Scar tissue after knee replacement

There is something wrong. Arthrofibrosis. You have massive scar tissue surrounding your knee. You need arthroscopic lysis. I had the procedure as did several on this site. It made all the difference.
Arthrofibrosis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arthrofibrosis (from Greek: arthro- joint, fibr- fibrous and -osis abnormality) is a complication of injury or trauma where an excessive scar tissue response leads to painful restriction of joint motion, with scar tissue forming within the joint and surrounding soft tissue spaces and persisting despite rehabilitation exercises and stretches. Scarring adhesions has been described in most major joints, including knees, shoulders, hips, ankles, and wrists as well as spinal vertebrae.[1][2]
Arthrofibrosis of the knee[edit]
Arthrofibrosis of the knee has been one of the more studied joints as a result of its frequency of occurrence.[3][4] Beyond origins such as knee injury and trauma, arthrofibrosis of the knee has been associated with degenerative arthritis.[5] Scar tissues can cause structures of the knee to become contracted, restricting normal motion. Depending on the site of scarring, knee cap mobility and/or joint range of motion (i.e. flexion, extension, or both) may be affected.[6] Symptoms experienced as a result of arthrofibrosis of the knee include stiffness, pain, limping, heat, swelling, crepitus, and/or weakness.[4] Clinical diagnosis may also include the use of magnetic resonance imaging (or MRI) to visualize the knee compartments affected.[7]
The consequent pain may lead to the cascade of quadriceps weakness, patellar tendon adaptive shortening and scarring in the tissues around the knee cap—with an end stage of permanent patella infera—where the knee cap is pulled down into an abnormal position where it becomes vulnerable to joint surface damage.[8]
Patients who are recognized as developing arthrofibrosis may improve motion with appropriately directed physical therapy, corticosteroid injections, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and cryotherapy. In many instances, however, as fibrosis has set in, surgical intervention is necessary.
Specialized arthroscopic lysis of adhesions knee procedures such as anterior interval releases may be indicated and utilized to great success, in the hands of an appropriately trained specialist.[5]

@kimbies1204 - Welcome to the group and I totally agree with @babette - you need to get a 2nd opinion. You should not EVER hear that "nothing is wrong" when you are experiencing the kind of pain you are. Something IS wrong. Try to find the best orthopedic surgeon you can. Wishing you relief and hope.

I’m interested in your overall outcome. I’m 2 weeks post op and in top of all the issues that follow that, have developed sciatica and find it uncomfortable to sit, stand, lay, everything! I’m miserable and doing 2 weeks of in home pt have brought me to the point of complete discouragement. I thought I hurt before the surgery- it’s nothing compared to after!. The pain meds help minimumally but they have never had the pain managed from the very beginning. I cry a lot and it seems no end in sight. I can’t use chiropractor until incision is healed enough to stand the laying in my stomach for adjustment, etc. I’m depressed and often wish I’d never done this but at 54 I’m active and want to be able to do things with my husband who has been a troooer helping me but I’m sick of Percocet being a daily pill and not working well!!!! Getting ready to begin outpatient pt at a facility. I get to choose that facility. Am interested in what kind of facility I should look for... one with hydrotherapy, one with the various types of therapy mentioned here. Scar tissue is building up and the pain is unbearable. I’m glad and saddened that I’m not alone in my journey.

Sorry. The pain will subside shortly ( most of it).. i started using CBD cream and it really helped. I still needed an arthroscopic surgery later. My wife has had Sciatica for years and we tried the CBD on her. She loves it. But it only lasts a few hours.

@dduke Would you mind sharing which brand of CBD cream you use and whether or not one can get it via Amazon? There are so many out there! B.

I am on the road right now a d do not have it. I bought it at Lassen's. It is a pump dispenser.

@debbraw @babette @dduke Thank you for your replies...the isolation with this is just as bad as everything else, so I greatly appreciate this venue. The problem is, in my area, all of the Ortho Surgeons are in the same group and they don’t want to see me. The others I’ve reached out to, Steadman Clinic, won’t even see me because as they tell me, “They weren’t involved from the beginning”. I have researched Arthrofibrosis at nauseum, and My surgeon has said I definitely have it, but yet, I have really good ROM, so they aren’t certain. My surgeon also said he won’t do lysis of adhesions due to risk of infection. I have Kaiser insurance, and am self-employed (however unable to work since the surgeries), so I’m somewhat limited with options. They did a Nuclear Bone Scan last week where nothing was found. I see a Neurologist Wednesday. I’m just exhausted, frustrated, angry and don’t know what to do when every Specialist I see, says they can’t help me. We’ve discussed Arthrofibrosis before, and he told me “Kim, I out in the implants, what your body does with them, is out of my hands”. Sigh...anyone?

I live in Colorado and have been using products for a couple years now. The best cream I have found is Apothecanna Extra Strength Relieving Body Cream. It truly is amazing! I just wish it helped me now. It was a miracle worker priorr to my TKR’s, not so much now. Hiwvwer, my brother-in-law had a tiring in July and he loves it with his recovery. You can buy it online.

@sdhkkjmz - Hi and welcome to the Joint Replacement Group. I'm sorry to hear about what brought you here. I had a TKR one and a half years ago. It's unfortunate that they haven't gotten your pain meds adjusted because at 2 weeks postop, I was definitely still experiencing enough discomfort to need regular and reasonably strong pain killers. As to what type of facility you should look for, here is my experience. After 3 weeks of inhome PT, I went to a place that had both regular PT and hydrotherapy. They said that if I just did the hydrotherapy, recovery would be slower- but it would be easier to achieve the movement. So... I tried to do as much regular PT as possible. That place has a health club attached to it and they give a discount to people who did PT there. Now, I do one day a week of acquatic yoga to help with my balance and then regular strength training (which I hate but I do it) 3 days a week. Wishing you relief and comfort - soon!

@kimbies1204 If I surgeon told me what yours told you about "what your body does with implants is out of my hands" I'd be calling an attorney. I've never heard anything so untrue and so irresponsible. You are his patient. His job is do, first, do not harm, and then do everything in his power to heal you. Is there another Kaiser hospital you can go to?