total knee replacement

Hi Melcpa86, only time being young puts you at a physical disadvantage, right?! I know I was in a lot of pain before my double TKR, but it’s hard to remember. The pain I have now is totally different. I had full ROM before on both knees. I never even thought about this being a problem when I did the surgery.
I know after having had one manipulation where my knees had full ROM immediately after, then daily regression thereafter,revision would produce the same results.
I’ve unfortunately been stymied going back to the gym as I’ve developed planter fasciitis in one foot and a torn Achilles in the other. I went to an Ortho yesterday for the Achilles and he said it’s a result of the TKR replacements. I learned to compensate when my knees were not straight and centered. When they fixed that, it shot my tendons in a bad direction. As you would Suspect, I’m now In a Sophie’s choice predicament . I need to keep exercising for my knees, but somehow wear 2 boots and keep my feet up to take care of my Achilles and plantar fasciitis. Lovely!
I keep checking these posts because I’m looking for hope that people have made gains after the 1 year mark. This is my anniversary week. I’m hoping to still make progress. Most physicians are saying at this point, I should be done gaining any more ROM. I’m finding some antidotal evidence that it’s possible on this posts.

I think I could almost live with a decreased range of motion if upon standing I no longer felt like I was going to pass out . I’m hoping to make this improve by strengthening my quads, but as I previously mentioned, I’m limited with my new afflictions.
Thanks for your reply...

At 3 months and 1 week after TKR I am still dealing with a good amount of pain. Always present, usually more of an annoyance at level 1-2, but quite often, and especially at rest and at night, it goes up to a 4, with occasional spikes to 5. I am not taking and meds for this, since OTC products do not really seem to help that much on a once-in-awhile basis, and I don’t want to stress my digestive system, liver, etc. by popping pills. I still have Oxycodone, but not taking that either. Here it is 3.30 AM, I’ve been awake for over an hour with “discomfort”. During the evening I mostly use a heating pad for 1/2 hour to pamper the knee, which helps with falling asleep. Other than the pain, everything else is great. Good flex and extension, 100% of the feeling back around the scar (which was only about 5” long to begin with), scar slowly fading, the “sandpaper” skin area down to nickel size. Just trying to hear from other patients when the pain totally ends!

I am one year out from a total knee revision. Pain is still present and no better than before I had the revision although the tibial portion of my original TKR had become debonded so my knee was very unstable before the revision. It is more stable now, but I am plagued by chronic pain

@hellothere Your flex is impressive, I wish I had that much flex. That's terrible that you have not been sleeping well though. Has that improved?
I am not at all familiar with effusion and demineralization. What causes that?
JK

I contacted my ortho and he said the effusion (swelling) is common postop and demineralization would improve with increased weight bearing. Since I was having trouble sleeping, he did give me a prescription for Tramadol. I have used it for five nights now and have been getting great sleep. I plan to try 1/2 tablet tonight along with an Aleve and see if that works so I can cut back. I am doing my regular postop exercises along with walking 40-60 minutes per day and biking 30-40 minutes per day. I am doing pretty well and am sore, especially from standing, so I have to rest a lot. I take an Aleve once or twice per day and the Tramadol at night. Hopefully, I can get off of the Tramadol soon. Is this everyone else's experience? How long before I have no pain- I am 8 weeks postop now.

I contacted my ortho and he said the effusion (swelling) is common postop and demineralization would improve with increased weight bearing. Since I was having trouble sleeping, he did give me a prescription for Tramadol. I have used it for five nights now and have been getting great sleep. I plan to try 1/2 tablet tonight along with an Aleve and see if that works so I can cut back. I am doing my regular postop exercises along with walking 40-60 minutes per day and biking 30-40 minutes per day. I am doing pretty well and am sore, especially from standing, so I have to rest a lot. I take an Aleve once or twice per day and the Tramadol at night. Hopefully, I can get off of the Tramadol soon. Is this everyone else's experience? How long before I have no pain- I am 8 weeks postop now.

Thanks for the support! I am walking outdoors, but I use a bike on a bike trainer for biking indoors. I will keep you posted Debbra!

@hellothere If you have access to a treadmill that is better than walking outdoors on pavement because there is less impact on your knee. If you are walking on pavement make sure then that you have very good cushioning walking shoes/sneakers to absorb the impact. Initially, I definitely found that using a treadmill vs walking outdoors made a big difference, but now I am fine walking outdoors. My orthro most highly recommended water jogging, and pedaling on the recumbent bike -- both are very low impact.
I personally found the memory foam in Sketchers sneakers to be excellent. I actually purchased mine in Marshall's, on sale, for somewhere in the $35 price range, so you don't have to go into a shoe that costs upwards of $100. I did that and found when I wore them my shins hurt more than they did in the reasonably priced Sketchers.
JK

@ellerbracke That really sounds unacceptable to have so much pain at this point that you are having trouble sleeping. Have you spoken to your ortho about it?
As I mentioned in a different post, I had very severe pain for about six weeks and it very suddenly got better! I hope the same happens to you. Are you feeling any improvement?
JK