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Has anyone had a tight band feeling after total knee replacement?
Joint Replacements | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (758)Comment receiving replies
I am your age and 3.5 months out bilat knee replacement. I have tight band over left lateral knee and feels like knee cap gets pulled to the left with bending. It’s always there and while I can walk 2.5 miles near the end the band sensation is worse and have to increase effort and push with my hands on upper knee area to get it to bend to get in a car. I can get 123 for bend on that side with effort and stretching. Still do daily exercises by PT was going to try massage but canceled after 1 session due to COVID. PT told me to bend it and massage-above knee from knee to thigh to try and stretch the fascia. Can’t say anything has worked. Surgeon says it will go away. I’m beginning to think nerve damage. I hope it goes away but hearing from you and others not sure I trust that it will go away. Happy I can walk though and I can garden but not the way I used to. Takes more effort to find a position to do things and then getting up is very difficult. On the plus side I have built up my arm strength. Very disappointed that surgeon is not more up front about this type of outcome for some patients and is not aware that this problem doesn’t go away for some as I learned on this site. I wonder if the nerve block or the tourniquet used during surgery caused permanent damage.
Replies to "I am your age and 3.5 months out bilat knee replacement. I have tight band over..."
I had surgery 15 months ago with a nerve block but no tourniquet use. I still have a really tight, uncomfortable, gripping feeling especially on the inside of my knee and around the back. My doctor still thinks it will get better, that it’s due to the severe valgus correction he had to make, but I’m not so sure. It’s not exactly painful but it’s uncomfortable enough that I think about it every step I take.
I’ve wondered the same thing about the nerve block or tourniquet. I’m now 3 years and 4 months since my surgery, and no change on the tight band feeling and the feeling of a compressed lower leg. I’ve tried massage and myofacia release. It feels better while I’m laying there. As soon as I’m up on walking the pain returns immediately. In fact the longer I walk the more it hurts. I did not pursue nerve ablation because I heard many say it only helped a month or so, or required numerous treatments or worse, created new problems.
I’m resigned to living with this. I’ve had right and left total hip replacements with no problems whatsoever. So there’s that to be thankful for.
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Ellen’s , I had the tourniquet and block also .I am six and a half mos.post TKR .I don’t think it’s that. I’ve done all the reading I can on I T Band and I really believe it’s tension on the ITBand which is a ligament running from hip to beyond the knee.I don’t like foam rollers but do recommended stretching esp. for the quadriceps. I have also found biking in a lower gear helps .I do 7-8 Miles ,flat surface. I think it’s getting better. At night I put 1% diclofenac
gel liberally on my knee.Then wrap it in Saran Wrap and put an ace bandage around that.
In the AM it feels great which tells me it’s probably still inflammation. I do a few quads strengthening exercises too . I think as time goes on and ALL swelling resolves we’ll get better. Lot’s of articles on IT Band post TKR
surgery. Good Luck. Ralph