Knee pain 13 years after tkr

@janieben I see you have been visiting for a while, but this is your first post. Don't you hate it when you can't figure out what is causing a pain? I am in the midst of trying to solve a pain riddle for the umpteenth time - hoping I'm on the right track this time.

Back in 2004 or 2005, I was at my wits end having been trying one thing after another to treat my back pain with little success. One night, I went on a field trip with a group, and one of the older women took one look at me and said "When are you getting your hip replaced?" I said the trouble was my back, then tried to step up a higher than normal step and couldn't! We had just been on vacation and I could only get on and off my bike by pulling up to a step or curb so I could just step through the frame - couldn't lift my foot over the ladies' crossbar, hmm...

The next week my primary x-rayed my hips and sent off to the ortho surgeon. He walked in and told me I had the "hips of an 85 year old" (I was only 54) and asked which one we should do first. Guess what? The new hips solved the back pain & the pain in one knee. My PT said "When you limp, everything goes out of whack."

Now you have two possible causes of the right knee pain - a bad left knee and recovery from 2 broken ankles! It's really great that the ortho checked out your "old" knee and pronounced it sound. I'm guessing the surgery will help get you back on track. You may need to follow the knee PT with some gait training to get your old knee, new knee, and repaired ankles to all play nicely together.

If you have any doubt, you might want a second opinion.
Sue

Thanks, Sue. Not surprisingly, I am having issues with my left hip, which makes it difficult to raise my left leg up onto a step. I am just falling apart! Went to a chiro, and that helped it. He doesn't think I need a hip replacement. But it has not been x-rayed yet. I am supposed to get a new knee for the left side in December. Wanted to try to make it through the holidays before being incapacitated for a little while. And you are right about the gait training! I'm not sure even how to walk anymore! I am guessing it is all due to the limping because I did PT for ankles with a bad left knee; limped a lot, even after a cortisone shot last fall. Thank you so much for you input!

Of course we are all different, in my case it's been since Oct. 2018 and the pain is the same as the day of surgery, a year after I had my Left TKR I had the right done , bone on bone, with hope it could help with the pain in the left knee, well it did nothing for the left pain. I am told by a number on doctors that it is nerve damage that can occur with any surgery. Well I have tried so many things since 2018 with no good results. I don't know if doctors are wrong or there really is nothing left to try for nerve pain. I am stuck unable to take one step without the pain at 8, it's no way to live but I will keep searching and keep moving. BEST OF LUCK O YOU , NERVE PAIN IS SOMETHING WORTH LOOKING INTO

Hi Janie,

Just my opinion, but if your left knee is painful enough to affect your gait, and that's almost always the case, then something else usually starts to hurt. I think you may be right - your left knee is bothering you enough that it's affecting your gait and that's affecting your good knee.

I used to be a marathoner. I had numerous injuries, most of them in my legs. If I tweaked a knee and kept running, a problem would appear, like a groin pull - all caused by a slight way I changed my running style to accommodate a painful knee. I wasn't aware of it, and that's what makes it puzzling.

You also mentioned pain when you uncrossed your legs after sitting. I'm no Dr, but crossing your legs can put pressure on the knee you move to cross your legs. So I would avoid that.

But if the prosthesis looks good, I'm betting the left knee TKR will resolve most of these problems. I had both knees replaced this year, about 4 months apart. Before I went in to get the second knee replaced, I had a noticeable limp, caused by bone on bone in my bad knee. If I waited longer, I'm sure I would have had the problem you described.

FWIW, both of my knees were replaced by a surgeon using the Mako robotic assistant. I have nothing but good things to say about it. I got in shape ahead of surgery and hit the PT aggressively immediately after surgery.

All the best to you Janie!

Joe

Thanks for your info. Hopefully, my knees will do the same!

May I ask what exercise you did pre-surgery? Difficult to walk very far.

Thank you,
Janie

Janie,

I worked with a trainer to strengthen my leg muscles pre-surgery. you can google this, but don't do anything that hurts.

One very easy way to strengthen the quads is to straighten out your leg (either sitting in a chair or on your bed), tighten your quads (it will feel like your pushing your knee down)and hold for 30 seconds. Your foot should rise up a little. Rest and repeat these. This will strengthen your quads.

It's important because in my surgeries, the surgeon made slight incisions into the quad muscle to release the patella and move it aside for access to the knee joint. The stronger the quads, the better you'll do post-surgery.

Again there are other exercises. Check with your PT.

Good luck!

Joe