Swelling and tightness

[Cathie]

Hello,

I had my TKR done in October and all has been really good up til this past week. I had my rt knee done at that time. I also have to have the left one done and it seems to be getting worse by the day. But....the question I have is this - is it "normal" to get this swelling and stifness back after all this time? Or is there something I should be concerned about? I am scheduled to do the left one in May and am getting more concerned.
Any suggestions?

Thank You,
Cathie

 

[kath]

I am not sure about this as I just had mine done in Jan. and I don't have too much swelling anymore after 8 weeks, I bet Josephine could help you with this question.

 

[Josephine]

5 months - that's quite a time to still be having swelling. A few questions to be answered!

1. Have you discussed this with your doctor? Or surgeon? If so, what did they say?
2. Did you have any extra problems pre or post op - or with your physiotherapy? 3. How well did you get on with your therapy?
4. Are you back at work or doing any other excessive work or activity like gardening?
5. Are you still resting, elevation and icing your leg?

When you tell me all this, I can maybe give you some advice.

 

[Cathie]

1. Have you discussed this with your doctor? Or surgeon? If so, what did they say?.....Not as of yet. I thought maybe its common to have some of this from time to time.
2. Did you have any extra problems pre or post op - or with your physiotherapy? I did not have any problems with PT. When I was released I had zero swelling.
3. How well did you get on with your therapy? Therapy went very well. I was released in late January after a visit to the doctor suggested I no longer needed it.
4. Are you back at work or doing any other excessive work or activity like gardening? No gardening here - there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground :-( I am working alot of hours these days. Since I have to have another surgery in a couple months, I need to get alot done beforehand..
5. Are you still resting, elevation and icing your leg? I do rest in the evening with elevation. Have not had to ice it til now. My therapist had me using a heating pad to get the blood flow to the knee after the swelling subsided.
I heard there can be swelling and tightness for up to a year after surgery. Is this true? I am scheduled to have the other knee done in May and want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I want the first one to be strong in order to support the second when its done.

Thank You for your input.

 

[kath]

Cathie,
If I were you to be on the safe side, I think I would make an appointment with the dr just to check it out. Keep us posted, I am anxious to hear if this is normal. I had mine done 1/4 and doing second one next week. Everyone on this site is huge into ice, our drs, our PT's. You are the first that I have read about that did not have to ice at all. Good luck.

 

[Josephine]

1. Have you discussed this with your doctor? Or surgeon? If so, what did they say?.....Not as of yet. I thought maybe its common to have some of this from time to time.

Well, it is, that's true. But where there was no swelling before it's always wise to get it checked out to excluded any unexpected problems.

4. Are you back at work or doing any other excessive work or activity like gardening? No gardening here - there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground :-( I am working a lot of hours these days. Since I have to have another surgery in a couple months, I need to get a lot done beforehand..

Perhaps you are spending too much time on your feet. 4 months may seem like a long time ago but it's still relatively recent as far as your knee sees it! Under these circumstances, maybe you should try not to spend more than a couple of hours standing at a time.

5. Are you still resting, elevation and icing your leg? I do rest in the evening with elevation. Have not had to ice it til now. My therapist had me using a heating pad to get the blood flow to the knee after the swelling subsided.

Key words being "after the swelling subsided" which is fine. At 4 months, that is somewhat academic anyway. But I think now you should be using ice and lots of it. And elevation.

I heard there can be swelling and tightness for up to a year after surgery. Is this true? I am scheduled to have the other knee done in May and want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I want the first one to be strong in order to support the second when its done. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Thank You for your input.

It is very true and another reason why the physio should be continued at home even if your doctor said you didn't actually need to go the the PT anymore.

 

[Cathie]

Please tell me what the difference is between Physio and PT.

Kath- I didn't mean to say that I never iced. It was always icing until all the swelling went down, then the PT told me heat to get the blood flowing.

As of right now, the swelling has gone down but I still have stiffness in the upper portion of the knee. And the surgical knee is doing some clicking. Is this normal????

I am having a tough time with the exercises because of this darned left knee that is worse than the right one ever was I think!!!! I am actually looking forward to having the second one done!!!!

 

[beachcomber]

I am at 11 weeks PO with PKR. My knee also pops and Josephine said it was my ligaments and new knee "getting to know each other". LOL! They talk pretty loud first thing in the morning, but quiet down after that. I have started doing heel slides before I even get out of bed in the morning to loosen up my knee and get that "pop" out of the way, then it feels better and just glides along for the rest of the day.

I also have some swelling and tightness right above my knee but I think it is all just part of the healing process and using muscles I neglected prior to my KR. I was doing a lot of "straight legging it" because bending it while walking was so painful before my surgery. So I guess we just have to get that complex joint back to working fully again.

Good luck!

 

[Josephine]

PT and physio are the same thing - PhysioTherapy - except the first is what the Americans say and the second is what we say in the UK.

Brits also say physiotherapist whilst I have observed that Americans just tend to say therapist or PT tech.

 

[kath]

I don't have a pop, but sometimes I can feel it sort of click a bit. Dr. said it will take a little while for that to go away, muscles need to reattach that sort of thing.
I hope your leg gets better, I know what it is like to have the other knee in the way. My new knee is better than my other knee now, but not for long. I am at 9 weeks and Friday I am having the other one done.

 

[Cathie]

Wow - good luck to you. 9 weeks and going for #2. Personally, I can't wait til my #2 is done and over. I am really hurting this week. It seems to be getting worse by the day. But I have to wait until early May as my surgeon was booked solid. In January, he was booked thru April. Amazing to me that so many people are doing these knee and hip surgeries. That is ALL my surgeon does!!!

Thanks beachcomber, I think we are experiencing that same clicking, popping whatever we call it! Its just good to know what I am getting is not unusual.

Funny - this week the surgical knee feels much better, but the other one is feeling awful..

ThankS!!