u/JoeSmith5151

56M. RTKR on Dec 29. LTKR Mar 30.

So I am 6 weeks and a few days out from my last knee. My recovery curve was really good, I have great ROM and extension, I can go on the recumbent bike for 30 -45 minutes without any problem. I also have started adding more weight to my at home exercises at the gym. So I went for a walk this morning. It was about 40 minutes on the side walk. Good news, the knee pain from before was gone. No internal throb, no shin pain, none of it.

That being said, that was the longest I had walked in a loooooong time. At least 2 years. So my legs (not just my knees) at speaking to me now! I figured the progress on the bike and other exercises meant the walk would go fine. Nope, have other muscles to deal with. So am now going to add in walks in addition to the bike. That cross training it’s important for sure!

A few days ago, I posted about a weird pain on my inside knee. It was a patch about 3-4 inches, it felt like a sunburn and really did not like anything touching it. So pants, a bed sheet, or anything really set it off. It hurt throughout the day, but really took off at night. The pain starting a week or so post op and was still there 4 weeks post op. Existing pain meds didn’t really touch it too much - even the tramadol and oxy. Really killed me at night and made it really tough to sleep.

Round 1; Contacted my doc via the portal and the PA thought it was an inflammation around a nerve. Gave me meloxicam and a more intense muscle relaxer - the generic of Flexeril. Kinda helped, but not much.

Round 2; I was in for my 5 weeks post op visit and talked to the surgeon. He quickly said it was a nerve issue given the symptoms and location. He proscribed Lyrica.

This was a game changer. It quickly went to war and eliminated the pain. Huuuge improvement.

Lesson to learn from this, don’t be afraid to continue to mention pain. Different people react differently and the source of the pain may need a targeted med. I went through q weeks of unnecessary pain and lack of sleep simply because I believed the narcotics are the cure all elixir.