Scar tissue after knee replacement

I had a total knee replacement on May 21, My knee is doing really well however I am having a huge issue with a pinched nerve in my back. They think it’s the sciatica as it goes down my leg and my foot is asleep like pins and needles. I would like to know if anyone is ever here at the house if she’ my knee is doing really well however I am having a huge issue with a pinched nerve in my back. They think it’s the sciatica as it goes down my leg and my foot is asleep like pins and needles. I would like to know if anyone has had this issue? I never had a problem before this and now they’re trying to tell me that when my knee wasn’t surgery it was the way they positioned it. Please help if anyone has had this issue and let me know how you took care of that, the pain from the back and sciatica is worse than the knee pain.

I had a lot of sciatic nerve pain after both my knee replacements
Physical therapy helps but took several months to get resolved

@zakcat That's great to have reached a milestone, congratulations. My second TKR is fabulous. When I do a lot of exercises or walking the first one still annoys me a bit with discomfort. I wouldn't say pain, it's not that severe, or maybe I just have a high pain tolerance. The second one is a Conformis and the doctor who did it is a developer of the Conformis knee. He was great. I rushed into my first TKR because I was in pain 24/7, limping badly. That doctor is supposed to be good but he definitely was not as good as the second doctor, yet when I hear the problems other people have I have to realize, I am not bad off.

@sandie2749 I did not have sciatica after either of my TKRs but I have suddenly had it recently. I doubt your sciatica is directly related to the TKR but perhaps related to a way you might be compensating for the new knee. As your knee improves I bet your sciatica will also. I am not sure what has caused mine but it has been getting better overall. It has good days and then it will take a step backward. As long as it goes forward more than backward though I will be happy. It's the leg below my hip that has bursitis and I wonder if the bursitis is indirectly responsible for it.
JK

Thank you

How are you doing now? Did you ever find relief?

No, going to Pain Management to get shots. I hope they do work

@sandie2749 I recently developed what I believe is sciatica also. I have had the knee on that side replaced but it was in 2012 or 2013 so it is not related to my TKR. What type of shot will you be getting? I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for a cortisone shot for bursitis in the same hip and I am wondering if the sciatica is related to the bursitis. It really does hurt. I have not yet tried these exercises but I plan to. They are supposed to help sciatica. I will be gone for the day today but hope to have time to start doing them tonight.

I will be very interested in hearing if the shot helps you. If so I hope I can get the same. When is your appointment?
JK

I’m pretty sure the shots I’m getting i’m pretty sure the shots I’m getting a Cortizone also, are Cortizone also, I never had this sciatica till after my surgery. I also have the numbness and tingling in my foot of the operative knee. The tingling in numbness in the foot came first right after surgery and then my sciatica started about two weeks later so I don’t know what’s going on

Hi @sandie2749 - I've had two TKR's and thankfully I didn't have that tingling and numbness that some people report. There is a thread here on Connect about foot neuropathy after knee replacement. You may be interested in reading it here since it sounds like some of your issues are described:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/foot-neuropathy-after-total-knee-replacement/
Have you spoken with your physical therapist about the problems?

Thanks, @sandie2749 I think sciatica is basically a pinched nerve (feel free to correct me on that if I am wrong) so if it came after the TKR it is probably an indirect result of it, perhaps due to sitting a certain way or favoring that leg. That would seem especially possible if it didn’t start until two weeks after the surgery.
No matter the cause, it is darned painful. My pain varies but at times it is extreme. I suspect that sitting on my computer chair may be making it worse so I am trying to do more on my iPod. I much prefer the desktop though.
I didn’t know that they give cortisone shots for it but now I hope that the ortho will do that for me.
I never had tingling or numbness after either of my TKRs but it seems to be a fairly common problem. I hope you find some relief soon. Please let me know if the cortisone shot does help. Of course cortisone shots sometimes miss the mark, and then they are not helpful and I believe they cannot repeat them for a few months. I have had cortisone shots for my persistent bursitis numerous times and many have missed so this time I am going to a doctor in Boston who always seems to succeed. I decided it’s worth the extra time to drive there.
JK