TKR Post tkr pain day ten

Pulvermacher

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Good evening
I am ten days out from TKR and having my share of problems, specifically the burning and sudden needle spike like pains on one side of my knee that come and go with no discernible pattern, all on the same side that on the backside is very heavily bruised and swollen whilst the other sided my knee no pain and only modest bruising
Can anyone advise me ? My husband feels this is normal but it’s hard to feel that way when it hurts in one specific side/place and the bruising is really hard to look at.
From the swelling I have limited rotation
But I move around every hour , do exercises during day , rest, ice , elevate ,
??
 
Hi and Welcome!

Most likely these are all normal after effects of this surgery that causes a lot of trauma to our whole leg. You can always check with your doctor to be sure.

You don’t need a list of exercises right now, just gentle movements and short walks.

Resting, icing and elevating are great! As long as you have a cloth/towel between you and the ice source, you can ice as long and as often as you want, it is a great pain reliever.


I will leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Knee Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​


4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?
Energy drain for TKRs
Elevation is the key
Ice to control pain and swelling
Heel slides and how to do them properly
Chart representation of TKR recovery
Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only One Recovery Thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread.
 
Hello @Pulvermacher - and :welome:

Please will you tell us the full date of your knee replacement and which knee it is, so we can make a signature for you? Knowing the exact date will help us to advise you appropriately in the future.
Thank you.:flwrysmile:

Those sudden, needle-spike pains you
re getting are probably what we call "zingers." They are little electric impulses put out by the endings of nerves that had to be cut during surgery. The nerves are trying to reconnect, or to build different pathways. They will gradually subside.

I expect you also have some numbness on the outside of your knee. This article explains about that:
Numb area after TKR: how long will it last?

As for the bruising, gravity has an effect. The bleeding may come from various parts all around your knee, but it tends to pool at the back of your knee because that's the lowest part.

Have a look at some of these examples of bruising:
Bruising after surgery
 
Your body is shocked -- someone has attacked you with saws, hammers and other assorted weaponry, cut bits of you off and hammered foreign material in. It's no wonder it's a bit discommoded!!

This recovery takes time, and 10 days is very little of it. Just do what you're doing, rest, ice, elevate and gentle stretching exercises and you'll see progress. Don't worry.
 
Good morning and thankyou
Surgery date was June 25 th
Left knee tkr
The “zingers” hurt a lot and frankly the only reason I take pain meds ...it makes sense but boy does it hurt when they fire
I now am icing the back of the knee and that seems to be working better as the top side has become hyper sensitive to touch
Right now each day it is getting more intense and more frequent , I am inferring from your reply that is actually a pair with thing as the nerves regenerate
Is that the idea ?
 
@Pulvermacher. I forgot about the zingers. Had them with first TKR.
The one I just had, done had way more bruising around inside of upper knee, thigh area. One of my Physical therapy buddies is 2 weeks out now and her leg was just as bruised.
Roy is right, your body during surgery is undergoing so much.
When I had my surgery last month, I mentioned the worst part of my first TKR was the excruciating pain in both of my shoulder blade area that would come on slowly and nothing would take away that pain.
Dr. Said the surgery has you there for about two hours and they usually place you with arms out which is a long time to be in one position, so they were nice enough to move my arms throughout. I know your body is twisted and turned and suffers tremendous trauma.
Try to rest, ice and find a great nexflix series! Wishing you well!
 
I would get a periodic "firestorm" of zingers but the episodes didn't last very long each time. The bruising looks pretty nasty, doesn't it? Glad you're finding icing the back of the knee helpful.
 
My LTKR was June 15, 2020. I, too, am finding it's better icing the backside of my knee as opposed to the front. Icing on top is causing more pain because of sensitivity at the incision site. Seems to be working okay.
 
I am inferring from your reply that is actually a pair with thing as the nerves regenerate
Is that the idea ?
Unfortunately, yes, that is so.

Those zingers will eventually stop. They're not going to go on for ever, although I'm sure it feels that way right now. :console2:
 
Hi there! I had my surgery the 24th so I right there with you. I don’t recall having zingers with my prior surgery but this one is giving me a hard time. I get the zingers it seems mostly when I am asleep and boy do they wake me up! I have had some terrible bruising as well on the back of my leg and knee, so I can relate to that as well. Hope you are doing well.
 

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