Scar tissue after knee replacement

@jnoronha @johnbishop I have had two TKRs and not had a scar tissue problem or perhaps a very small one.

I have not been able to get my flex to more than 120 + or -. My orthopedist said he could do a Lysis treatment which is an outpatient procedure to take out scar tissue if I wanted to get a little more flex. I am not sure though if the problem is from scar tissue of if I just didn't do enough PT at home so I decided what I have is functional enough. I didn't dread the surgery as much as the recovery afterward. Your flex is much lower though so you should ask your orthopedist about that.

I have never heard of cortisone injections after TKRs but perhaps they do use them to treat your type of problem. I had them numerous times prior to my surgeries.

If your pain continues you may want to consider a second opinion from a highly regarded orthopedist. If you do choose to do that make sure you get one who is very well rated. Generally, the best are at the large university associated medical centers or other large hospitals in the city but there are some that are more local too. I live in southern NH and there are a couple of orthopedists up here that have had phenomenal success and are very highly regarded, both in different cities from where I live. I do go to Boston for most of my care, either at Mass General, or at Brigham and Women's which is now affiliated with Mass General. My orthopedist is there.
JK

2I am confused.As a retired PT, wha tis normal for flexion. 120 degree is a good target.If you have 120 degrees flexion,, Simple contract, hold to pressure and release repeated 5-10 times will easily get more motion,IF you had it before. My suggestion is to get your PT to give your a program YOU WILL DO at home. You will gain and improve to about 12 months, Don't have to do a lot at home. 30 minutes exercise and walk 30 minutes a day, if a walker is needed. stand erect.That is a minimum. Are you doing it?

@bill54321 Thank you for your input. I know 120 is not bad which is why I am not trying to improve it by surgery. I do exercise a lot, many that involve knee bending so it may actually be better now. I would love to be able to have just a bit more flex but I can live with the way it is now.

I am almost 3 years post TKR. I was supposed to see my PT for osteoporosis and bursitis just before things closed down. At this point, I have pretty much developed my own exercise plan using online videos. I would love to get back to my health club but I have gotten a letter from my transplant team for a medical furlough. I told the health club to make it for a year, they can always shorten or lengthen it.

I did something to my knee a few days ago so right now I am still exercising but not bending that one as much as the other, nor walking. It really hurts. Generally I either walk or do my recumbent bike and follow a couple of exercise videos daily. Most days, per my Apple Watch, I have at least an hour of exercise. Even so, I am not burning nearly the number of calories as I did when I went to my health club and as a result have about a 10 pound gain that won't budge. 😣
JK

Hi I had total knee replacement 10 months ago. Lots of swelling. Went to PT had deep tissue massage. VERY painful I felt like I had a very tight band around my knee making it hard to move.. I used a recumbent cross trainer which helped a lot. Getting into the pool and walking had an immediate effect on bringing down the swelling. After 3 months I did fairly well. I was bothered for a long time with sciatic pain making it hard to sit and ride in a car. I had second knee replaced 8 weeks ago. Almost no swelling very good range of motion right after the operation. Doing exercises twice a day and icing 3 time a day. This time around so much better. Some stiffness in knee but nothing compared to last time. My only problem is the hip/butt pain is back but not as bad. Has anyone else had this problem???

I had right knee replacement surgeries in 2002 and 2004 and 2006 and 2008. Then in 2011 I broke the large bone in my upper leg and they put in a bar (and scar) from hip to knee and on October 5, 2017 I tripped and broke the fibula in a difficult place to find, but it was broke and after surgery (In which the surgeon couldn't find any bone to work with in the knee area) I am in a heel to groin brace and I am not allowed to step on it for 3 months so am in a TCU where I live, Never had to worry about scar tissue. In some respects I wish I had, maybe life would be different. At 74, I fear I may be stuck in a wheelchair because my leg will be so weak after 3 months of no use or exercise. I may also be stuck in a wheelchair because the surgeon didn't give me a very high chance of success considering how he was forced to connect the two areas, UGH - My cousin says UGHS should be changed to HUGS, but I have a bit of trouble doing that! trouble4343

I'm 74 and had a tkr back in 2016. Tight band feeling all the time. Gets worse with I walk or exercise. I've fallen 11 time due to not picking up my knee high enough. Been lucky I havent broken a bone. I may be ronnie g out of luck. Have had shots and all kinds of treatment. Nothing has worked so far. All surgeon does swings my leg back and forth and says working great, my job is done,

I"m 73 and had a full knee replacement in 2016. My motion on the knee has been reduced to 95% my good knee is 135%. The knee swells and is warm most of the time. What i was told is the problem is scar tissue. I spoke to 3 different doctors and they all say the same thing scar tissue. i think it"s B.S but there is nothing else to do if you come up with a remedy I would be interested in any reply.

Hello everyone I am so glad I found this post

I just had TKR on 08/19/20 so last Wed was 1 week.
Wow this thing hurts! I can go to Zero on extension but I am at 72 on flex. I am working as hard on it as I can. The swelling is down on my lower leg and thigh. I don’t want to revisit this so I got to get it right