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Debilitating pain 6 months after knee replacement
My husband had knee replacement surgery six months ago. The knee is still swollen, hard, and very warm. He still has chronic pain. He's at a constant 3-4 level most of the time, with episodes that shoot the pain up to 9 -10 range every day -- every damned day! -- that bring him to tears. And this is a man who's had broken bones, suffered concussion, and had a total hip replacement and was back on the golf course in six weeks. He's had every blood test you can think of to rule out infection. He's been X-rayed and scanned to rule out anything else. And we're told everything with the new joint looks fine, so keep doing what you're doing and it will get better. He does PT. He elevates, He ices. He does deep breathing. We've been to a pain management specialist who's fiddled with his meds and done laser therapy. And nothing works to bring the pain down. it's not getting better. Any ideas or recommendations?
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That sounds so disheartening. I am also experiencing increasing sharp knee pain, but at the six month point. X-rays show nothing. No useful suggestions from the surgeon. Pain is worse than previous bone on bone pain. Any ideas?
Frustrating and disheartening stuff. You have my sympathy as a fellow sufferer. Do note that the correlation between pain and tissue damage or injury is often weak. A meta analysis of certain types of spinal surgery to alleviate chronic back pain found the x-ray determined disc damage was not causing the pain. Those without pain had similar dic erosion and damage. It happens naturally as we age. Key problem, or reality, is that pain is a construct of the mind based on a judgement of degree of protection of a site that the brain determines. A biopsychosocial matter rather than just a physiology one. Chronic pain is often a continued, hair-triggered pain generation after a site has healed, where the pain generation neurons have been exercised so much that they are in a kind of habit mode, and consideration of the need for the pain by checking of site status seems to be neglected. So you then have to work on the mind to fix such chronic problems.
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3 ReactionsFor those of you, like me, that have ongoing post TkR pain, you might try myofascial release, epat, cupping and/or rock tape. The epat is like a mini jackhammer (not really painful compared to the MFR or cupping). these were all done by a local massage therapist I found on my own. Both surgeon and pain specialist said pt wouldn’t help. The above really did. I have had only one treatment but pain is much less except for stair climbing.
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3 ReactionsThank you for these helpful suggestions. I’ll try them.
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1 Reaction9 months Post replacement, I have a tight band 1" wide, 4" long located 1/3 way back from front on lateral side of right knee. Band stiffens when standing and after light exercise. Neither nerve blocks or PT (general and ITB specific) have not helped condition over past 7 months. The stiffness/pain is very localized and does not radiate up or down leg. Has anyone experienced this exact condition. It is so unique, I feel that someone else as experienced this.
Hi @two3 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I saw you were asking about your knee and wanted to connect you with other members going through very similar problems so I moved your post to this discussion: Debilitating pain after knee replacement: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chronicdebilitating-pain-after-knee-replacement/ -----------
We also have members discussing the tight band feeling here:
Has anyone had a tight band feeling after total knee replacement?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-had-a-tight-band-feeling-after-total-knee-replacement/
And here:
Struggling with IT band and to rebuild muscle after TKR: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pain-a-year-and-a-half-after-tkr/
How often are you going to PT for your issue?
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3 ReactionsSorry to hear, but it seems to be a resounding theme with TKR. First you cannot compare hip surgery to TKR, as the knee is much more complex and bears a lot more weight. Six months is not a long time for recovery I’ve been told it can take years! But here’s the thing, No surgeon I know of tells you the real truth about recovery, the main reason is money. TKR is the number one most popular and profitable surgery period! That being said, keep doing PT and exercise on his own, my recovery ( and not even close to being done ) is 3 years out and it seems to come in stages? I do not know his exact physical state as far as age, weight, but I know I had to take water pills to remove about 25 pounds of fluid in my body and my God what a difference. Just a suggestion and I certainly wish him good recovery and health
For past two months, I've been going to PT twice a week working primarily on the IT band. However, without progress in this area, I am working with my PT specialist and a PT MD at Mayo in an attempt to define another path forward.
I have not found anyone on this forum that has the exact, specific symptoms that I have nor have the physicians I've worked with at Mayo indicate that they have seen my exact situation. The principal advice I have been given is to wait until the one year point and we will re-evaluate.
Hello, so sorry you are having so much unwanted pain! However you are somewhat early in recovery based on my experience and what I have read from others. I would recommend considering myofascial release (MFR) and or “shock therapy “ the latter not as painful/uncomfortable as MFR. the latter is like a small jackhammer which pulses your scar tissue, hopefully breaking it up to then heal. Also known as epat. I started both at 10 months, wishing I had started sooner as I am still having pain with stairs especially, also with walking, swimming and cycling. I wasn’t prepared for a multi year recovery.
@two3 As much as this is not what you want to hear, I am afraid it is way too early in the game for you. After two TKR I have learned that recovery comes in stages and is the most baffling, frustrating experience you may ever have. An MRI can identify many issues, if you have not already had one. The advice you were given is probably correct. Start really investigating at the one year mark. I am 19 months out w IT Band issues not yet resolved.