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Scar tissue after knee replacement
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Oct 10 8:31am | Replies (1550)Comment receiving replies
Hi, I had TKR 6 months ago and an MUA 4 months ago. Since an initial improvement from the MUA my ROM has not improved. Aggressive PT made things worse: constant inflammation and pain. I found Anthony Maretato's videos on YouTube called Total Therapy Solutions very helpful. His exercises were much gentler and helped me get the inflammation and pain under control. However, I still have a lot of scar tissue in my joint. Too much for arthroscopic surgery they say. And my surgeon now says to learn to live with it.
Does anyone have experience with what happens over time with that scar tissue if it goes untreated?
AND does anyone have experience with non surgical treatments to remove this scar tissue from inside my joint?
I am allergic to NSAIDS and found that my surgeon simply had nothing to offer in its stead and prohibited me to continue taking my herbal remedies that had helped me for years with my arthritis. I just recently discovered a product called WOBENZYM that has been proven to be as effective as NSAIDS without the side effects! This may be really helpful to those of you who also cannot take NSAIDS.
This research lead me to another enzyme product that promises to dissolve scar tissue in the body. Over time. Does anyone have experience with this?
Has anyone tried the ASTYM method?
Please let me know about your experience with excessive scar tissue inside the joint and how to get rid of it non surgically!
Over the past weeks I have received help from a good acupuncturist. I have also simply been massaging it with my leg held straight up against a wall; softening it and trying to massage it out of the joint. It has made the joint better and I have even gotten more ROM. I now can walk stairs again!
Replies to "Hi, I had TKR 6 months ago and an MUA 4 months ago. Since an initial..."
I had my first knee replaced 13 months ago. I was suppose to go back to work but knee was stiff and assumed it may need note time to heal and therapy and got my second knee done too since it needed it and would give me 3 more month recover for my first knee. Im stuck sith both knees still and now out on disability. MUS was discussed but covid closed hospitals down at the time. Im waiting to talk to my surgeon again about mua although it has been a year on both knees now and out of their normal comfort zone to perform mua i don't have osteoporosis. I can barely reach 90 degrees and dont want to learn to live with this! Its like getting new tires on your car but cant get it spun balanced so half the job is done. Yes, im told scar tissue grows back reason why they dont do ablation. If I only knew, I never would have had them replaced. My mental health is not good! There is no cup half filled as far as I see it. Im going to check into WOBENZYM as Im not allowed to take NSAIDS because of the damage they do to the kidneys and Ive been on celebrex and advil a for a few years. This sucks!
Hello @acamel, Welcome to Connect. It's good to hear that less aggressive PT has helped some with the inflammation and pain. Thanks for sharing the YouTube video link from Anthony Maretato that you found helpful (https://www.youtube.com/user/TotalTherapySolution). While we wait to see if any other members have tried the ASTYM method, I thought I would share a review here that might be helpful for those not familiar with the therapy.
Astym® therapy: a systematic review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6409241/
It sounds like you are doing much better and are on the road to recovery. Have you done any research into finding a provider for the therapy?
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I have been dealing with excessive scar tissue in both of my TKR knees for the past five years. I have also been told that I am not a good candidate for arthroscopic scar tissue removal, so I have tried laser treatments and acupuncture with no relief. The only good news I have is that after about four years it seems that the knees have stabilized and are not continuing to get worse. The bad news is that my initial ROM was between 115-120 degrees and now I have less than 70 degrees ROM and constant pain.