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Foot neuropathy (numbness and pain) after total knee replacement (TKR)
Joint Replacements | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (748)Comment receiving replies
I had my second total knee in December 2020. My foot has been numb ever since and at times it actually is cold and at other times it’s warm but my brain registers it as cold and I’ve found very little I can do so that my brain sees it as warm. I’m miserable at times. Other times it slightly feels asleep. I’ve been working with a spine dr who has given me injections and burnt the nerves. We have been working together since sciatic issues with my first total knee in 2018. Oddly enough, I’ve found putting a heating pad under my thigh on that leg, right up right to bend in my knee, will in time give me a warm sensation in my knee. It’s excruciating to get to this point and it doesn’t last. I’m on gabapentin. Hard to know if it works but I’m afraid of what the pain could be like without it. Recently I’ve stumbled on the reality that I have a pinch nerve under my knee and when the pain there gets a bit worse, my foot feels more numb. So sciatic nerve in this size comes into play as well as all these other things. Orthopedist says he can find nothing wrong under my knee. Stabbing pain! I don’t know what to do or who else to turn to! Think I’m going to ask to be referred to neurologist. If anyone has suggestions, please I’m miserable and desperate. I just turned 57 and I want my life back!
Replies to "I had my second total knee in December 2020. My foot has been numb ever since..."
Ask for an ABI test (blood pressure of your leg) that is how they found low pressure in my leg. Then a had angiogram that found the popliteal artery behind my knee was totally pinched shut. I had the cold feeling foot but foot was warm. Sometimes toes were purple and/or white along with Numbness and tingling on bottom of foot some days worse than other.
Opening the artery by surgery helped 50%. I’ve had nerve testing they said was from my spine but never had these problems before my TKR. Woke up after surgery with totally asleep foot. Foot hurt worse than knee. Keep asking questions and be an advocate for yourself. It took my primary and 60 days before I got it fixed. TKR doc said all the numbness and tingling was normal. It wasn’t. His response was “why did you wait so long you could of lost your leg”.
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I think you are on the right track to ask for a neurology consult. You may find out it will be a waiting game for the nerve to regenerate, or they may find a different problem, but in any case you'll have an answer. For what it's worth, my sister-in-law had 2 partial knee replacements, 8 weeks apart in 2019, and one was fine, but the other gave her nerve pain that persisted into the fall of 2020 - the neurologist tested & determined it will eventually heal. The pain is gone, but the doc says she may always have some numbness on that foot.
Sue