knee pain at 2 1/2 weeks

[Peter53]

Hi,
I had a resurfacing to my left hip 19 days ago.
Absolutely brilliant, all pain gone standing and walking unaided after 2 days.
After maybe day 2/3 I started to get knee pain which seems to be getting worse.
Sleeping is difficult as I am waking every 2 hours with stiff / painfull knee and thigh.
Will this pass ?
Am doing all exercises as physio recommends.
Thanks.

[rubyred]

Hi Peter, welcome to the site.

I am 6 weeks post op and I started getting knee pain about 3 or 4 days after surgery. I had my first appointment with my surgeon today since the surgery and asked him about this knee pain as I have never had bad knees before. Apparenly, in my case anyway, it's down to the swelling moving down the operated side and nothing at all serious wrong and will right itself in time.

Ruby

[imgetinold]

I had knee pain related to the hip before, but not after.

You did just have all your muscles and tendon stretched, moved, some cut, etc.  Your body is no doubt making adjustments.

Also, if you are walking un-aided at day 2, that's probably not a great idea.  Your hip muscles can't be taking on their normal load just yet.  So it could be that you're asking other muscles to overcompensate in order to walk unaided.  My surgeon said two crutches for a week, on crutch (or cane) for 2-3 weeks.

Also, many folks here had developed different, odd gaits because of their arthritis.  Post surgery we're able to walk now with a normal gait, but that also means that muscles and tendons that haven't been used with your old, bad gait are now being used.  I imagine this will resolve, and I'm sure others will chime in.

You can call your surgeon if you're really troubled, but I personally wouldn't sound the alarm.

[rubyred]

I just noted the walking unaided at 2 days part. Wow! How on earth did you manage that?! My surgeon wanted me 50% weight bearing only for 6 weeks.

[Peter53]

Thanks for quick replies.
Surgeon had me out of bed next day and said I was fully load bearing.
Used crutches first day, one only second day and none since.
No pain or problems with the hip, just knee etc.
I too had a fair bit of knee pain before the op which disappeared but is now back but I think different.
Obviously I am expecting too much I think.
Seeing physio again on Friday so will see what they say also.

[maxx6789]

just interested ... who/where was your doctor?

having gone through 2 BHRs (left and right), the idea of no assisted devices after two days seems aggressive to me (i am a non-medical person and i am not saying there is anything wrong with your doctors protocol). leading up to my surgery, it seemed that the vast majority of doctors all pretty much said ... two crutches for the first 2 to 4 weeks and a crutch or cane for the next 2 to 4 weeks (mine was 2 crutches for 3 weeks and a cane for the next 3 weeks).

i, too, had knee pain prior to surgery (doctor called it "referred pain" due to my body compensating for my hips) but no knee pain post surgery. as you probably know, they do put your leg in unnatural positions during the surgery so i would think mild knee pain is not uncommon ... i would just want to be sure that you are not putting more stress on your knee due to overcompensating for your new hip.

best wishes for a successful recovery!!

[imgetinold]

Also......there's a big difference between being considered "fully load bearing" and walking unaided.

People who are partial weight bearing have to use crutches or walkers for an extended period of time, and put a fair amount of load on the crutches (50%-90%). 

I also was "fully load bearing" after surgery, and although we are allowed to put all of our weight on the leg, but that doesn't mean we should walk unaided.  The crutches are there for stability, to help maintain a proper gait, safety (to avoid falls) and for when we fatigue.  Unless you have zero limp and don't fatigue while out and about, I would use at least a cane or one crutch.  But that's me.

Either way, I think you'll be fine.  Good luck.

[hernanu]

Hi Peter, I was also fully weight bearing, but my surgeon explained that meant that while I could bear the weight, for any kind of movement, he wanted me to move with aids for the first few weeks.

I had two done, was on two crutches for both for about two weeks, one crutch for a week or so after and completely off at about four weeks.

I'd try a crutch or a cane for a week and see if that relieves the knee pain. Might just be that your knee needs a break for a bit to overcome having had to carry the load.

[Peter53]

Thanks all who replied.
I live in the U.K. so please excuse lack of quick responce earlier.

It would seem then that a certain level of pain to be expected from knee and I will try using a stick for walking for a bit to see if this helps.

Presumably sleeping will become easier once the knee pain subsides.

[hernanu]

That sounds like a good idea. I got a cane (camouflaged, so no one could see I was using one) from my local drugstore.

If you want to look dashing though there are alternatives for that suave, debonair hippy about town:



http://www.coldsteel.com/citystick.html

[Peter53]

Hi all,
Don't know if anyone is following this thread but thought I would keep adding to it for others in future as I have gained so much confidence from reading other peoples stories here on this site.
I am 59 and had a right Birmingham resurfacing done here in Jersey C.I.
Now at 3 and a bit weeks and tried some 'serious' walking last weekend.
Kept to the flat really but walked for 2 1/2hours twice a day on Saturday and Sunday. Obviously was a bit sore and so had a bath which definitely eased it.
The walking appears to have helped the knee pain a lot and I am even sleeping better too.
So, it would seem that religiously following the PT exercises at home and just walking as extra exercise is really helping readjustment of the leg overall.
No more physio appointments now until 6 week check so must just go to it at home.
Am so pleased to be pain free and getting my life back (if slowly).

[hernanu]

That's great, Peter - you'll see measurable improvements as you go, along with the odd setback. Be ready for both, really glad you're past the knee pain.

[lycraman]

Hi Peter

I'm now 2 weeks post op (Ronan Treacy, Birmingham) and I've been going through exactly the same problems as you with excruciating knee and lower thigh pain each time I get up from rest, especially during the night. I'm walking well (v.slow couple of miles) with the use of crutches 'just in case' as this eases all the pain and gets me out of the house! It's just the 'getting up from rest/bed' problems that have getting me down. Reading the discussion here has given me a positive lift as I can see I'm not alone and need to push on with all the physio, trying to get my glutes working correctly and gently stretching all the other muscles into their new positions.

[Peter53]

Just a quick follow on from yesterday.
I had been feeling good from the walking etc as I said and rather neglected the physio exercises yesterday and believe it or not had a not such good night and am stiff today with knee hurting some again!!!!!
Just shows, keep up the exercise no matter what.
Off to do second lot of the day now.

[lycraman]

I can endorse that Peter as I've spent much of today lying on the bed, reading a book/messing with laptop, but doing my knee to bum exercises.  My lower thigh feels much loser than it did.  It just shows that it is so easy to think that you are keeping up with your physio but in actual fact you're not doing the simple exercises enough.  Good luck Peter, keep it up and let us know how you progress because it seems like two steps forward and one step back for all of us.