Pain on the Inside Edge of Knee After Total Knee Replacement

Pain along the bottom of the knee joint line may be coming from the top of the tibial bone. In this video I explain how pain in the circled area could be caused by trauma to the top of the bone where they remove the old bone and place the total knee replacement tibial implant.

The good news is that in all of my years as a physical therapist that area of extreme pain and sensitivity has always improved after 6 months or more.

About the author:
Hi, my name is Anthony (Tony) Maritato, PT. I am a licensed physical therapist and owner of Total Therapy Solutions. I have specialized in helping clients recover from total knee replacement surgery since 2002 and have created this video to help YOU.

Total Therapy Solutions
5900 Long Meadow Dr
Middletown, OH 45005

[Gregc]

6 months out here, had both done 3 weeks apart. Definitely had the pain as described but it started dissipating after about 4 months.
Started cutting the grass and playing golf again around the 4 month mark and the would be sore after, but now they have really started to loosen up and that pain has also started to go away. So far I have been very happy with my rehab and recovery.
Surgeon said it would be 12 to 18 months before all the stiffness would go away, but so far I seem to be right on schedule.
Don’t go in with expectation that you’ll be back to normal in 4 to 6 weeks, it ain’t happening.
Be patient and I can’t stress enough, even though the PT absolutely sucks, you have to grind through it, it absolutely is what you need.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Good luck to everyone that’s having or had this procedure. I have to say, I am so glad I had them done.

[jerseywomeninc.]

Wow this is what I’m going through right now. I’m 6 weeks post op for knee replacement and I began noticing this pain around 4 weeks after my surgery and plan on mentioning this to my Doctor. This video is awesome and answered most of my questions.

[BuckTravis]

Spot on. 12 weeks and the sharp pain visits. So happy to hear this is normal and will work itself out. Many thanks. 😊

[donnachardeen]

It's unbelievable how these videos come to me at just the right time! I am 8 weeks post-tkr. I have occasional pain in that exact spot but only when I'm in bed and I've slept soundly on my side. When I wake up and go to move onto my back to sit up, the pain is excruciating. Only for a short time and once I've moved it to straight, the pain is gone. I had my 8-week appointment yesterday and the surgeon indicated it could be an irritation of the MCL caused during surgery since there's lots of trauma in there when they're working on it. I have the same pain in the other knee, which is due for replacement next year. Thank you sincerely for these videos. I've learned a lot and it's great to realize I'm not alone and more often than not "this is normal".

[lynndickerson]

Thoroughly enjoyed all your videos. I am day 9 after right total knee replacement

[angela-sanders]

it absolutely happened to me. when I bring it up to my PT, she looks at me and basically says "you mean like the top of the bone was CUT OFF and an implant HAMMERED into place kind of pain?" and I say, yeah, like that. and then I calm down. I get it. A lot of trauma and my body just needs to heal.

[gregkurtz]

Wow that’s exactly what I had starting at week 7 and I’m currently in week 10. I compare it to an electrical shock or an injection at the exact spot noted in the video. Mine usually happens when sitting of laying down and on the pain scale can be a 1 to a 5. Very short lived but can repeat 5 or 6 times. I hope this subsides very, very soon. Thanks.

[PLC]

Great explanation. Had my 2nd TKR 4 weeks ago, and I am experiencing this issue. I have learned so much from your videos. Thanks

[medicmike]

Hello, I am 4 1/2 months out from TKR right leg. I had medial pain after my first 2 knee surgeries and also my TKR, as for me my medial stopped and lateral pain took over. I have felt a nagging pain in between the upper and lower prosthesis, the surgeon says it's more than likely a patella tracking issue, also the medial /ligament issue mentioned above, she says is likely from the re-straightning of the bone and that PT will re-strengthen the ligaments and muscles. Personally I feel if they would have allowed me to keep the ice machine longer after surgery most of these issues would be gone much sooner, my 2 cents anyway. Good luck everyone. Thanks Tony for what you do, I don't know where I would be without my Physical Therapist.

[loribuswold]

Thank you for this video. I’ve been having this exact pain and didn’t know why.

[PaulMcCartGuitarTracks]

I'm 2 weeks out from TKR. This is me. It hurts soooo bad. It's good to hear it will resolve soon.

[judithrace]

I had my TKR in January 2020 and initially just had normal expected pain, however after first 12 months started to get a nipping pain occasionally on the lower interior of the replacement, which has got much worse . Saw original consultant he said it was nerve pain and I just felt like he was fobbing me off. Went for a second opinion and she found a small gap on the X-ray, had aspiration to check the knee was not infected, which it isn’t . Now going for a bone scan this week . Hopefully I will get an answer as to why I’m in so much pain , more so than before the replacement .

[marthadyke]

Mine is because he put the wrong size in 🤦‍♀️and it’s an overhang the only way to fix it is to do a revision which the dr says it’s worse operation I found this out at my 1st year follow up and yes I was complaining about this pain the whole year and he finally admitted he put the wrong size in. So I’m living with the pain.

[WildBillS]

This exact pain started for me around the 9 week mark. My PT guy had me stop pt and go see the doctor. Got X-ray and doctor says everything looks ok can't see a problem. He had me Stop riding my bike and no more PT for a while. It's been 7 weeks now I still have a lot of pain on inside of knee first thing in morning but it does seem to be getting better. I noticed Tylenol and Ibuprofen combo seems to help it. I watched one of your other videos and what you pointed out is when they put the new joint in they straighten your leg putting loads on areas that may not have had a load on it in many years. I still worry about this because of a prior injury where the top of my tibia basically was shattered and sticking out the side of my leg. So for me I will take more time off work because I would rather be safe then sorry and have to go through that whole mess again.

[MrB]

This describes the pain exactly. I'm 13 weeks post TKR and the symptoms come and go throughout the day but it's mostly noticeable in the evening. I have recently found that heat causes this pain to go away completely so evenings on the heating pad are the norm. I'm hopeful that since the pain is not constant throughout the day that it may be healing and potentially go away in the next few weeks. I wanted to share the details about affects of heat for anyone suffering with this issue.

[divinewish..]

Yessss exactly it pains here .Thank you so so much

[gnohn]

I have the exact same pain as you described. It showed up at about 8 weeks. Will get it checked out

[alnolan]

I am currently 28 weeks post TKR.I have been experiencing the soreness and pain to the touch on inner and outer tibia at about 24 weeks.I am continuing my exercise program twice a week after completing my initial 12 week program.I try to either walk or bicycle on the non gym exercise days. My knee is not red or swollen so I don’t think it’s an infection.I work at a PT office part time two days a week and encountered a patient who need too have a revision to his tibia implant because it loosened up within the first three years.He said he had pain in the same area as was mentioned so it brought me to some concern.He told me it hurt all the time. I can walk up stairs without pain .I feel it more when I am moving less.I contacted my Drs office and they said to come if it doesn’t get better.I know they usually do an X-ray but after speaking with the gentleman who had the revision, his loosening tibia implant was found with a MRI and not with an X-ray. Hopefully my knee will get better in the next 6 months.

[geoffcampbell]

Whilst I'm waiting for a left knee partial replacement, I often have very sharp pain, exactly as you describe, in my right knee particularly when driving and when sleeping. Essentially, it's when my knee is bent at a constant angle for any length of time. It does go away once the leg is straitened, but until then the pain is quite severe. This does bring into question the cause of the pain as this knee has not been operated on. Due to the damage to my left knee, my right leg takes a bit of a beating and does swell up occasionally, so it's possible it's the swelling acting on a nerve at that point that's the cause of the pain rather than physical damage to the area following surgery.

[HeRo-qdtk]

i was feeling that exactly up to week 4 then it went away. Slowly. I was being really careful and it just resorbed.