My knees did something similar when I took a long trip at about six months after surgery. Both knees were in a good place going in, and the right knee hadn’t felt pain in three months. We drove for a few hours to visit my son and his family, and once there we spent the day on our feet visiting city sights and walking a lot, then I played with the grandkids. It was a lot more than what I usually did in a day.
That night my right knee (the best one!) blew up and hurt so much... and the left was also hurting. I foraged the hotel room for a couple of cushions and popped my legs up on those, and took some pain meds I’d brought “just in case.” The next day at my son’s house I got some ice in a ziplock to pop on the knees.
The knees settled down pretty quickly, within a day. That’s the best part of being in later stages of recovery. The knees settle down lots faster. But at six months, a TKR is still prone to acting up if given too much to do, or simply something it isn’t keen on doing. Long drives tend to be on that list, along with lots (and lots) of walking without a follow-up of pre-emptory elevating and icing. Which I did not do, and you likely didn’t either. The sitting at work is in the same category as a long drive, though not as restrictive, and doesn’t allow the swelling to settle as well as if your knee were elevated.
Is there a way you can elevate at work? Even if only for a half hour (an hour or two would be better). Can you ice at work? Elevate while you sleep? Whatever you can do to reduce the swelling will result in less pain.
On the plus side of all this... did you enjoy your outing? My trip was totally worth my knees acting up. I hope your trip was too.
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