- Crunching -

Posted by Barb @amberpep, May 8, 2020

Hi everyone …. About 5 years ago I had a RTKR which seemed to heal pretty well. But, not totally because it always had some pain in it, which I ignored. I finally went to my Orthopedic Surgeon several times and after several x-rays he could find nothing. So, 3 years ago I had what is called a revision, where they take out the initial replacement part and replace it with another replacement knee, in which the posts are longer and go farther down and up from the knee. It was much better, even though he never could find out what happened to the first one. Well, when I get up out of a chair it "crunches" and hurts slightly. Now I'm used to being a good "weather forecaster" as when it's going to rain, it hurts, but I don't understand (nor like) this crunching that it does. It doesn't seem to be tied in with the weather. When that happens, I put on a soft elastic brace which is fairly tight and makes it feel more comfortable. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks, abby

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ellerbracke | @ellerbracke | May 9, 2020

@amberpep : Instead of a helpful answer, I want to ask you a question: how would you rate the pain that you had after your initial TKR? I had right TKR roughly 1 1/2 years ago, and while the knee works perfectly fine, great flex and extension, there is always a low-grade ache there. Gets worse with heavy use or exercise, but even in the best of circumstances it is never totally “normal”. I can live with that, but it gets annoying at times. So your new, revised knee has no pain at all? Sounds nice. Regarding the “crunching”, what I have is more like a clicking noise, but that is not limited to getting up from a seated position It clicks every step I take, and even when I’m doing crunches, somehow the knee moves enough to also click (or crunch, whatever the term should be). Best that I can isolate the location/cause, it seems like the tendon on the inside of the knee does not move smoothly over the kneecap. Not painful, but again, annoying.

Barb | @amberpep | May 15, 2020

Oh ellerbracke ….. you make me feel so much better. After I had both replacements, I really had a very low level of pain. In fact, I thought I was home free! Well,
after a few months, the crunching started ….. besides the pain when it does that (about a 5) I hate the sound. I think you're just may be right ….. no matter how good these replacements are ….. there's always pain, although not as much as before, that just lingers. The crunching makes sick! BLAH!
Thanks for replying to me. abby