When does the pain end or lighten up after total knee replacement?

Hi there...

Having had 2 full knee replacements myself. Nov 2024 & May 2025, I'll speak to you of my own experience and then a few thoughts about why it possibly would be that since you are 3 and a 1/2 months Post Op, that you might still be having pain:

● Week one is the hardest for pain and the most pain

● Some folks still have a lot of pain in week 2 and continues to take their narcos which are an addictive pain pill... many migrate to ibuprofen to avoid possibilities of addiction to Narco pain medicine

●While many mention they reduced their pain meds between weeks 3 - week 12... many also state in support group chats they use pain medication at times 4 - 6 months post op.

My personal experience is that pain is a sign of either ( A) overuse or ( B ) aggravation of the joint. These are 2 very different things, but both produce pain, as well as swelling...And thus a limited range of motion.

● I don't want to speculate on which one of these that you have / are experiencing and highly recommend you talk to your orthopedic team to determine which of these 2 issues is causing you pain; it's kind of important because it determines your course of action in remediating the issue!

Example 1: If you're taking walks that are too long, you're gonna end up having swelling and stiffness and hence pain. And if you continue to do that it's gonna be a cycle just repeating itself

Example 2: If you were doing exercises and you're putting too much weight on trying to do say leg extensions that will aggravate to joint and cause also pain and swelling....

Example 3: Poor Recovery... Can result simply because, after exerting yourself in exercising for a few days in a row. Your muscles are not recovering enough before you're exercising more... and therefore with weak muscles. (There's more stress on the joint.) And it's more aggravation and swelling. RECOVERY NEEDS SLEEP & REST!

Some people do heal and recover slower than others. We are different; however , if you continue to notice this pattern , it definitely tells you that you have an issue to seek your Orthopedics Team's imput.

Hi there...

Having had 2 full knee replacements myself. Nov 2024 & May 2025, I'll speak to you of my own experience and then a few thoughts about why it possibly would be that since you are 3 and a 1/2 months Post Op, that you might still be having pain:

● Week one is the hardest for pain and the most pain

● Some folks still have a lot of pain in week 2 and continues to take their narcos which are an addictive pain pill... many migrate to ibuprofen to avoid possibilities of addiction to Narco pain medicine

●While many mention they reduced their pain meds between weeks 3 - week 12... many also state in support group chats they use pain medication at times 4 - 6 months post op.

My personal experience is that pain is a sign of either ( A) overuse or ( B ) aggravation of the joint. These are 2 very different things, but both produce pain, as well as swelling...And thus a limited range of motion.

● I don't want to speculate on which one of these that you have / are experiencing and highly recommend you talk to your orthopedic team to determine which of these 2 issues is causing you pain; it's kind of important because it determines your course of action in remediating the issue!

Example 1: If you're taking walks that are too long, you're gonna end up having swelling and stiffness and hence pain. And if you continue to do that it's gonna be a cycle just repeating itself

Example 2: If you were doing exercises and you're putting too much weight on trying to do say leg extensions that will aggravate to joint and cause also pain and swelling....

Example 3: Poor Recovery... Can result simply because, after exerting yourself in exercising for a few days in a row. Your muscles are not recovering enough before you're exercising more... and therefore with weak muscles. (There's more stress on the joint.) And it's more aggravation and swelling. RECOVERY NEEDS SLEEP & REST!

Some people do heal and recover slower than others. We are different; however , if you continue to notice this pattern , it definitely tells you that you have an issue to seek your Orthopedics Team's imput.

gymratca it will be a year in November still have pain thinking nerve pain, how long can this last

@steveinarizona I am right there with you! It is wonderful to have both legs be in alighnment. However, I am having to learn to walk again because I am using different muscles when I walk. I am curious, are you experience that also?

@lawanna85

Probably but my surgeon's recovery protocol is to be a couch potato the first week and use a walker so while I feel like I can walk I have very much limited it so far. I am now on my 7th day post surgery and I have an appointment tomorrow with my surgeon's PA for next steps. His normal protocol is to start physical therapy in the third week but I am thinking we might accelerate that at tomorrow's meeting since he did accept my challenge to be on the golf course when it reopens. But, alas, I missed the date so I now want to be able to play golf on Tuesday October 28th. Unfortunately, I haven't had a torquey golf swing in years so I won't be putting a lot of strain on my knee and it is my back knee.

When I start PT my two initial stated goals will be:
(1) regain flex (being a couch potato I haven't worked on that yet)
(2) Learn how to walk (I spent the last nine months misaligned and lopsided; now I have to learn how to walk again. I used to walk 3-5 miles a day and I want to get back to that.

My longer term goal is to rebuild my body tone which I have lost because of the pain from the knee.

@steveinarizona I am curious why your surgeon wanted you to be a couch potato the first week. I am not familiar with that protocol. My surgeon had me up the first few hours walking and PT for the 3 days I was in the hospital.

@lawanna85

Different surgeons have different post procedure protocols. I think that Chow want to focus first on actual recovery from the procedure during the first week. He told me that his cut is slightly different from a Jiffy Knee cut and the Jiffy knee cut produces less pain but his cut is designed so that if he or anyone else has to go back in, he left a road. So Chow is very concerned about total recovery.

Considering how well things have gone so far, in the words of the late Pope Francis: Who am I to judge?

@lawanna85

Different surgeons have different post procedure protocols. I think that Chow want to focus first on actual recovery from the procedure during the first week. He told me that his cut is slightly different from a Jiffy Knee cut and the Jiffy knee cut produces less pain but his cut is designed so that if he or anyone else has to go back in, he left a road. So Chow is very concerned about total recovery.

Considering how well things have gone so far, in the words of the late Pope Francis: Who am I to judge?