more comfortable. It's frustrating.
It's such a short space of time since you had your first knee done. I think so much healing is probably still going on. As I mentioned, my first knee was August 2016, and things at first progressed well. It was after the first year I felt the other valgus knee was my main problem. Now I feel as I said I have no choice and my future mobility will depend on this surgery. With two straight legs, I may even buy myself a pair of leggings for the first time. Scared but gonna do it!!! L
Just got a call from the surgeon's office and I can move my surgery up from Aug. to June 26th. Told them I would take that date, but right now I am really scared. I'm thinking I would have lost that 10 lbs by August and done more exercise to get ready. Called several friends looking for advice and no one was home. Help!!!!! Will I be able to travel a couple of hours to a lodge by Aug. 1?? (already booked). I forget what it was like with my first knee. Sure didn't expect this so soon. Felt better when it was two months away. L
My personal experience says no. You will still need to be icing and elevating much of the time at just a little over a month out of a replacement. Can you reschedule? I really don't think you'll have a good time at all.
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