Soreness and stiffness 10 months post TKR

I bet to differ, if you have had success with your surgery wonderful. There is that small percentage that wont and no amount of physical therapy will change that. I had both knees replaced in 2018, within weeks my knees started getting stiff and I had the most debilitating pain. My knees felt like they were on fire and I constantly felt like I was being electrocuted. I was going to PT 3 days a week. 2 months after surgery I landed in the ER, my doctor had no clue why this was happening he couldn’t help. I went to another doctor, he was baffled and I went to a third. By 8 months I could straighten my right knee but only bend 60% and my left knee was stuck at about 45 degrees. He decided to redo my left at the 1 year mark, I came out of surgery and within weeks my knee was again getting stiff and the pain was unbearable. Within 3 months I had a manipulation and nothing changed. My doctor couldn’t figure out why my knee was not improving and got to the point where I was told I was making it all up to get opioids and I was dismissed as a patient. All of this while I’m still going to PT. One day my therapist told me I had really bad Arthrofibrosis and recommended me to a surgeon she knew. My first visit he told me I had CRPS and sent me off to pain management to get my pain under control before he could do anything about my knee. I ended up with a spinal chord stimulator, monthly visits to pain management, I was doing Ketamine infusions to combat the pain. After a few months he again revised my knee. I had so much scar tissue, in his words “ he gutted my knees” After surgery I felt some relief from the pain in my left knee but the pain in my right knee was almost unbearable. I was on a mission after this second revision to keep my knee straight, and have as much motion as possible. I kept my knee straight but I was never able to get more than 60 degrees flexion. Within 4 months I only had 25 degree flexion and 3 years later that’s where it’s at. During this time I started loosing motion in my right knee and it became worse than the left. The pain was so bad I was getting nerve blocks every 3 months. It got to the point where my knee was stuck at 40 degrees flexion and I couldn’t move it at all. No amount of PT was going to change that. I ended up with a mobility scooter. I went back to my surgeon who had done my last surgery and he was honest, he told me he would not do another surgery because he did not know how to stop the growth of the scar tissue in my knee which was the culprit. He referred me to another doctor and I knew they were going to do the same thing and within months I would be back in the same position I decided to start looking for better solutions and I ended up at the Mayo Clinic. This was a game changer. They have an ongoing research study to try to understand why scar tissue forms so rapidly in some patients and a protocol to treat said patients. I am a part of the research study, I had my surgery 5 weeks ago and my debilitating pain is gone, I can get out of a chair by myself, I have full extension in my knee and about 95 degree flexion. I’m working on it every day. This is the best I have felt in 5 years. Scar tissue is your worse enemy after TKR, for sone of us no amount of PT is going to stop it, I’m heading back next summer to get my left knee revised for the third time and hopefully I will have my life completely back. It’s been quite the journey. The last 5 years have been rough but finally I’m on the path to recovery.

Thank you for sharing such detail. I also still struggle with my rehab (Left TKR Jan 2023) and have have some people insert their opinion to just do the work. I was a college athlete and active until the TKR although modified activity for some things. I had pain before and pain now. I did three months of extensive prehab and have been doing at home exercises seven days a week (missed 2 days in 7 months because of family emergency) as well as going to PT three times a week. So many people look from outside and determine what your 'issue' is without knowing. Good for you that you finally have some relief and perhaps others in your position will be able to draw from your post to push to visit Mayo for scar tissue resolution. Good luck in your future rehab and carry on with the journey.