Pain after knee replacement

[cowbuzz]

I had a knee replacement in June 09, I spent 4weeks in a rehab. center..physical therapy 6 days a week. Right after surgery I had ' foot drop ' So I had to deal with that + my knee...It's been 5 months.. well my knee still hurts so much it wake's me up at night, Is this normal ?     Any one have this problem ?   Any suggestion ?  I really need help.  Please I can't stand it much longer..

[Tuckamore]

Hi Cowbuzz,

Welcome to the Pain Mangement forum. I am glad that you found us but sorry to hear that your post-op recovery seems to be slow and painful.

"Bad knees" run in my family. Every female beginning with my grandmother and including her female children and their female off springs have had a bad knee(s). Most have required knee replacements at varying ages, some are waiting till their are older. I can tell you from their experience that everyone heals at different rates. Pain should be less after surgery than it was before surgery once the initial surgical pain has ceased.

Is your knee warm to touch or red or swollen? I don't know what your surgeon is telling you. If you haven't seen him recently I suggest that you return for an evaluation. If he ignores your complaints and concerns than I suggest that you see another ortho. It may be that a dose of steroids to reduce the inflammation will help you in your recovery process. You may benefit with something at night to help with the pain and allow you to sleep. Our bodies require a good nights sleep to help in the healing process. So please see your PCP also.


Best of luck to you. Please let us know how you are doing. If you would like to provide more information please feel free to do so.

Take Care,
Tuck
  

[Mollyrae]

Hello cowbuzz and welcome to the Pain Forum.


Sorry to hear of the knee pain. I have not had that type of surgery but my Father-In-Law has. He struggles with his knee for a year after the replacement. In that year, there were many days that he was in a great deal of pain. It has been about 5 year after the initial surgery and i would say that just in the last couple of years has he not complained about the knee.

He is from the old days that when a man had pain back in the day, he kept quite about it. Men were considered strong and could take the pain.  So he must have had some real pain to complain about it.

I don't know your age but I strongly feel that age has a lot to do with how fast you heal. How does your Doctor feel about your progress? Is he satisfied with it? I also feel that being as pain free as possible after your surgery has a lot to do with the healing process. The more you can control your pain, the faster you heal. That could be a wives tail so to speak but I believe it. Does the Doctor give you adequate pain medication?

I wish I had more advise for you. I do wish you well in your recovery and hope that you can find a solution in controlling your pain better.

Please take care and good luck with it.
Warmest regards,
Mollyrae