Pain In the Back of My Surgical Knee

Hi @tamryk and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It is so difficult after a major surgery to know exactly what is normal and what is a cause for concern unless you speak with your medical care team.

I thought you may be interested in reading a couple of conversations that discuss knee pain post surgery.
- Sleeping comfortably with a new Total Knee- advice needed! https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sleeping-comfortably-with-a-new-total-knee-advice-needed/
- Unable to sleep after TKR https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/unable-to-sleep-after-tkr/
- Trouble sleeping after TKR https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/trouble-sleeping-after-tkr/

@tamryk, are you still elevating your leg at night? Have you tried contacting your surgeon or their nurse practitioner?

Knee discomfort continues

Anyone still experiencing pain post op 3 months? Knee feels tight and a good amount of pain behind the knee.

@wojo Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You are experiencing pain behind the knee three months post op. You are looking to connect with members like you.

You will notice that I moved your question to a previous discussion where @tamryk recently discussed this topic.

Within the group, members like @buickturboman @eeppeerr88 @exflyer @toromama @coco @mrsflutterby @sprinrosa64 have discussed total knee replacements and may be able to help answer your question.

May I ask if you have completely the physical therapy exercises as instructed?

Yes, I did the PT exercises every day for 6 weeks and then probably another 2 weeks after that. I still do slides and bends.

Hello everyone. I am 8 weeks post RTKR. I have been experiencing some hip pain that I wrote about previously and received some great responses that have been extremely helpful. Thank you for that!

I know with TKR there are lots of aches and pain. I had my left knee done 12/2019 so I'm not new to the game. But in the past few days I've noticed pain in the back of the rt. knee. It's getting to the point today that I'm starting to hold that leg in a way that is creating a small limp. The pain radiates from the back of my knee to the calf on the medial side.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

Good afternoon @jewlz1, That is not the way it is supposed to go. My other side TKR is scheduled for next week. I am in the process of doing pre-op exercises with quite a few for the back of the knee. Have you checked with your PT about how the back of your knee feels? Do you have a Baker's cyst there? Was it removed?

You sure don't want to mess with your nice even gait. If this were me and it might be, I would schedule a session with my MFR therapist to make sure that scar tissue wasn't beginning to form.

Can anyone else help us? Has anyone else had the same response to deal with? Please keep us informed of helpful information.

May you be mentally healthy.
May you be physically healthy.
Chris

I too have pain in the back of my Right TKR , performed 6 weeks ago. I also feel a click in the back of my knee when I stride and also a “ plucking “ feeling when I stride, as though a tendon is rubbing across something.

I am eight weeks past tkr, and still have pain in both my upper and lower leg. My pain in my knee is minimal. Is this to be expected, or do I need to contact my doctor?

Hi and @painfree1 welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I understand that it is difficult to gauge at what point you should start feeling better. You'll see I moved your post to a discussion about pain after TKRs. This is so you can engage with others who have been through it like @wojo, @tamryk, @ginzy53, @jeff101, @nicelymanifest, @ezas123, @marymelba, and @sniglet123

There are a lot of members who have been through a total knee replacement and can share their experiences.

I would definitely contact your doctor's office to just follow up. On a scale from 1 - 10, where is your pain level? Do they currently have you on any medication or therapy?

My pain is worse at night. Right after surgery, for a few weeks, it felt like electric shocks were running up my leg from the ankle to my thigh. I contacted my surgeon on the portal, and was told “ you can come in if you want” and “ knee surgery recovery is painful.” The pain is less now, but still wakes me up at night. I am taking no pain meds, and most of my exercise is walking at the present. My only physical therapy since my operation has been the printed list of exercises given to me at hospital dismissal, and being told to ice and elevate. All of which were done.