TKR Sciatic nerve pain after knee replacement on July 20, 2022

[Seagal]

Searing sciatic nerve pain 24 hours a day, hip, thigh, down calf and under foot. No current med touches it. Surgeon won’t let me try Ibuprofen until I stop blood clot therapy. No sleep, ice , heat doesn’t help

 

[Jockette]

I’m so sorry you are having so much sciatic pain. Did you also have it before your TKR?

Are you doing a lot of knee exercises? If so, cut back on those and maybe that will help.

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.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

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​

elevate​

ice​

take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

don't overwork.​

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

​

the BoneSmart view on exercise​

BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Activity progression for TKRs​

6. Access to these pages on the website

​

Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Closure​

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.

 

[LaJudes]

I had that as well ! It was way more painful then the TKR . An OT therapy person cam to my house , and she rubbed and massaged an area about 3 inches below the waist and about the middle of the top upper part of the buttocks on the side of the TKR . She used a CBD lotion that I had sitting there , but said the freeze gel kind was good too . I was so amazed when she had me rub the area , there was a big hard area , that really hurt when it was pushed on. She said it was the “knot “ the tight part of the sciatic nerve ,that needs to be massaged and rubbed to get it relaxed . I was able to do it myself . She also said after massage l should put ice on it , a frozen water bottle is best , it’s curved and puts pressure on the area which helps the nerve settle . It worked for me , got rid of it totally in a couple days . I would never have thought it was in that area because most of my pain was behind my knee and bottom of my foot .

 

[Jaycey]

Gentle hamstring stretches from a seated position may help ease sciatic pain. Icing as LaJudes suggests should also help.

Ask your surgeon if they can prescribe gabapentin. It's a medication that directly addresses nerve pain.

 

[Cjackso21]

Did the nerve pain start with after the TKR? I’ve had many surgeries and never a problem with that. But I did herniate a disc years ago and recently did something to the same disc. After MRI saw that there was some tissue pressing on nerve. Just had an epidural. Finally got a good nights sleep without the sciatic pain. PT helps too, with massages like @LaJudes was saying. But nothing helps with sleep except hopefully the epidural.

 

[LaJudes]

Did the nerve pain start with after the TKR? I’ve had many surgeries and never a problem with that. But I did herniate a disc years ago and recently did something to the same disc. After MRI saw that there was some tissue pressing on nerve. Just had an epidural. Finally got a good nights sleep without the sciatic pain. PT helps too, with massages like @LaJudes was saying. But nothing helps with sleep except hopefully the epidural.

The sciatica pain started as soon as I got home from the hospital , l didn’t have it during the 8 days that I was in the hospital , maybe because the pain meds were given in higher doses . I thought it was from the knee surgery because it hurt behind my knee , down the back of the calf and on the bottom of my foot . I blamed the long leg brace for the ankle and foot pain and the knee for the rest , but after some reading l discovered it was sciatica . I had the same issue after my original TKR 4 years ago , then the pain was in my back . At that time my daughter-in-law who is a specialist in acupressure , had me lay on a small round ball as a tennis ball in the middle lower back area below the waist . That got rid of it !

 

[kneeper]

How are you elevating? Sometimes that can be aggravating.