Hypersensitivity Nerves After Knee Replacement

@hoover I wish I had some words of wisdom for you but I don’t. I have had two TKRs with no real problems beyond not reaching the full ROM I would like. Are you confident of your doctor? If you are then you need to trust what he/she is saying. Otherwise I would get a second opinion.
I hope you can resolve this problem. It’s terrible to have an elective surgery like a TKR and end up in so much discomfort. .
I will be interested in hearing how this turns out for you.
JK

Thank you for your kind words! Actually going to my Family Physician today to get set-up for a second opinion. Hate to do it but my life needs to get back to somewhat normal. Thank you!

@hoover I have Had significant nerve pain after my double TKR. Particularly at night, nerve pain throughout my legs would keep me awake. My doctor first prescribed gabapentin at 100 mg and that did nothing. At 300 I Was finally able to sleep. Hope it helps you

Thank you! Actually started on Gabapentin a couple days ago. I saw my Family Physician and you can take up to 900mg a day and to the max of 1800mg. The Gabapentin will buy me some time as I will be heading to Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale very soon.
Again, Thank you kindly for reaching out😊

It’s nice to discover the sensitivity I feel in my TKR area is normal. I am 6 weeks out and the slight pain but mostly sensitivity is my main problem. I do find relief by wrapping a bandana loosely around the knee before wrapping and Ace bandage over that. Otherwise the bandage stretches, moves and irritates. I massage the knee and will try sone of the products mentioned here. So far I am -3 for leg extension and believe this may be the best I’ll do. I was not faithful with exercises early on considering my efforts to survive the pain, etc.
I’m walking quite normally with no assistive device though I used a walker for about four weeks. I look forward to walking briskly and hiking but that may take a few months. I’m 80 years old and pray I’ll look back and say the surgery was worth it.

I’m going through the exact same thing. It helps knowing I’m not the only one. Also 10 weeks out. Had an MUA with okay results. My extension has not been an issue from the beginning, but my flexion was stuck at 90° until the MUA. I went to outpatient PT everyday for two weeks after the MUA and have been faithful to home exercise as prescribed. Two weeks after the MUA my flexion is now 115°. Sounds like progress, but I’m in pain 90% of the time. Can’t sleep unless I take a hydrocodone at bedtime. I’m starting gabapentin today. I’ll keep going with PT until the end of the month. Next stop? A second opinion. Best of luck to you.

I had left knee done 4/3/25 with no real problems. Still numb on outside of knee. ROM is probably 105-110. Had right knee 7/31/25. And immediately after anesthetic wore off could feel nerve pain in right lower outside of knee. Really made it tough to bend even with that motion machine. Did all my PT for several months.. not so great at home. Still have the nerve pain at 6 months out, though a little less intense. Because I’m not bending great going downstairs.. and not at 120 ROM.. doctor suggests MUA. My right knee still gets inflammation and when it happens it’s harder to bend. When inflammation is down it’s easier. Not to the point of bounding downstairs. I also have RA. Not sure how much that plays into the ROM. I’ve heard it can. Doctor told me at first consult that because I didn’t have full range before surgery, that it may be hard to get past what I’d already had. I can walk fine. No pain there. But.. knees are stiff. I know.. hasn’t been a year yet. Still healing and all that. But.. I’m just not sure I want to do this MUA thing. Can anyone give me encouragement either way? Thanks.

I had some nerve pain my therapist had me use a rolling pin rolling up and down area was very uncomfortable to do in the beginning but worked

@dmk Thank you for your comment. Going to try that.

I had TKR in September 2024 & an MUA in November 2024. My knee pain and nerve pain never went away. My extension was -20 and my extension was 85 after a full year of PT 3 times weekly and home exercises that I never missed.

My surgeon didn’t want to do a scope and wanted me to wait 18 months before a revision. The nerve pain was so bad at night that I couldn’t sleep even with 600 mg of Gabapentin at night (total of 1200 daily) and Tramadol.

My GP finally agreed I shouldn’t live like this and referred me to another orthopedic surgeon at a different clinic. They immediately said my original TKR had completely failed and I needed a full revision.

I had my revision on October 15, 2025. Surgery was expected to be 2-2.5 hour, but it took them 5 hours, but it worked!

At my 12 week mark I had full extension and my flexion is 115 degrees. I still have some nerve damage along the outer part of my knee, and because they had to shave off a lot of bone on the femur and tibia I have to wear an insert in my one shoe.

They had to drill further into both the tibia and femur to insert posts and then cement on the other parts of the replacement.

But after 12 weeks I’m doing great and the pain has pretty much subsided. I’m still on Gabapentin due to the nerve damage and it has really helped. I hope it helps with your pain.