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Pain In the Back of My Surgical Knee

Joint Replacements | Last Active: Jan 16, 2023 | Replies (27)

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@colleenyoung

@bobmac, welcome. I moved your question about pain after surgery, particularly back of knee and calf pain to this existing disucssion:
- Pain In the Back of My Surgical Knee https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/knee-pain-post-surgery/

I did this so you can connect easily with members like @tamryk @wojo @jewlz1 @pgcdds @painfree1 @ezas123 @suecutuli @marged and others.

You may also appreciate this helpful discussion that @artscaping started:
- TKR #2.....Lessons I am learning. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tkr-2-lessons-i-am-learning/

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Replies to "@bobmac, welcome. I moved your question about pain after surgery, particularly back of knee and calf..."

Yes. I'm 63 and had two TKRs last year, the first on my right knee in August, the second on my left knee four weeks later in September. My surgeries as of this writing were 5-1/2 and 4-1/2 months ago, respectively. I have had throughout my recovery and STILL have posterior lateral pain on BOTH knees, meaning the pain is located BEHIND and toward the OUTER/OUTWARD side of leg (away from inner side of leg, away from center of body).

This posterolateral pain, however, is quite different on either side. On the right knee, it is as it seems you've described: NOT the joint itself, but something very dull and diffuse, radiating linearly, as I imagine a muscle, tendon, ligament, or nerve might, down into my calf. It's a pain I NEVER had prior to surgery, and altogether it's worse than the pain behind the other (left) knee, which began only after that knee's surgery, and that manifests as a very sharp, highly localized, highly defined, easy to pinpoint snapping or popping tendon or ligament. That left knee pain lasts only lasts for the moment the tendon or ligament snaps or pops, like with the the intentional cracking of one's knuckles. The right knee pain, on the other hand, lingers unabated.