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Swollen knee incision and scar tissue
Does anyone have incision issues after tkr? I am 3.5 months post-op. My incision is healed, but is tight, swollen, puckered, and still hot. The whole top of my knee is affected. After exercises, it feels like scar tissue is still tearing inside whenever I bend my knee. I'm not able to see my doctor very often. My doctor saw this 6 weeks ago, but it has not improved at all. Is this something that others experience?
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The concern is whether there’s an infection and only a physician can evaluate that. I encourage you to talk to your surgeon’s office to figure out how you can get evaluated quickly. Other than that, I can tell you that I still had a lot of swelling, pain, and stiffness, and the surgical site was warm at your stage of recovery. In fact, those symptoms didn’t adequately subside until seven months post-op. Also, I ended up with a hypertrophic scar, which may be what you have. At any rate, good luck!
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1 ReactionOne other thing: at your stage, I was overdoing exercise, which exacerbated my symptoms. Try doing only what your PT tells you to do and nothing more to see if that helps.
@karenheller My experience having three TKR and countless hours of PT is that by the time that "sweet-spot" of finding how much exercises of not enough vs. too much you've run out of time. Physical therapist all have different techniques and the calender can't be turned back!
This is one of the many stages of the TKR and recovery process that are so frustrating.
To all the successsful TRK recipients where the pieces fell into place be thankful.
@karenheller
@karenheller
Yes, after your comment, I looked up hypertrophic scar. And, I do believe that is what I have. Thanks for replying. Knowing this about my scar is very helpful.
My dermatologist said she sees these scars on knees after TKA, C-sections, and open chest surgeries. Some people might suggest treating it, but I’m not bothering and don’t want any more doctors poking around on my knee. They fade over time, though mine still gets purple sometimes and itchy. Most of the time it matches my skin tone and is calm.