TKR Suggestions needed for “tight band” feeling

[Stiff knee NC]

Okay. Appreciate the reassurance!

 

[judgar]

Your probley not going to want to hear this. I had my left knee done 6 1/2 years ago. My nerves did not grow back together. He said it is rare but it does happen. My knee every once in awhile will get real tight again and I have to rub it. My whole leg will feel tight. It goes away after awhile. Just something I have to deal with. My right knee is still tight at 8months just hope not the same problem as the other.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@judgar: I’m so sorry that you occasionally still have this problem...that’s got to be so frustrating. Hope you don’t have this problem with your right knee!

Questions: so you are saying that my tightness might be caused by nerves not growing back together? And, did you have a test that determined this and, if so, what was it called?

I want to start getting tests to figure out WHAT is causing my continued, DAILY tightness. I’ve been on Lyrica nearly three weeks. It might be too soon to tell, but I don’t think it’s helping much.

 

[judgar]

Sorry I don’t remember the name of the test. My dad died around the same time so many things were happening at the time. He had given me a lotion to put on it when the tightness came on. We went to get a refill and they couldn’t make it again the company went out of business. It was a compound cream. It really help too. So now when it happens to that knee I just rub it till it goes away. With my newest knee he had me do home therapy he felt maybe they were to rough with the other knee. He said it is rare but it does happen not going back together.its like when I rub the knee it wakes them up. May sound weird but it helps. Sorry I don’t know the name of the test.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

I’m sorry to be so needy but here I am. I will have my much-waited for second opinion on May 12 and I want to make the most of it. I STILL have the “tight band” feeling all day long, despite RICE. My dr thinks that it’s a nerve issue; it feels to me that there’s a big strip of scar tissue that goes side to side across my kneecap, causing my knee to feel swollen inside and tight. It literally feels like a thick rubber band in there. Been on Lyrica 3 weeks, no improvement (was on prednisone for 6 days, too). Are there any tests that anyone can recommend? My original dr wants a bone scan and, if that shows nothing, a nerve ablation. X rays and bloodwork look fine. Suggestions? Tks in advance!

 

[judgar]

My dr said it was the nerves and nothing can be done. Yours may be something totally different. I have just heard to live with it. I do have a question. Does your calf seem to get tight when the knee is really bothering you .? My does I just rub it and it goes away.over the 6 years it is better than it was. Hopefully you get your answers your looking for when he does the test.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@judgar: no, my calf does not get tight at all when my knee is tight/stiff (or any other time actually). The place where I have pain is directly behind my kneecap and, occasionally, on either side of my kneecap. Sounds like I have a kneecap problem, eh??!! No amount of rubbing or anything else (except elevating and strapping on the ice machine) helps. If I have this six years from now...well, I don’t want to think about that...I would be despondent

 

[judgar]

No my is not like that at all. Maybe it is a kneecap problem. Hopefully you get a answer soon.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

I hope one of the moderators/forum advisors can advise me about which tests can help me.

 

[sistersinhim]

We can't tell you what tests you need, only your doctor can do that. I can tell you, though, that your knee is still not finished healing. It's not even 3/4 of the way through the normal year-long healing. It's not unusual to have pain in different places. Even now, if I use my knee in a different way, I can have discomfort in it for a few days. Soft tissues take quite a while recover.

If you are concerned about this pain certainly call your doctor.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@sistersinhim: I appreciate your thoughts. At my last face-to-face appointment I DID ask my doctor what tests would tell what’s causing my tightness and he said, what are YOU thinking? (this frustrated me, to be honest) Luckily I had read on Bonesmart some tests people had mentioned (MRI, ultrasound, bone scan, etc) so I rattled off that list. The only one he thought would be helpful is the bone scan. But I have a nagging feeling (and shared this with him) that this is not a bone problem but a scar tissue or soft tissue or unknown problem. He said that he thought that this was probably a nerve problem. Hence the Lyrica and talk of nerve ablation. I feel like I will get a second chance with a different doctor when I get a second opinion...and I want to make the most of it!

 

[Tykey]

Hi again, you got many comments from members here, recommending you cut back drastically with the PT. I recommended you cut back to zero
Could you bring us up to date on what PT you are now doing. This thread is getting quite long, so apologies if I've missed it.
One of the problems with a long recovery time like a tkr, when we get tired and fed up, our imaginations set off and over analyse every pain we get. Including me and others (they know who they are)

Here's a British saying (maybe American as well):
"Never worry about what might happen, because it rarely does"

I'd bet 5 cents that a second opinion will be vastly different from the first doc, who gives me no faith at all.

Good luck!

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@Tykey: first, a big SMILE! Tks for responding!

I haven’t had PT since November; I had 2 sessions of water PT in early December. Then I took 7 weeks off (mid-Nov-mid-Jan) from exercise...felt way better; w/doctor’s ok, resumed water walking 3x/week for 5 weeks—lots of tightness/pain so switched to gym—2 mins each on bike and pedal-type machine—working up to 8 mins on each over 1.5 months—gym closed so that ended all exercise...

BEFORE surgery, I got tightness after standing about an hour; I now have tightness/pain ALL day, from when I get up til bedtime, and it gets worse throughout the day. I wear a compression stocking almost all day now, too.

I’m beyond frustrated with my doctor...but he successfully did 3 meniscus surgeries on me so I had no reason to think that my TKR would be any different.

I’m so grateful that I can get the “second opinion” at 9 months rather than waiting til August, my one-year anniversary. I want to ask the right questions.

I feel like I’ve exasperated a lot of Bonesmart people with my constant complaining about tightness...but the tightness has gotten worse, not better, since February (altho I can bend my knee further/easier, even with tightness, which makes no sense).

I’m grateful for every comment and suggestion from every Bonesmart person over these past 7 or so months!

 

[Tykey]

We never get exasperated. We all know how difficult and confusing this recovery is.
Keep that smile going.
When I was out walking my dogs today, I wondered what my ROM was. I virtually never ever bother with thinking about my knee, but I actually noticed I never went past 90 deg even though I was scrambling over fallen trees etc. I also noticed I had a bit of stiffness in the new knee, but didn't notice.
The point of this ramble is to wonder if your expectations in the short term are a bit high.

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@Tykey: hmm... well I was thinking and hoping that at 9 months out my tightness would be lessening each month or so and not with me all day long! I’ve heard people say, quit thinking about your knee! I’d sure like to, but the tightness is like an aggravating friend who won’t leave. I’d stop thinking (and worrying about) my knee if the tightness would just go away...

 

[judgar]

How are you doing. Thought of you yesterday. I went for a walk boy I paid for it last night. I guess I went to far. I hurt so bad last night. I really thought this late in the game I would not hurt so bad but I did.this should not be in my thoughts. I feel like iam going backwards with my tightness. Everyone says rest the knee but I feel I should not be having these problems at 8 months. It is so discouraging.do you still have swelling ? I do. I never had swelling in my other knee. Well hopefully your doing well

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@judgar: So good to hear from you! But sorry that you’re still having problems. I am, too, but no swelling, just tightness all day long. I was doing so well that I put the ice machine away but had to drag it out again a few weeks later—very discouraging. Being inside all cooped up isn’t helping either. I’ve been SO tempted to get out for a walk. Mostly what I do is drive around and look at the flowers, trees, etc. I’m slightly ahead of you at 9 mos so our recoveries sound like they’re at the same (slow!) pace. Unfortunately I’m worse now than I was BEFORE surgery. What really helps me day-to-day is a compression sock. I wear it all day and it’s made a big difference.

A question: did your doctor do any tests regarding tightness? What does he or she say about the tightness? I have my second opinion appointment next week. You can read my thread for the particulars but my dr thinks it’s a nerve issue. I think it’s scar tissue or some sort of soft tissue problem.

Hope you’ll feel better after some rest! Take care...

 

[Sybilla]

Just came back to visit this forum because my one-year "anniversary" from right TKR was last week (4/29) and I wondered if anyone here might be helped by a report from one of the 20% with a pretty tough recovery. The good news: I rode my bicycle with minimal pain Sunday, even uphill on really low gear! The bad news: I still have plenty of pain when I bend and straighten my knee, especially after rest. But I am STILL continuing to improve and echo everyone here about patience. I never thought to get a 2nd opinion but I did stick with PT (until COVID) because I continued to progress, and needed the encouragement and support for this long haul. In fact I owe my PT a tele-health update, and here is what I'll tell him (besides the bike): I can finally descend my stairs foot over foot without leaning on the rail/wall (about 2 weeks now), I no longer notice pain rolling over in bed or curling up into a fetal position, but still have noticeable pain at quad attachment point when lifting the lower part of my leg. In other words, one year out and I'm STILL recovering. And still gaining range of motion btw (at least I was until COVID-I can't measure me).

The most important thing I have learned is how essential it is to find the "sweet spot" of exercising just enough to "feel it" without even coming close to overdoing it. I'm sure part of my tortured recovery was from poor, overly aggressive in-home PT immediately after surgery. Once I "fled" to a capable practice (5 weeks later) I started to actually begin recovery, but I had additional pain/damage to recover from. In my case a "roller stick" also helped me massage the soft tissue without stressing it. So if it helps, here's my advice: unlimited passive movement as long as it doesn't hurt, some passive movement that becomes uncomfortable or "hurts a little", sparing amounts of weight-bearing exercises as long as it doesn't hurt too much (discomfort ok), AVOID anything "strenuous" or painful, which I/we (my PT) defined as "takes your concentration away from your conversation". So much of healing is time, and yet we are led to believe that WE need to "rehab our knee"... Garbage. I needed to learn to back off and stop well before pain and when I did, my pain (at rest) started to diminish and has continued to recede thank goodness! I hope you are satisfied with the answers you get from your second opinion, and I hope your pain starts (and continues) to diminish as well!

 

[Stiff knee NC]

@Sybilla: apologies for not responding sooner...and thanks for ALL your comments and your perspective...

I am struck by your glass-half-full attitude of “I’m still continuing to improve” instead of my “I’m still having tightness and pain.” Such a good lessen for me!

We 20 percenters ARE a tough lot for sure!

Like you, I had overly aggressive PT...and I’m now sure (in hindsight) that this slowed my recuperation. One of the less aggressive PTs used the roller stick you described; not sure it really helped but it surely didn’t hurt.

Once my gym opens, I will strive to find that elusive “sweet spot!”

So excited for my second opinion on Tuesday!! I’ve got it all ready—medical records, x-rays, MRI results, OR notes, bloodwork and questions! Fingers crossed for some clarity, answers, and a plan to move comfortably forward!I will post an update...

All the best and continued recovery...

 

[judgar]

How did your appt go. Were you happy with what he said. Wondering how it went. Hopefully good.