Scar tissue after knee replacement

@cobweb I tried water therapy and had the same problem. My PT said that the continuous bending while treading water is very irritating to the knee and to cut it out. I did and he was right.

@ginger9708 I had similar experience. I had TKR in September 2024 and MUA in November 2024.

I had several PT sessions and was finally told they couldn’t keep going as I wasn’t progressing. I was 20 Degrees on extension and only 85 degrees on flexion. My original surgeon said to wait a year. At a year he told me to wait at least 18 months.

My primary doctor referred me to another surgeon at a completely different hospital. They immediately scheduled me to a revision. I had this on October 2025.

The surgery took 5 hours as he said I had total failure of the implant. He had to remove more bone after getting the old implant out. He also debrided the whole area removing a large amount of scar tissue.

He drilled into my tibia and out a post in the bone, cemented on a cone and then attached the implant. He said I had total failure of in original implant and it was a difficult surgery.

Now, almost 4 weeks out I am fully extended and have a 100 degree bend. The goal is 105 by 6 weeks and I’m confident I will exceed this.

My experience is very positive and wish I had the revision sooner. Getting the right surgeon is the most important thing!

@grandmabv
Good for you and I completely agree with you. I am glad you finally got to a proper revision surgeon. If one watches sports there is a massive difference between what a Lebron James can and does do and what a Bronny James can and does do. The same thing applies to surgeons. They are not all created equal.
Think how much better it would have been if that revision surgeon had been your first surgeon. Many patients may have few choices as they may be limited to a HBO roster of surgeons.
On another post I recently listed my nine criteria for surgeon selection. If one gets the right surgeon, one should then follow that surgeon's instructions and advice.
When I had my left hip done about three years ago my surgeon walked into the preop room with a multipage document from the hospital listing all the things one should not do after a THR. He threw it in the waste paper basket in front of me and told me he had only two instructions: take my medicine and be a couch potato for five weeks because "...the only I can't do is make bones grow". [note that this would not work with a traditional surgery; my surgeon is the primary inventor of the new Superpath method of THR]
I came out of the surgery without pain. Nonetheless, I reluctantly followed his instructions and most of the time I forget that I have a titanium hip. It just feels so natural.

@patriceheller

I had tkr May of this year, manipulated, then scoped 6 weeks ago. I too built scar tissue very fast. Doc and PT discharged me . I found a chiropractor that does shock wave therapy and high powered laser therapy. After just 2 sessions I am noticing improvement in pain!

I am 6 months out from tkr. Had to have it manipulated, then scoped because of scar tissue building fast. I started this week with a chiropractor that does shock wave and high powered laser light treatment. After just 2 sessions so far I can feel a difference. Not as much pain and walk better

@grandmabv my husband had a total knee replacement in 2016. He can only bend about 85 degrees. It is really difficult dealing with life this way. He can’t get on the ground, in and out of the car, gets stuck in low chairs, I don’t think people realize what it means when you can’t get your feet under you to raise up. He is very physically fit.

We will go to our knee doctor and see what the can do. Thanks for your story!

I am 20 week out of double knee surgery. The surgery date was July 1st. Everything is going very well considering I am 85 years old. However, I do have a couple of questions. One is about the scar tissue. I have been massaging around the knee incision. But I just read that sometimes scar tissue is in the thigh also. Could someone tell me how I know if there is scar tissue in the thigh. There doesn't seem to be a problem but I can't really tell. And what do you do about it? Another question I have is the left leg is weaker than the right. I do single leg stands and the exercise program the PT gave me to do and it has helped. Now I am wondering if this is going to be a forever problem. I am no longer going to outpatient PT but am fairly consistent with home PT. However, I am curious to know what other people are dealing with 20 weeks out. I am not a walker by nature but now I am wondering if I should be walking more in addition to my PT exercises. I wear a pedometer and get anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 steps per day around the house and occasional shopping trips outside the house. And I also ride my floor exercycle 30 minutes 7 days a week. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

Sounds like you are doing extremely well. I am 80 and had a single replacement five weeks ago. Are you right leg dominant (if you want to kick someone, which leg would you use?)? If so, that would suggest your right leg muscles are stronger than your left and you just need to build up the left leg muscles.

You are doing great. I started playing golf again on day 27 post surgery. Lets us old farts tell the youngsters how to do things!

I’m not getting a good bend four months of the tkr I didn’t want the mua done
so I’m going to a chiropractor that does the laser treatment I’ll fill you after the appointment 12/9