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Scar tissue after knee replacement

Posted by leithlane @leithlane, Jan 31, 2017

I had knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago . Through PT I have been working on breaking up the scar tissue only for it to regrow by the time I get back to PT two days later. I have been massaging at home, using a hand held massager and roller. It is painful and swollen. I am getting very disheartened. Any suggestions as to what else I can do. Has anyone had laser treatments to break up scar tissue? Were they effective?

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golfshrink | @golfshrink | Oct 10, 2018
In reply to @dmcdon16 "I had a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago and have the same problem - scar..." + (show)
@dmcdon16

I had a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago and have the same problem - scar tissue that limits bending my knee. Plus it is getting worse. PT is extremely painful and not working. I went to a dermatologist who told me to consider Astym, which I am looking into. Google it to learn about it. Hope this helps. Once I start I will let you know how it goes.

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Astym looks interesting. I’ve done a number of massage therapy techniques that have helped with my pain associated with a double knee replacement. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I know I still have scar tissue that is limiting my ROM and still causing pain.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a therapist locally that deals with this type of treatment. I think I’m going to call PT groups to see if anyone does it

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1 reply
mickie75 | @mickie75 | Oct 11, 2018
In reply to @babette "@mickie75 Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Were you ever able to straighten your leg? My..." + (show)
@babette

@mickie75 Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Were you ever able to straighten your leg? My PT consists of a lot of things, but range of motion, including a perfectly flat leg while standing and lying down are priorities. It's painful, but seems to be working. Glad you're improving on your own! This is a very variable recovery, isn't it ... some "recover" so quickly and others seem to take forever. They say one year, I guess.

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It's over a year now, and still have problems with bending my knee. The manipulation didn't help,, 10 months of PT didn't help either. I still have a lot of scar tissue, and nothing seems to help, Still riding my bike, but not doing all the stretching like I did before. I can dance and walk but getting in and out of cars and going up and down is problematic. The doc that did the manipulation said that my knee is not going to get better, and he suggested arthroscopic surgery. After the hell I have been through with infections and huge tummy issues caused by the all the antibiotics which caused me to lose 17 pounds I will work on my own to get my knee to bend. Someone suggested laser treatment since it's a muscular issue. Will see what happens.

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dmcdon16 | @dmcdon16 | Oct 11, 2018
In reply to @golfshrink "Astym looks interesting. I’ve done a number of massage therapy techniques that have helped with my..." + (show)
@golfshrink

Astym looks interesting. I’ve done a number of massage therapy techniques that have helped with my pain associated with a double knee replacement. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I know I still have scar tissue that is limiting my ROM and still causing pain.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a therapist locally that deals with this type of treatment. I think I’m going to call PT groups to see if anyone does it

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I have a consult tomorrow with a Certified Astym PT and will let you know what I learn. She has 15 years experience so hopefully will be able to help with my scar tissue.

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kneeproblem | @kneeproblem | Oct 11, 2018

Please keep us updated and good luck can not wait to hear results

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babette | @babette | Oct 11, 2018

Has anyone here had a PT who uses the Graston technique? I'd appreciate your impressions!

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gator1965 | @gator1965 | Oct 12, 2018
In reply to @kneeproblem "I wish my doctor would do one for me but he says he has to open..." + (show)
@kneeproblem

I wish my doctor would do one for me but he says he has to open the knee again to remove scar tissue but I do not want to go thru all of that again. It says it would take to l9 g to do it with arthoscope I am like so what I just do not understand I have been suffering for 6 months now

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After 5 days of not being able to bend my knee I was told that I had developed neuropathic type pain. My GP increased my dose of amitriptyline, I have now started to bend my knee, I can manage 90 degrees by myself, first time since my knee replacement in April. My surgeon is delighted with the progress and will see me in 8 weeks time. The physio has sort of given up on me, so I am just pushing myself at my pace. The arthroscopic arthrolysis was certainly worth while for me.

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mylynn | @mylynn | Oct 12, 2018
In reply to @mylynn "Just read your post and curious if your scar tissue came back since the arthroscopic procedure,..." + (show)
@mylynn

Just read your post and curious if your scar tissue came back since the arthroscopic procedure, hopefully not

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Sorry haven’t checked posts for a while
Wondering how your knee rom is now , still improved I hope

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mylynn | @mylynn | Oct 12, 2018
In reply to @babette "Has anyone here had a PT who uses the Graston technique? I'd appreciate your impressions!" + (show)
@babette

Has anyone here had a PT who uses the Graston technique? I'd appreciate your impressions!

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I had knee replaced 7 months ago, still stiff, went to a chiropractor and he did graston technique, went 2 times, and sorry to say it didn’t help

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babette | @babette | Oct 12, 2018

@mylynn I was afraid of that. Seems kind of fringe-y to me!

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mylynn | @mylynn | Oct 14, 2018
In reply to @dmcdon16 "I had a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago and have the same problem - scar..." + (show)
@dmcdon16

I had a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago and have the same problem - scar tissue that limits bending my knee. Plus it is getting worse. PT is extremely painful and not working. I went to a dermatologist who told me to consider Astym, which I am looking into. Google it to learn about it. Hope this helps. Once I start I will let you know how it goes.

Jump to this post

Hi I just read about astym and they make big claims of success but it looks sketchy
So wondering if u ever did anything with this therapy

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