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Scar tissue after knee replacement
I had knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago . Through PT I have been working on breaking up the scar tissue only for it to regrow by the time I get back to PT two days later. I have been massaging at home, using a hand held massager and roller. It is painful and swollen. I am getting very disheartened. Any suggestions as to what else I can do. Has anyone had laser treatments to break up scar tissue? Were they effective?
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@cobweb I tried water therapy and had the same problem. My PT said that the continuous bending while treading water is very irritating to the knee and to cut it out. I did and he was right.
@ginger9708 I had similar experience. I had TKR in September 2024 and MUA in November 2024.
I had several PT sessions and was finally told they couldn’t keep going as I wasn’t progressing. I was 20 Degrees on extension and only 85 degrees on flexion. My original surgeon said to wait a year. At a year he told me to wait at least 18 months.
My primary doctor referred me to another surgeon at a completely different hospital. They immediately scheduled me to a revision. I had this on October 2025.
The surgery took 5 hours as he said I had total failure of the implant. He had to remove more bone after getting the old implant out. He also debrided the whole area removing a large amount of scar tissue.
He drilled into my tibia and out a post in the bone, cemented on a cone and then attached the implant. He said I had total failure of in original implant and it was a difficult surgery.
Now, almost 4 weeks out I am fully extended and have a 100 degree bend. The goal is 105 by 6 weeks and I’m confident I will exceed this.
My experience is very positive and wish I had the revision sooner. Getting the right surgeon is the most important thing!
@grandmabv
Good for you and I completely agree with you. I am glad you finally got to a proper revision surgeon. If one watches sports there is a massive difference between what a Lebron James can and does do and what a Bronny James can and does do. The same thing applies to surgeons. They are not all created equal.
Think how much better it would have been if that revision surgeon had been your first surgeon. Many patients may have few choices as they may be limited to a HBO roster of surgeons.
On another post I recently listed my nine criteria for surgeon selection. If one gets the right surgeon, one should then follow that surgeon's instructions and advice.
When I had my left hip done about three years ago my surgeon walked into the preop room with a multipage document from the hospital listing all the things one should not do after a THR. He threw it in the waste paper basket in front of me and told me he had only two instructions: take my medicine and be a couch potato for five weeks because "...the only I can't do is make bones grow". [note that this would not work with a traditional surgery; my surgeon is the primary inventor of the new Superpath method of THR]
I came out of the surgery without pain. Nonetheless, I reluctantly followed his instructions and most of the time I forget that I have a titanium hip. It just feels so natural.
@patriceheller
I had tkr May of this year, manipulated, then scoped 6 weeks ago. I too built scar tissue very fast. Doc and PT discharged me . I found a chiropractor that does shock wave therapy and high powered laser therapy. After just 2 sessions I am noticing improvement in pain!
I am 6 months out from tkr. Had to have it manipulated, then scoped because of scar tissue building fast. I started this week with a chiropractor that does shock wave and high powered laser light treatment. After just 2 sessions so far I can feel a difference. Not as much pain and walk better