Straight knee after knee replacement

[icep707]

Lord have Mercy !! Have you not read the mantras and articles that were sent to you ?? I believe Josephine sent you in post message #4. EVERYTHING is there. Soft tissue pain will subside soon but sounds like mom still needs alot of ice and elevation . Meds before bedtime and in mornings, in between if needed. I hope she is doing physical therapy , you wont want mom to get adhesions ! is she bending her knee. ? Do you know her range of motion numbers ?? It is not unusual to still have pain 4 months after. Hope she improves. Please read post #4. Best wishes Iceman

 

[Jamie]

I'm glad you are seeing that your mother has pain medication on a set schedule. It is so important. Remember that her bent knee did not get there overnight and it will take time to get all the soft tissue realigned and straightened out. Patience is required!! The most important thing is to control her pain in these first months of recovery. It will take months to achieve the goal....that is normal for some people.

She can do fine with just some gentle bending and stretching several times each day. You can also include periods of time doing the leg hang off the edge of the bed exercise that was shown in a previous post. Just make sure you stay within her pain tolerance or swelling will increase. She should walk with an aid 15 minutes every few hours.

Things should improve with gentle care and movement along with adequate pain meds.

 

[goswami]

@ice707, Thanks for info. She is using ice packs in days multiple time. But Here my mother case is slightly different which create some panic to me.
1.After Leg Elevation and ice, swelling has reduced and I will say she does not have any swelling. She never feels pain at knee joint. She generally feel pain in nerve of leg which is also reduced. After Doing Physio for a longer time (doing last three month) she got sudden Pain in knee joint place and got consult with doctor. Doctor told us, she is feeling pain as her body has tired and nerve become red near joint replacement place. He advise us, not to do any Physio at least for 1 month. So After 15 days, Pain has reduced lot but still feeling mild Pain. So my question it's normal issue. As per Doctor, it will reduce next two month.

By God Grace, she is able to walk and does not feel any pain and stiffness.She used to walk 10 to 15 min in 2 to 3 hour.

 

[goswami]

Can I have some suggestion I feel bad when she feel pain in join only during sitting and standing position. As per doctor it's normal.

 

[icep707]

Is she still taking meds on a SCHEDULE ?? Do you know her ROM numbers, like flexion and extension . That will give us a better gauge on where she is at . Has a infection been ruled out . ?? How often does she see her surgeon ?? She needs to walk, go up and down stairs and therapy in general , but will need medication before and after. Along with cold ice and elevation. You are doing your mom a great service and I applaud your efforts. Best of luck Iceman

 

[scaredinCA]

My knees were very bent before surgery. And now at 11 months from surgery they are still bent but not nearly as bad as before surgery. My daughter pushed on my knees for months and we saw very little improvement. I also layed on my stomach with legs hanging off the bed and still could not straighten my legs.. So now I am trying the JAS System. What I have found so far is that with the appliance on, my knees go straight but when I take it off, they go right bact to the same bend. When sitting on the floor my knees are about 5 (it should be 0)..Before surgery my knees were bent at about 30!! I don't know if my legs will ever be totalley straight again, but I will keep trying. Even if I fail, I am still alot better off than I was before surgery!! I am glad I did it... Good luck with your mother and I wouldn't worry too much about her falling as long as she's using a walker when alone.

 

[goswami]

@icep707 Yesterday I have visited at surgeon hospital. The leg is bending fine upto 110. She does not have pain during walk. He also suggest us to stop all medication and do only iceing. we have only issue and which we asked but doctor disappoint my mother and me. As per his observation, The pain will go slowly and does not give some expected time line. we should not take any medication and except icing. We are not able to understand why she is getting pain only during sit time if all thing are usual. Really I am not able to understand are we facing this issue or is it common issue. He consider one of best doctor in bangaore(sanjay pai). But we did not get any answer which we were looking

 

[Pumpkin]

This may be one explaination why your Mother's knee hurts after sitting.
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/pain-movie-sign-in-tkr.19506/
Wishing you and your Mother all the best,

 

[Celle]

@icep707 Yesterday I have visited at surgeon hospital. The leg is bending fine upto 110. She does not have pain during walk. He also suggest us to stop all medication and do only iceing. we have only issue and which we asked but doctor disappoint my mother and me. As per his observation, The pain will go slowly and does not give some expected time line. we should not take any medication and except icing. We are not able to understand why she is getting pain only during sit time if all thing are usual. Really I am not able to understand are we facing this issue or is it common issue. He consider one of best doctor in bangaore(sanjay pai). But we did not get any answer which we were looking

That is just plain cruel!
For goodness' sake - if your mother has pain, she needs to take something for it. Would you accept that advice if you were the one in pain?

Get your mother some Paracetemol from the chemist. I know that you can buy it in India without a prescription, because I've done it.. Its other names are Tylenol and Acetaminophen.
The correct dose is 2 x 500 milligram tablets (1,000 mg, or 1Gram) every 4 to 6 hours, with a maximum dose of 4,000 milligrams (4 Grams) in 24 hours.

I don't know who considers your mother's doctor one of the best in Bangalore, but he doesn't have much respect for your mother.

 

[skigirl]

I agree with Celle. You could go to the pharmacy and buy her some Tramadol, you do not need a doctor's permission to do so. I took a 50 mg tablet every four hours for two weeks and it was relaxing not to have pain. Icing does work for pain relief, but there is not reason not to take some pain relief after a serious surgery like this one. I think that your surgeon does not respect women like your mother----she is entitled to pain relief after a major surgery. Why are you listening to this doctor?

 

[goswami]

Thanks for your reply. I was discussing with my mother and decided to give Tramadol two times(morning and eveing) in a day and Dolo65 in Afternoon After lunch. some time I also feel I am getting appropriate information from my doctor but he always told me to trust himself. Anyway I checked with other doctor but They told me to wait some more time as it's only 3month legs.sometime your mother may feel pain upto 6 month also

 

[skigirl]

exactly---each doctor will have a different story depending on the compassion of the doctor himself. In the end, you have to trust yourself and your mother---she is not a drug addict, she does not tell you she is in pain when she is not. If she is in pain, then she needs something to help with the pain.

If your body is in pain, your muscles will become stiff and that is not a good way for a tkr to heal. the relaxation of the ending of pain is much better for the muscles. I am glad that you have given your mother pain meds---if you get the pain under control, I think she will need less and less meds---but, first, you have to give enough medication to control the pain. Good for you---trust yourself and your mother.

 

[Celle]

@goswami

I'm glad you are giving your mother something for her pain. That's the kindest thing to do.

After all, if you have a headache, you take something to relieve the pain. What is so different about having pain in the knee? If your mother has pain in her knee, she needs to take something to relieve that pain. She will thank you.

 

[goswami]

Hi All,
First of all thanks to everyone who always provide support and valuable information. I still need help or input from this forum. My mother had knee replacement jan 2014 and got lot of relief but still facing some pain after one year.
She feel pain only during climbing of staircase when she use operation leg as first step or when she sit small height of chair or stand up from small height chair. I consulted with other doctor in Bangalore and went for X-ray. As per doctor, There is no issue into leg or operation. As per his suggestion. Doctor has not changed patella during knee replacement which may cause pain into leg and advise us to do some exercise. it's surprise me also that how much time will it get to recover from pain. She also become disappoint some time and ask me about pain which I do not have any answer. Can someone come across this kind issue? is it normal issue with knee replacement ? She generally use ice once in day but did not get any relief.

 

[Jamie]

Icing must be done more than once a day to receive any benefit. I suggest that she take a week and try to ice her knee as much as possible while it is elevated. Be sure and put a cloth between her skin and the ice source so as not to damage skin. Ice in periods throughout the day of at least an hour....it can be longer.

There could be a small amount of swelling within her knee that you cannot see from the outside. It can take over a year for this type of swelling and inflammation to subside.

Another possibility is that she may have some arthritis that developed beneath the patella. It frequently doesn not show on an xray. You might try talking with a different surgeon to see what he thinks. It should be someone totally independent of the first doctor - not the same clinic or hospital.

You also could ask her general practitioner physician if he would try a prescription of Celebrex (if it's appriate for her to take). This is an anti-inflammatory medication that may help.

 

[kneeper]

Is the pain in the knee or around the knee? If she has weak quadriceps that can cause some pain on stairs. Those muscles can take a while to strengthen.

 

[goswami]

Thanks for your input. @kneeper she feel pain in the knee.

 

[skigirl]

After reading your description, your mother has pain when she puts her weight on that new knee===as when she climbs the stairs. She also has some trouble bending her knee---so it hurts when she sits in a low chair or when she gets up from a low chair. First I am going to tag @Josephine our forum nurse as an advisor.

To me, I bet that she does have some problems with her patella--so that when it presses against her knee--when rising from a low chair or climbing stairs, she has some pain. In the US it is almost a standard procedure to change the patella with a small "button" of plastic which fits on the bottom of the knee cap.

Many people have pain when going up stairs or getting up from a chair which is related to arthritis under the patella. I think it is called patelleo-femoral syndrome. Obviously the patella rubs against the femoral head.

In addition, muscle weakness can also cause pain while climbing the stairs---a simple way to consider is to compare the size of the two thighs right above the knee. Even though I work out in a gym five or six days a week, my left leg is slightly smaller than my right. It is the weak leg.

You are a good son to take such care of your mother. I would ask for a second opinion of the knee from a different surgeon that you trust and also send your mom to physical therapy to have her quads (the large muscles on the thighs) evaluated. If she needs more pt, that is an inexpensive way to fix the problem.

 

[goswami]

Thanks all. I will check with surgeon. In India Doctor does not change patella as They told me it's not damage. But Yes as you mentioned I will take care of this.

 

[Phil75070]

Is the pain in the knee or around the knee? If she has weak quadriceps that can cause some pain on stairs. Those muscles can take a while to strengthen.

@kneeper I was going to say the same thing! Getting quad muscle strength back can be a long drawn out process and could be the cause of her pain.




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