numbness in knee

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laurelb

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I had a rt tkr 7/29 and will return to work as a nurse on Monday. My question for all of you is how long does the numbness last? It is usually my entire knee and lateral side of the knee. It is driving me crazy and does affect me on daily basis. I know why I have it, but how long do I have to look forwrd to this lasting. I know I complain about it to my family daily and they are tired of it and so am I. Yesterday was an especially bad day of it!!Can anyone shed some light as to how long it lasted for them. I realize this is petty, but it gets discouraging. Thanks in advance.
 
Laurel, I think the numbness is going to be with you a while. I had my surgery on February 29th and I still have some numbness around my knee and to the outside of the joint. But the feelings are slowly coming back and it's definitely better than at 3 months - where you are now. Forgive me - and I'm not trying to be insensitive here, but I don't understand why the numbness is bothering you so. Is it impacting your mobility or painful? Or is it more of a "creepy" and "not natural" feeling?
 
Good questions, Jamie - I echo them.

I just say, Laurel - nurse to nurse - you know an incision like this does destroy a lot of the peripheral nerves and that nerves take a long, long time to meet up and repair themselves. THEN they take a long time to get working again, transmitting impulses to the brain. It's only been 3 months for you. Nerve recovery like this can take upwards of 6 months to complete.
 
thanks to both of you. I have had numbness from previous surgeries, but this is so much more and it does affect me. The pins and needles drive me nuts. I am hoping when I have my mind on work, I will not be so focused all the wierd sensations. It is just more than I expected and I was hoping to have it go away sooner. But there is no pain in the knee thankfully. Thank you again.
 
Hang in there, Laurel! I think you may be right about working taking your mind off some of the pins and needles feelings. I do believe it will get better with some time. In the meantime, when you're feeling those sensations, try and rejoice in the GOOD things about your new knee....no joint pain, better mobility, or whatever makes your life better these days. And congratulations for making it to this point!!! It's an accomplishment you should be proud of. And use the forum when you need to for venting about things....many times we who have been through the surgery can understand a bit more than family. :)
 
Laurel,
My suggestion for you is to massage the scars both in the AM and PM with an ointment. Not only is it soothing, helps to repair the external skin on the scar, but the massaging gets the blood into the area and moving around. The elasticity in the skin is also increased. My OS surgeon told me to do this for the entire first year......... I use broken link removed: https://www.ems.com/1/1/5205-dermatone-skin-protector-tin.html. I like that it has a built in sunscreen. I use it on my face in the winter!
Best,
Crystal
 
Laurel -
I am just a bit ahead of you (7/14). Getting back to work may take your mind a bit off the pins and needles - I try to find the "absurdity" in my job - the goofy things that adults do - to keep my mind engaged in work rather than the knee - Sometime it the absurdidty of myself that keeps me giggling (ie... 12 degrees - fire drill - not a drill - waddling outside with my class with 2 ice bags wrapped about my knee in a pair of shorts - you gotta laugh - I had just got back to school from PT and had chosen not to ice - figured I would do it a school!)

My pt has had my rubbibng vitamin e oil every am and pm - and inbetween- if you have the time on the knee - the scar and surrounding tissues - it may or may not help with the pins and needles but it sure helps with dry skin! I honestly think it has helped with the healing of the scar and the surrounding tissues - I have no feeling - but also - no pins and needles!

good luck with heading back to work - take it easy and remeber to rest as much as you can!

Marianne
 
Laurel, I can sympathize with the tingling driving you crazy. I don't have a problem with it from my knee surgery but I have cervical spinal stenosis and in the last six months something has started changing as I have that tingling, pins and needles feeling in part of my face and neck. I have it about 50% of the time, except for a couple of months ago when suddenly it just went away for a while. Now it is back and driving me crazy. It makes it hard to concentrate and I am determined to not go to the doctor with any new problems before the first of the year, I just want to have the next couple of months with no problems. Yeah, and that is going to happen. I am finding growing older is more unsettling than anything I went through when I was younger. Seems like every week brings more problems. Of course it does beat the alternative. Good luck with this, I will be thinking of you while I am buzzing. That is how I have come to think of the pins and needles feeling, like I am on vibrate. Rowdy
 
Since my surgery 5/22, I have had pins and needles and numbness in my feet and toes. Could this be caused by the knee surgery? It is very bothersome. But it is true that when I went back to work, I did forget about it while busy. It is the evenings when I take off my shoes that are the worse. Granted I have arthritis in every joint in my body so perhaps this is what is causing the problem in my toes. But I can walk without pain now so at least I have my mobility back.
 
thanks to all of you for your replies. They were helpful and encouraging. Today I went back to work for first time in 3 mos. I was exhausted by end of day and iced as soon as I walked in door. Had a little accident this afternoon at nursing station. When I was getting out of chair and very stiff the chair went out from under me and I slid to floor. Fortunately, I slid to the floor on derrierre and leg was straight out. Wasn't hurt except for my ego!!!! Also had to have help to get off floor. Also had to fill out injury report and go to employee health. That was the only thing that went wrong today. working helped to distract me from the pins and needles feelings. Thanks again. On to tomorrow!
 
Laurel-
Glad you made it through the day. Sorry to hear about your mishap- I missed a step once and the teacher at the top of the stairs came flying out of her room - I caught myself - but... I was totally embarassed. We laughed. Habg in there - You will have up and downs - remember the weekend is only 4 days away! Ice ICE Ice!

Good Luck with the rest of the week - I can remember being totally exhausted - It has gotten better - but the weekend can never come fast enough!

Mariannne
 
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