Common Sensations After Knee Surgery
Why do I hear a popping noise in the new knee?
Clicking, popping, and other noises in the knee alarm many patients. These are the harmless result of syn-thetic joint surfaces contacting each other and are common to all prosthetic knee components. The sounds may change over time, may disappear entirely, or may persist. The noises of an artificial knee joint will take some getting used to.
Why are my appetite, mood, food-taste, and sleep different after knee replace-ment?
Altered appetite, bowel habits, depression, and mood swings are common after any major elective surgery, including knee replacement. This is very important to know, understand, and anticipate. In some cases, med-ications might be necessary to control such symptoms.
All surgery elicits powerful psychosocial and physi-ological responses from the patient and vary from one person to another. These responses are normal, and we will help you get through them. It takes time for the body, mind, and soul to recover from any invasive operation.
Why is the outside of my knee numb?
This is normal after all knee surgery. The incision cuts small nerve fibers that run from inside to out-side of the knee, so the skin to the outside of the cut always feels numb after knee surgery. Usu-ally, this sensation will resolve over time and is not a major problem for patients. Most patients will not notice that the outside of the scar feels numb.
Is it normal for the muscles to spasm and tighten after surgery?
“When you have pain in your knee joint, it affects you physically, mentally, socially, and even economically. You can’t do the things you need to do, or just the things you enjoy. It’s absolutely fabulous to get my life back.” - Gary Duncan, Columbia, MO
Yes. Sometimes unexpected spasms of the leg muscles occur after surgery, usually as the person is healing from the operation. These spasms will go away. If they are particularly troublesome, we can prescribe a mus-cle relaxant medicine, which can help.
Will my leg be longer after knee replace-ment?
Not noticeably, since it is not possible to lengthen or shorten a leg after knee replacement surgery. The rea-son is that blood vessels and nerves behind the knee present a practical limitation. Some patients say that the leg feels slightly longer. This comes from straight-ening out a crooked leg, which ends up feeling longer as a result. The sensation disappears as the patient gets used to having a normally aligned leg again.
