Pain months after Total Knee Replacement

@jeffkirc : May I ask your age, tennis level rating, court surfaces, and what - singles, or doubles - you play? I have yet to take the plunge to get back on the soft courts. Have played social, but still very competitive tennis, and early on team tennis with several trips to state championships, for decades. (4.0, but probably more realistically 3.5 in recent years), singles only until I was about 63 and could not find any willing partners in matching ability and age range. Had to settle for doubles then. The younger generation hit too hard, and was too focused on ending points. To me, tennis at it’s best is a strategic chess match if players are evenly matched. Anyway - my main concern is the need to “twist” - sideways motion - of the knee. Starting, stopping, I can imagine would be fine. I still have major problems when I bend my knee inwards, sideways, and upwards, as in taking off a sock while standing. Does this make any sense to you? Oh, I’m now finally 70, and otherwise in pretty decent shape. Coming up on 10 months after surgery.

My knees went south playing on hard courts. Hard true came late for me. I played both singles and doubles but near the end of tennis days it was only doubles. Won state of Ohio 13 times as a captain of a team. Played 4.0 but as i aged i was plating 3.5 . I am 78 now but told i look 60. Shot my age in golf the other day. When i had first tkr i noticed i lost a lot of speed. I decided on stem cells as my TKR did not go well. Its been 5 years and still have swelling, pain, etc, I love my biking and i do 20 miles each day. Good luck to you.

I had a TKR 9 months ago. My leg was totally fine before the surgery. After a month my entire leg from thigh to toes started swelling and from my calf down to my toes is as hard as a rock. I have been to all kinds of doctors and have had all kinds of test and no one has been able to tell what is wrong. Nothing makes the swelling go down and it just keeps getting worse. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do next. It is very frustrating and painful. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I had a TKR 9 months ago. My leg was totally fine before the surgery. After a month my entire leg from thigh to toes started swelling and from my calf down to my toes is as hard as a rock. I have been to all kinds of doctors and have had all kinds of test and no one has been able to tell what is wrong. Nothing makes the swelling go down and it just keeps getting worse. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do next. It is very frustrating and painful. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Hi @cmquigley Welcome to Connect.

The first thing I thought of when I read your post was a possibly allergy to the cement used in the TKR. There is a discussion about this type of sensitivity here:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/need-tkr-and-had-positive-allergy-testing-bone-cement-and-metals/
Also a discussion on swelling and stiffness here:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/swelling-and-stiffness-3-years-after-total-knee-replacement/
I hope one of these will resonate with you and that you might be able to find the cause of this. From what I have heard here, most doctors expect a patient to wait a year after a TKR to get a second opinion. You are getting close to that. If the surgeon who did your TKR is not supplying any answers I would seek that second opinion from a doctor at a different medical center -- doctors at the same medical center often will not contradict a colleague. If you live within reach of a major medical center the doctors there have seen virtually everything so they often are better at figuring out unusual problems.

I have had two TKRs and never had anything like that. I had a normal amount of swelling initially but it subsided fairly quickly. It is definitely not typical to still be having it at 9 months.
I am definitely interested in hearing what you can find out about this, I hope you keep us up to date.
JK

I had TKR 11 years ago and I find the being very active gives me some discomfort short term. After retirement I started exercising at the gym using machines. I believe that exercising moderately is key to controlling pain after TKR. Currently I have started the process for a 2nd TKR (left this time), but want to get as much mileage out of this knee as I can. I cannot imagine being as active without TKR and would do it over in a heartbeat! I might add that I currently do not take any pain medications.

I am 10 months post TKR and am doing well. I agree with you if you are overactive you pay the price and there is some medial pain that goes away with rest. My question is approximately how long do knee replacements last if I do things in moderation? Is there actually a time when I can expect to walk more than 2 miles and stand longer than 2 hours without getting that tight band sensation? I also use some machines at the gym. One more thing — since the arthritic pain is gone, why does the knee stiffen up in rainy/snowy weather and that band is still there.

I am 10 months post TKR and am doing well. I agree with you if you are overactive you pay the price and there is some medial pain that goes away with rest. My question is approximately how long do knee replacements last if I do things in moderation? Is there actually a time when I can expect to walk more than 2 miles and stand longer than 2 hours without getting that tight band sensation? I also use some machines at the gym. One more thing — since the arthritic pain is gone, why does the knee stiffen up in rainy/snowy weather and that band is still there.

@sjot4u , Good evening. I am glad you are doing so well with your TKR rehab. Here is the only comment about longevity that I received from my surgeon. Chris, he asked, "do you want your new knee to last 5 years or a lifetime?" So can I hike the mountains? "You can go up but coming down is very hard on your knee and it won't last very long."

I gave up the climbing and actually moved from my mountain village to the prairie. Flat and sometimes boring. My knee loves it.
You may want to investigate the fascia around your knee. It can thicken and result in layers of sticky glue-like fiber.

Did you get a new kneecap? Did you have pseudo gout or crystals?
Be safe and protected. Chris