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Debilitating pain 6 months after knee replacement
My husband had knee replacement surgery six months ago. The knee is still swollen, hard, and very warm. He still has chronic pain. He's at a constant 3-4 level most of the time, with episodes that shoot the pain up to 9 -10 range every day -- every damned day! -- that bring him to tears. And this is a man who's had broken bones, suffered concussion, and had a total hip replacement and was back on the golf course in six weeks. He's had every blood test you can think of to rule out infection. He's been X-rayed and scanned to rule out anything else. And we're told everything with the new joint looks fine, so keep doing what you're doing and it will get better. He does PT. He elevates, He ices. He does deep breathing. We've been to a pain management specialist who's fiddled with his meds and done laser therapy. And nothing works to bring the pain down. it's not getting better. Any ideas or recommendations?
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@debbraw Good luck on your endoscopy!! I hope that your ulcer has healed. I've had 9 of them since last September LOL.
The pain I'm having now is different than prior to surgery - now the pain is sharper and more intense. I've been trying to walk about a 1/2 mile a day just to get some activity in (gotta prevent blood clots post surgery!), but it is hard and hurts to go even that short distance. I'm hopeful my insurance will come through and approve the nerve block so that I can see if that will help the pain so I can try to live a more normal life.
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3 Reactions@kibe75 - Thanks for your kind words. I'm hoping for the best and cannot imaging having NINE ulcers. Keep your good thoughts coming. I'm glad you are walking some and hope the insurance comes through for the nerve block. Just FYI, here is an article I thought you might find interesting. Wishing you the best of luck. Will you keep us posted about the nerve block issue?
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-offering-new-mri-safe-pain-blocking-device/
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1 Reaction@debbraw I will let you know if I get the nerve block and how it works.
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1 ReactionI had knee replacement surgery on November 26, 2019, and cannot endure the 10-level pain during PT to increase range of motion. Oxycodone painkillers do not help. My PT is now suggesting manipulation. What is your husband’s current status?
I'm so very sorry to hear you are going through this and you should not be! You're barely a month out from your surgery.
There is a lot of discussion out there about PT, its efficacy, whether gentle or aggressive is best, etc. When I was recovering from my first knee replacement many months ago and having trouble with PT, I was lucky enough to find bonesmart.org. Here are their guidelines for PT and exercise post TKR:
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/post-operative-exercise-–-the-bonesmart-view.25463/
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/bonesmart-philosophy-for-sensible-post-op-therapy.37103/
When I had to have my TKR completely redone, I found a surgeon in Boston who is against aggressive PT. He said it should not be painful. You can push to the point of discomfort, but then stop! Pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong. You have a lot of inflammation and tissue trauma from the surgery, aggressive PT just adds more trauma.
I hope you can find a PT who understands and practices gentle PT. I did and it has made all the difference as I recover from my revision.
I’m sorry you are gong through that pain. When I had first TkR in 2018, my pain level was 3-9 for first 6 months or so. Had to stay on stronger meds, and keep getting lectures about possible addiction, but was able to wean off slowly. We don’t get physio after TKR here, so my PT consisted of me following book, and I was told to back off if pain, I still do same ones one year later.I checked out the link from Babette, and most of those exercises I didn’t do, other than bed slides and lunges at slow pace.I used book, did pool walking and recumbent bike.
I had knee replacement over 10 ears ago and I'm in pain every day all day long because the surgeon did not put the the muscle over the knee cap back I walked around over a year and told them something was wrong and they said nothing was wrong. So they sent me to a sport medicine doctor and it showed in the x-ray that the muscle was hanging there. So back in surgery I went to put the muscle back in place and the pain is worse now because of the nerve damage. Because of that now I have Neoplasm in the right knee. Now my left is bothering me. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm just looking for some kind of help.
@canis and others, I haven't read through all the posts here, about half, but one thing I wanted to mention was that in deciding which way to go with my total knee implant, I looked into lawsuits against the companies. They all have them, which makes sense, as there were mistakes made as new implants came into use. I would think the surgeons and companies would inform you if there were a chance that your implant was defective, but you never know. Also, on the issue of size, my surgeon explained after I asked that he had put in a size 3 (Stryker, where the sizes range from 2 on the small side to 8 on the large). I was surprised but it turns out my bones are rather small. I will see him again next week and want to ask more about that. He showed me the x-rays (I was heavily drugged) and said the fit was perfect. So size could be important, and having a new set of x-rays evaluated by a different surgeon could help. Sorry if I'm repeating info others already have provided. Best of luck.
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1 ReactionAnyone else that can relate to size and make difference? This last tkr in 2016 was replaced with Stryker unit.
@saeternes size is one of the most important things, which is why I opted for a custom made replacement knee, Conformis. I have no regrets at all. I highly recommend Conformis for anyone getting a TKR.
JK