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Serious overnight pain after resuming light work.

Posted by zoobird1 @zoobird1, Apr 14, 2023

I had a really terrible time overnight. I had my TKR February 16, and graduated from Physical Therapy two weeks ago with my ROM being 130. I’ve been faithful to do my exercises at home, walking for twenty minutes or so and have very little swelling. I still have a lot of tenderness from my thigh to my ankle but it is lessening and pain where the muscles, etc were cut. I’m alternating ES Tylenol and 600 mg ibuprofen and taking 5 mg of Oxycodone near bedtime and phasing that out.
My husband and I live in a motorhome and volunteer at State Parks in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Our job is to pick up debris at campsites and clear out the fire ring if need be. We also lightly rake over any tire tread marks . This is very easy work but we do have to be very careful not to trip over exposed tree roots. Yesterday was my first day back helping out and I lightly raked about ten total sites in two thirty minute blocks and sat in the golf cart part of that time. Well I was up all night and had the worst pain from my ankle to thigh top in many weeks in spite of meds. Being wakeful overnight has happened several times but nothing like this.
Could it be that little bit of raking? The different movements?
I’m considering a sleep aid but am hesitant to try one. I'm also concerned about even walking for exercise.
Any thoughts are so appreciated!
Beth, age 70 in September

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jazzy155 | @jazzy155 | Apr 17, 2023
In reply to @scochran "Can someone tell me how long the stiffness lasts? I had bilateral knee replacement in Feb..." + (show)
@scochran

Can someone tell me how long the stiffness lasts? I had bilateral knee replacement in Feb and I’m suppose to return to work as a nurse but the stiffness is unbearable at times.

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I am a little bit over 3 months out. My knee is still stiff. I ride the exercise bike 5 days a week. and do my exercises everyday. I fell the other day. It set me back a couple days with additional pain.

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zoobird1 | @zoobird1 | Apr 17, 2023
In reply to @jacp "Have you checked out your back? Iv have a TKR but also suffer with sciatica and..." + (show)
@jacp

Have you checked out your back? Iv have a TKR but also suffer with sciatica and sounds like sciatica pain you are having also. Keep up your excerises and stretching but take it easy when you are in pain. Sending you hugs x

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Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind and I’m doing better the last couple of days. I appreciate your input.

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scochran | @scochran | May 3, 2023

I had bilateral knee replacements on Feb 14. Can anyone tell me if they experienced calf pain? Mine is to the point where I can only flatten my foot If I have tennis shoes on and I have tried dry needling twice and I wear a compression stocking at night. Does anyone have any other suggestions for knee stiffness or calf pain?

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continentalred | @continentalred | May 4, 2023

I had a TKR in September 2023 and I had really bad calf pain. My surgeon did an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot (which you might want to investigate). I did not have a blood clot but I did ( and still do have) a Baker’s cyst behind the knee. With the normal post op surgical swelling and cyst it was causing a lot of pressure on my calf area. I found weight bearing activity like walking made it worse so I rode my stationary exercise bike , went to aquafit classes, PT and had massages. It is much better now but also remember that it takes about a year to recover. The muscles, bones, ligaments and nerve endings that were cut etc during surgery do not heal on the cellular level for quite sometime. I know this was frustrating for me as I experienced pain when I tried to do certain things.
Recovery brings all sorts of twists and turns but eventually you will get there. In the meantime I recommend going easy on the weight bearing activity.

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1 reply
jazzy155 | @jazzy155 | May 4, 2023

I'm 16 weeks post tkr. I was bending down to pick up some debris in the backyard and if I moved a certain way it hurt. There's certain things we just can't do yet! I think you overdid it with the raking in the cleanup chores. If it hurts really bad, don't do it.

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1 reply
zoobird1 | @zoobird1 | May 5, 2023
In reply to @jazzy155 "I'm 16 weeks post tkr. I was bending down to pick up some debris in the..." + (show)
@jazzy155

I'm 16 weeks post tkr. I was bending down to pick up some debris in the backyard and if I moved a certain way it hurt. There's certain things we just can't do yet! I think you overdid it with the raking in the cleanup chores. If it hurts really bad, don't do it.

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You’re so right. I found out the hard way and I’m doing much better now. Thank you!

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zoobird1 | @zoobird1 | May 5, 2023
In reply to @continentalred "I had a TKR in September 2023 and I had really bad calf pain. My surgeon..." + (show)
@continentalred

I had a TKR in September 2023 and I had really bad calf pain. My surgeon did an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot (which you might want to investigate). I did not have a blood clot but I did ( and still do have) a Baker’s cyst behind the knee. With the normal post op surgical swelling and cyst it was causing a lot of pressure on my calf area. I found weight bearing activity like walking made it worse so I rode my stationary exercise bike , went to aquafit classes, PT and had massages. It is much better now but also remember that it takes about a year to recover. The muscles, bones, ligaments and nerve endings that were cut etc during surgery do not heal on the cellular level for quite sometime. I know this was frustrating for me as I experienced pain when I tried to do certain things.
Recovery brings all sorts of twists and turns but eventually you will get there. In the meantime I recommend going easy on the weight bearing activity.

Jump to this post

Thank you and I hope you’re recovering well!

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