Knee pain after surgery

[hollyk]

I was wondering if any one experienced knee pain. I had hip resurfacing 13 days ago and many days I can hardly put my leg down because the pain around my knee cap and tha back of my knee hurts. I am trying not to use Loritab and use only Tylenol, but by the end of the day I need the pain med. I see the Dr. today for post-op, but I am feeling disheartened, as it seems many people have such an easy time of recovery..

[Pat Walter]

Hi Holly

Everyone has a different recovery.  Sometimes people do have many other types of pain that accompany the surgery.  You are walking differently than you walked pre-surgery.  Sometimes when they dislocate your leg, they can also stress your leg too.

I would not let pain in your knee make your discouraged.  Give everything time to heal.  Take your pain meds if you need them.  Keep them up so the pain doesn't get the beter of you.

Again, some people recover quickly, while some recovery very slowly.  Since you are only 13 days post op, I would not worry about things.

Give your body plenty of time to heal.  Many people have back pain, other hip pain and knee pain.  Your body has to get use to moving with the new hip.

Good Luck and stay positive.

Pat

[cgraves]

10-14 days post op had knee pain so bad could no longer walk
Backed off walking 4 days
Resumed walking
No knee pain

Now 40 days post op
Walking more and better
No knee pain

Pat says it all

[hollyk]

Thanks..my Doctor said the same thing, Pat. Everything looks great and my knee feels better today. He said I will notice a lot of improvement with out-patient therapy, which starts next week. I know I just need to rest when my body tells me to rest..I'm not very good at that, yet!

[cgraves]

Knee Pain

Please see other comments under PT
2.5 post operation, rt knee of the rt hip replaced hurt so much could not walk
got very depressed
took a shot in the knee
laid off PT 1 week
then back at it
other problems surfaced but not the knee
more hard times due to body mechanics adjusting
got really depressed
those disappeared also

great now
but more adjustments most likely still
time is a friend
pain is the enemy
but now I know not to get easily depressed
my doctor said: "have confidence in your decision"

good luck

[sroberts]

Cgraves,

Try some gentle massage and ice, it worked wonders for me. Hope your pain eases.


spencer

[takilasunrise]

Yes, my knee ached just sitting there!  I would massage it but nothing really helped it except for time.  I thought it was weird that it ached like it did, but the pain did eventually go away. 

[Creakyhips]

Hi Holly,

Yes I had knee pain after surgery, it seemed to get more noticeable and painful once I returned home and spent more time on the move. I am pleased to say that at the moment I am 4 weeks post surgery and it has all but gone. I was told by the nurses its because the team pulls the leg into some pretty unusual positions during surgery.

Good luck with your recovery and I hope that you lose the pain quickly.

James

LBHR 17/07/08

[TomBuell]

I also have some pain in my new-hip knee, mostly when doing leg presses in PT. I chalk this up to making up for old limp, etc.
Everything else feels great - better every day.
- Tom
RBHR - 7/1/08

[jhre]

KNEE PAIN!  Good to see a discussion on knee pain.  I hope I can surface more comments on this.  I am 18 days post BHR and my operated-side knee is just screaming.  It's red, puffy, and more painful than the hip.  Ice and rest helps, then it comes back again with exercises and walking.  I have not had problems with this knee prior to surgery.

I have also noticed a visual "straightening" of the operated leg and a sensation of it being longer than before surgery.  I am fairly bowlegged, and now seem to have one bowed leg (normal side) and one straight leg (operated side). 

If the femur post-op is at a different angle to the knee, it seems to me that could put stress on the knee and cause inflamation.  The area of pain is mostly the lateral portion of the knee, and that is the area of swelling and tenderness.

Does anyone have any insight into this? 

Many thanks, Joe

[toroqu]

I am one week post RBHR. My hip feels great. I too am experiencing knee pain. It is not severe but it does affect my ability to walk. I also have been experiencing some ankle pain as well. For about one year prior to my surgery I started experiencing minor knee pain the would interupt my sleep at night with short bursts of pain. My Doctor told me that the pain was most likely due to my screwed up gait and necessary compensation for my bad hip. He said that the pain should subside with the BHR. I sure hope so. I am worried that I damged my knee with all the stress I put on it. Time will tell.

[Pat Walter]

Hi toroqu

It takes your body a long time to heal.  Think how long you had been limping or compensating for a bad hip.  It will take almost that long to get back to normal.  Be patient.  Most knee and back problems do get better, but all of your body is really struggling now to compensate for the new hip and all the surgery.

Patience is your best friend now.  Most of our hips have recovered well along with the rest of our bodies.  Sometimes if you had serious pre-op problems, it might take a little extra PT.

Good Luck and keep in touch.

Pat

[TomBuell]

I'm just past 4 months on my RBHR and still seem to be going through periodic inflammation in both knees, fortunately not at the same time and not too serious. I've been off meds for some time now, but find it useful to pop a couple of Tylenol and use a little ice. I think it's a process of the muscles and tendons getting re-accustomed to walking without the limp.
Good luck - Tom

[Barbara]

I was told by my PT that it is very common to have referred pain from the hip to the knee as they share the Ileotibial band.

Barbara

[newhipchick]

Hi Holly - I am at 6 weeks post op - LBHR. I had terrible knee pain, worse than the hip pain. Knee was very swollen for two weeks and very hard to bend. I iced daily and my PT pushed me to keep bending it. I took Darvoset for a week then transitioned to regular Tylenol. At 3 weeks pain went away! Keep trying to walk and move it some and take it easy. - Maura G