Advil after tkr

Hi @katclub - I hear you! Managing pain after a TKR is so difficult and confusing. If your doctor says you can take Advil, I think I would feel comfortable using it occasionally just as needed. You may be reluctant due to his caveats about blood thinning and slowdown of bone healing. I'm wondering if you have tried any other alternative treatments - like acupuncture or myofascial release? At about the one month mark after my TKR, I started doing acupuncture twice a week and I think that helped my general healing and tamped down my need for pain meds. Also, here is an article about myofascial release that may be helpful:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/?utm_campaign=search

Thanks for your reply! I haven’t used acupuncture in several years. It helped some but at $65 a session I had to stop. I’ll be reading the article you sent today. I took 3 Advil last night and the muscle is good today and I noticed swelling not as bad!

@katclub Being a post-transplant patient, the only OTC drug I am allowed to take is Tylenol, nothing else ever came under discussion. Of course the NSAIDs are anti-inflammatory and Tylenol is not so it is not as helpful, but it did help a bit, and I also took hydrocodone prior to bed. That was when I noticed the pain the most. I had no idea that Advil could slow healing. The same is true of ice. It prevents blood from getting to the site and delays healing. My ortho does not want his patients using ice for the first six weeks following TKR and his results are outstanding so I did whatever he said.
JK

I had no idea that ice delays healing, all I hear from every medical professional is ice ice baby!

@katclub I know, most ortho doctors do recommend icing for pain, and I suppose if you absolutely needed the relief that it would give you then you do what you have to do, but I can see his logic in not wanting his patients to ice. I never did ice at all.
JK

@contentandwell You posted the no-ice approach favored by your surgeon a few times, and in a way it makes sense. On the other hand, especially with some of the exercises that were given to me, I could not have done them without icing. The very worst was to get leg extension, i.e. put heel on something like couch

arm, and level it for at least 10 to 15 minutes 4 times a day. I was preparing for that ordeal with downloading really loud, long, dramatic or catchy music to distract me. That was about a level 8+ pain after 5 minutes, and without ice afterwards I could not have done it. I was squirming and close to tears a lot. And even then it took 4 months to get the darn knee straight. Not for lack of trying, and not with screaming pain anymore, just BORING exercise.

I was also told to ice. In fact they sent me home from the hospital with 2 soft, ply able ice packs. I used them often and felt they really helped with pain and swelling. My recovery went well with great ROM. It’s been five 1/2 years.

@ellerbracke I did have some very serious pain during the first six weeks after the TKR but I managed without ice. I know that ice can help with some things but I just never even think of it! I have been going to a physical therapist for hip bursitis and he wants me to ice my hip after exercising but I never remember to do that!

I never had any problem with extension at all. It was pretty much at zero from very shortly after the surgery. As I said, my surgeon has an excellent reputation and a very high success rate, so who am I to question him?

Today I happened to come across ratings of hospitals in MA. My transplant hospital, Mass General, was of course #1. The hospital where I had my TKR does not have a national ranking but they were noted for being exceptional in knee replacement! This doctor is basically the reason for that.
JK

My Dr. Told me to take Meloxicam after surgery which is an nsaid to reduce swelling and inflammation.

Meloxicam, Tylenol, and M&M’s have about the same effect for me, regarding pain relief. I.E. none. Also, I was on aspirin for 4 weeks after surgery and could not combine it with anything other than Oxycodone (which I hated and stopped asap) or Tylenol.