swelling 4 days after surgery, but not before

[RUSS H.]

I'm on my 2nd day home and noticed quite a bit of swelling from my knee up.  It's the first time I've noticed any obvious swelling since surgery.  I was told it could be because I'm on my feet more since I've been home.  I'm icing it now and am wearing thigh high TEDS.  I'm a little concerned of infection.  Why the swelling now?  No fever.  Let me know if anyone out there has dealt with this.  Russ

[sroberts]

hi Russ,

Congratulations on your surgery. Don't worry about the swelling. It's normal. I had an extra large right butt cheek from day 2 until day 9 post op. Just elevate the leg and ice for 20 min several times/day.

take care and rest.

spencer
rbhr 6/26/08

[John C]

Yes, I would say that I had the most swelling in my upper leg a few days after surgery. Icing definitely helps, but I would still say that I had swelling for the first week or two. My uneducated guess to your question, is that there is commonly still fluid seeping inside the wound for a few days, which will increase the swelling until your body can get rid of the fluid faster than it is seeping inside the wound. For me, the worst swelling was down around my foot and ankle 7-14 days after surgery, but I was not using TEDS.

John

[obxpelican]

I concurr with Dr. John and Dr. Spencer... swelling is normal, the Sunday (operation was Wed) after my surgery my thigh increased by about a 1/3.

Mine swelled up because of the drive home on Saturday, but it's very normal.  Ice, elevate above your heart and relax.

With swelling you do want to make sure that the swelling does not accompany, redness, pain and it being warm to the touch.... those are symptoms of a blood clot.

Since we can't see your leg I wanted to add the blood clot warning.


Chuck

[wayne-0]

I definitly had swelling but mostly for me it was right around the incision sites.My left side was worse than my right side and the more I did the swelling increased. Ice for 20/30 minutes while laying down on my bed and the swelling went down. The first 2/3 weeks I would ice it 3 times a day.
                                           Wayne-0

[JohnS]

Russ,
I had swelling after I got home for a few days.  Like everyone says, ice, elevate, repeat.  It only last about 3 days for me and mostly in my thigh and a little in my butt.
JohnS

[hawaiieric]

my swelling was so bad that I had an impression from my TEDs, but my Doctor gave me ok to take them off at home a day after surgery, as long as every hour I would do something like move my feet at the ankles, or move my legs, or something to keep the blood flowing.  I feel they gave my swelling a bit more problems due to it cut my circulation off then the benifits of wearing them.  And, as noted, I am just a post op guy with which you are not to base any of your opinions on, ask your doctor first what your options are and for how long.

Eric

[Pat Walter]

Hi

Some people have not swelling, some people have a little swelling and others have a whole lot of swelling.  It just depends on how your body reacts to the surgery.

My doctor always said - nose above the toes.  In otherwords, lay down and put pillows under your legs so they are higher than your head.  I used 4 or 5 really large pillows under my legs in Belgium.  I did not have much swelling and was told if I got too active, I could have more swelling.  Most of us in Belgium from Dr. De Smet had basically no swelling until we went sight seeing on day 5.  ONe of the ladies really over did it and she swelled up like a water mellon.  She could not even get into her own slacks and ended up wearing her husbands pants!

So just take it easy and try to keep your leg up as much as possible.  Also icing helps. Swelling is normal for many people.  Many things happen to our bodies after we heal from major surgery.  Since most of us have not experienced surgery in the past - we are surprised at these reactions of our bodies.

Also don't forget that we are not doctors here and any time you are concerned - give your doctor a call. That is where you get the most reliable information.

Good Luck and stay in touch.

Pat

[obxpelican]

If you JUST had the surgery I am surprised that you are in pain. 

What is your doctor's protocol for pain?  Most people feel very little just post-op. 

If you were just operated on and your doctor's pain protocol did not work for you I could see how you would be in pain, bone surgery can be painful.  The good news is, it won't last forever.

Now if you're many days post-op and your home I would call your doctor if you are in a lot of pain.


Chuck

[Glen O]

I like most of you had swelling four days post op; it happened in the evening while I wasn't looking. As I recall it was all of a sudden that I noticed the swelling which began in my thigh and knee then moved into the calf, ankle and foot by the next day.

I had not been given TEDs to wear in the hospital (but I didn't have any swelling either). After reading the posts above, my wife bought some knee highs which I've worn for two days now (not at night) and the swelling is almost gone.

One other thing that has been bugging me that my RN and PT have no real answer for is the numbness on the non-op thigh above the knee going all the way up to my groin area. The area is about 4 inches across my thigh all the way up from the knee. No pain, no heat, no redness, no rash or swelling, just numbness. I am currently 14 days post op.

Ideas? Will this continue, why is it happening? Thanks.

[obxpelican]

Glenn,

I wonder if it's possible if while you were on the operating table that they accidently tweaked your good leg while prepping you, some docs have been known to tie you down on the operating table so tight to the point of mild and sometimes major nerve damage, in those mild cases I're read that it goes away 6-8 weeks post-op..... did you have that problem immediately post-op or was it well beyond that?  Your case does not sound that it's major damage.

In re: to swelling, many docs do not use teds, if you ever swell again, elevate your leg above your heart and ice the snot out of it.  The swelling will go down.

If your doc does not have an answer and you are concerned contact a good neurosurgeon about that numb non operated leg.


Chuck

[Eurocard]

I am happy to see the responses here clearly outlining my situation and providing good guidance.  I am at day 6 and the first real swelling was yesterday, although it had reduced after a good nights sleep  my left thigh is still a little larger than my right.  I decided not to excersise so strenuously today.  I have not iced the leg yet, but will do so this evening.

Thanks for all the great posts taking the mystery out of the recovery process.

[gary2010]

This was my experience, swelling started 24 hours after they took the drain out, I am walking a bit now and the swelling has taken off, I can get the feet and calves down by elevating overnight

[Pat Walter]

Gary

Try taking a whole day or two off, taking it easy, icing and keeping the legs up. Sometimes it takes more than an evening to get the swelling down.  Don't push when you are haivng problems.  You will get over it all soon enough - then you can push.

Pat

[ahausheer]

I'd like to add my 2 cents - I had almost no swelling until day 2 and it peaked on day 4 or 5 when I had significant pitting edema and my thigh was probably almost double the circumference of the other.  I also had severe bruising but that's for another thread. The swelling was severe and gave me stretch marks.  By day 7 it was still badly swollen but heading the right direction. I believe for some, the body just takes time to actually react to the trauma and others react almost immediately. Im sure the surgical approach and whether or not you had a drain tube also matters.

It should be noted that I had no surgical drain and my thigh was wrapped tightly with a stretchy bandage until day 2. 
I believe the bandage helped slow the progress of swelling.  Keeping the leg elevated helped a huge amount and seemed to get rid of the pitting edema, so take note if you will fly home soon after surgery.  Keep it elevated!