Numbness and burning after knee replacement

I am 4 months out. I have the same and am told it is just the nerves regenerating. I have a pretty big area of numbness (maybe 4x4) on the outside of my knee. I “drum” on that daily to desensitize it and it seems to help. They say after a year, things will get more normal.

It has not migrated to any other part of the leg (as yet). I have not had the burning for the past 2 days. I do know that a (venous something or the other) was done to ensure that there was no clotting. Although there was none, there is a significant amount of fluid build up in the knee (basically in the arm pit of the knee. My cardiologist seems to think that if it's drained all of my "minor" complications will diminish. My surgeon was hesitant to do so at my 3 month checkup. He did not want to introduce a "foreign" to the area for fear of creating an infection. I hope when I see him on 8/3 he will do it. It will be 7 months since my surgery.

I also have a large area of numbness in the area of the incision, but the "burning" is my concern. ( it's as if someone is placing a heat lamp on my skin intermittently) I'm not too concerned about the numbness, as this happens to almost everyone.

Good morning -
I think I will bring @artscaping into this discussion. She has had swelling like yours, determined to be a cyst, but it can also be from the healing process. There are a few techniques you can try to encourage the fluid to drain without a needle, and I am sure she can describe them to you.
I am glad your surgeon is cautious about introducing a needle into your new knee - the last thing you want is an infection!
Sue

Sue, I don't see the response from @artscaping. Am I doing something wrong?

Hi. This is Chris. I am at my MFR session. I will get back to you about Bakers Cyst soon. Welcome.

@georgejoseph, I'm back and ready to share what I know about Baker's cysts, especially how to get rid of them. I agree with your surgeon....don't introduce anything foreign until everything has healed. My surgeon cleared the cyst in the armpit of the knee as you call it so creatively, during the surgery. It never returned or refilled.

I am now getting ready for a TKR in August on the other knee. i have had the quite annoying Baker's cyst drained twice. When you look at the images taken during the aspiration you can see how the fluid-filled cyst can push other tissues out of the way.....thus causing pain.
Cysts like this usually fill with fluid that our body creates to try to soothe or overcome a damaged area.

If you cannot have it drained, you can remove it by pushing it up and out of the knee area. Once you have moved the fluid up and out into your upper leg, you will just pee it out. You might be helped by a Myofascial Release (MFR) therapist. I see mine twice weekly and without her, I would be in a constant battle with "Mr. Baker". For more information on MFR please follow this link.

And I have one more helpful suggestion. Practice the Yoga pose named "Leg's up the wall". I do that at least twice a day. There will be instructions on youtube. It is a great way to keep open all the valves in your legs and let the fluid out.

Before we go any further would you please tell me more about the fluid (swelling) in the armpit of your knee. How does it feel? Hard, soft like a pillow. Where is the pain centered? What other options have you explored?

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

Thanks Chris. I actually cannot feel it. It was clearly visible on the DVT ultrasound. it causes a lot of numbness in my knee and heel. It also causespain in my calves.

I had my left knee done 2015 and my right 2019. These were done by two different doctors, same practice. But, I have numbness left shin and right shin. What would cause this?

Hi @lauramp and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I added your post to a discussion that has been talking about having numbness after a knee replacement. I did this so you can connect with people here that have experienced similar things after surgery. I wanted to introduce you to one of our mentors, @artscaping. She is a great connection to have in this group and has sage advise about knee replacements.

Do you know if you have any fluid build up? Have you discussed this with either of your physicians since your surgeries?