Back pain 8 months after TKR

Cindy,
TKR’s are major surgeries. I have had both knees replaced, both hips, two back operations, two hernia repairs, a rotator cuff repair, a revision of same, etc. The TKR’s take the longest and the most strenuous PT. It appears to me that when you have TKR’s your gait changes, either you limped before surgery or at least temporarily after it. I believe that is why back pain is not unusual. My last TKR is doing great. My first one, now over twenty years later still swells and my flexion is less than 90 degrees. My wife had had knee replace two years ago and the first 18 months was doing well. Then about six months ago it started popping. It sounds like the metal clickers I played with 70 years ago. We have been to 3 great surgeons, that have done over 12,000 TKR’s, I have posted on here and as of today nobody has heard of such a noise. You can hear her approaching 10-15 feet away. Be thankful that you can walk the distances you do and can do all the activities you are doing. I believe what I have heard many times that it can take a year or more for you to really know what you have. Praying God will finish your healing process and remember it is a replacement an no surgeon can give you the knee He gave you at birth. Praying for you.
Larry

Thank you...I do know the Lord will continue healing me and that it will never like my knee I was born with because that was perfect when first given me. My knee actually felt great before (cortisone shots) however it needed replaced and there was significant arthritis. It would have happened so I opted to do it before it got bad, I am thankful for what I can do. I'm going to Universal in December (15 months out) and need to be able to walk 18-20.000 steps each day. This is an average from last time we were there. I'm told how great I'm doing and all I am able to do but I do pay for it sometimes. I don't expect it to be like before however I'm so over all the soreness and stiffness. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. I'll keep you in mine as well.

@cindymattern :
Cindy: I had periods of hip pain and/or back pain at times after my TKR. The hip pain was due to a very slow process of getting to 0 extension, and once my PT forbid me from taking my usual 2 mile walk until that was achieved, the hip pain went away. But after TKR your gait most likely has changed, even if just slightly. I ended up with custom orthotics because of a difference in leg length. I may have had that all my life, never had it checked, but only after the TKR it caused problems. Perhaps it’s worth having that looked at.
After about 2 years of wearing the orthotics for exercise-type walks, or long mall-crawls, my body had adjusted and I quit wearing them. All is good now.
4 1/2 years after right TKR, and I can easily go into a deep squat AND back up again without holding on to anything, and without pain. Kneeling….. yuck!

Cindy, I had TKR 11 months ago. I did the full gammet with PT -- at home and outpatient.
Seven weeks after my surgery I began to have intense siatic pain on both sides of my buttocks. I blamed it on some of the exercises I was doing at PT, but honestly I don't know. It could have also been due to the natural realignment of my spine after surgery. I took pain medications, but it was almost unbearable. After another month it started to subside and now it's pretty much gone. I do notice that when I do certain things around the house like sweeping, the pain can re-emerge for a day or two. So I don't think back pain is unusual. I think it's probably more common than we know for those who have TKR. My husband and I went to Colonial Williamsburg in April and walked around for several hours. My knee held out well! It still has some stiffness at times, not sure that will go away completely. But it sure beats the discomfort of bone-on-bone arthritis in my knee. Prayers for your recovery!

I’d say you are doing extremely well and perhaps need to consider adjusting your expectations. Maybe being open to using a cane or even a Walker while at Universal would make things a bit more pleasant and put less stress on your knee. Just because that’s what you did last time doesn’t mean you have to this time. Both aging and an intense surgery may prevent that. It doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy it but at a lesser pace. Good luck & have fun.

My chiropractor was telling me after having tkr you have to work from feet up…. So we started with inserts in my shoes because of tkr one leg slightly longer than the other …..also did graston on my feet and thigh helps break up any scar tissue…..been doing some cuping on my lower back and hip ….in doing all of this I can honestly say right this moment is the best I have felt since I started this whole journey …. Tkr and revision year apart …so yes it is a process but for me i keep trying new things to help with pain, flexion …. All in all helps keep me mentally going foward because let’s face it very challenging…… good luck hope you find what works for you

Thanks! I'm going to ask tomorrow when I see PT about one leg being shorter and my flexion that might be affecting that. I started having these issues around 5 months. Yep, started with feet tingling numb and hurting, went t my left hip (TKR on right knee), now it's my back. It's slowly moving lol