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Swelling and stiffness, 3 years after total knee replacement

Posted by bengalady @bengalady, Oct 9, 2019

I had knee replacement 3 years ago. It is worse than previous knee pain, and getting worse as more time goes by. My surgeon (in another state) says everything normal based on X-ray. Ortho doc here says the same, and said I’m having pain and he referred me to pain clinic for possible nerve block. I want to know WHY am I having pain, although I didn’t call it pain. ROM is 100. They can’t see everything on X-ray. I want an MRI. Want to go for second opinion. Should I tell new doc I’m there for second opinion, I don’t think that’s necessary......I think that would cause some bias, ie they would just say same thing.
Has this happened to anyone ? Thoughts ?
TIA

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gymratca | @gymratca | Sep 22 2:52am
In reply to @cathymw "But how do you know what is the rights advise? The lack of consensus on this..." + (show)
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But how do you know what is the rights advise? The lack of consensus on this issue is very concerning. I did not progress after my replacement. I had very aggressive PT 3x/week, "no pain no gain:" treatment for sure.
After 6 weeks it was clear that I couldn't bend nor straighten my knee to the degrees of "normal".

I ended up getting the MUA (manipulation under anesthesia) to restart the process. More aggressive therapy for weeks on end...

Just over a year out from my MUA and I give that knee a "C+" rating. I don't know if I could go through all of that again for knee #2, which is acting up big time.

I am a very healthy 65 y who stays very active. Walking and hiking are pretty good. That new knee limits what I can do with it though- wouldn't want that limitation on knee # 2 as well.

So many variables on patient and surgeon for a successful outcome; but I had heard a size of my component would be reduced second time around (!!!)- so did that contribute to issues? Surgeon always says no way.

I HATE that the only way I can get the knee going every day is by starting with an NSAID, warm up on upright bicycle, floor stretches, heel slides, weights... every day, to get her moving. When I didn't do this when on vacation, I lost 20* in flexion, making stairs very uncomfortable. It has taken me about a month to regain that. Very disconcerting that this is part of my daily routine now. My Dr. said this was normal.

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Hi....

Sorry to hear about the challenges you are experiencing and I hope maybe a few comments might help..

> I had full knee replacement done on both for my knees over the prior 9 months.

> I've been a gym person most of my life and into exercising and got 4 different opinions before having my surgeries

> I have been very successful in rehabing my knees...Following my orthopedics and physical therapy professionals advice...But I did have to alter and change a few things in order to make that advice work best for me!

> PT was for 2X / week. I knew that would be TOTALLY INSUFFICIENT for me

> I added my own sessions of 4X / day for 5 X / week duration of initially 30 minutes mostly sitting , 3 - 4 minutes walking 1st week... gradually increasing duration weekly

> BOUNDARIES.. Have to be explored and discovered. You're not gonna know if you can do more until you try to do more and then if you get some swelling, you have to back off.

>ICING... It's critical because icing keeps the swelling down. If the swelling stays down, then the pain goes down and when the swelling is down, you have greater range of motion. Therefore, it is easier to exercise in additional future sessions!

STRETCHING... Is another critical component?Because the more you stretch ( I tried 3 to 4 times a day for at least 10 to 15 minutes ) Because the more you stretch the better range of motion you get! The more you can move without pain and discomfort!

> PRACTICE MAKES BETTER... The more we do our exercises and stretching, the better we get. But, we must remember to ice repeatedly throughout the day and tend to 15 minute sessions and wrap a huge big towel around the ice. (you're doing it to keep the COLD in) You're gonna find that your swelling stays down better, your range of motion increases drastically. But you also must practice increasing that range of motion 2- 3 times a day by pushing against it and holding 15 - 20 seconds...for 5 - 8 times.

ALIGN YOUR PT VISITS to your HOME SESSIONS AT SOME POINT... Because otherwise you will go into your PT. Visit and find that if your knees a little tiger scholan, they're not making any progress. And the reality is your knee is gonna be a little tight or swollen. Sometimes you're just gonna have some good days and sometimes you're gonna have some not so good days. But the reality is after a few weeks of following what I recommended here. What you're going to find. Most likely is that your swelling is down most of the time. And you're gonna feel a lot better and when you back off for a couple days before you go into PT for a visit. ..You're gonna find your range of Motion has drastically increased. ( They're gonna be able to measure and say wow, you really improved and you're gonna know it's because of all the work you're doing at home and the fact that you allowed a couple days for it, not to be agitated / sensitive lol

> STAY POSITIVE... Seems to me your biggest challenge is you gotta strike the right balance between training it and keep the swelling down and part of the secret is, I don't think you're stretching enough!!! Surgery and exercising both TIGHTEN tendons! (Creating range of motion problems and create swelling challenges

SLEEP & REST... are also pretty critical to heal & grow..so don't forget that part

DIETARY NOTE... Inflammation is fueled by sugars.So be very careful not to be taking processed sugars and desserts.They will only make your swelling a lot worse!

You got this...

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