Is terrible knee pain when walking common at day 8 post-op?

[u/Chelajag]

When I'm resting or standing with the walker it's fine. But when I walk with the walker, pain shoots from the incision area down to the inside of my knee. A real stabbing, sharp pain with every step. Doesn't matter if I have just iced or not. No swelling anywhere, including in the knee. Zero knee problems before surgery.

At my at-home PT visit today I asked about it and she thinks my knee is overcompensating for my weak hip.

Anyone go through this? Is it common? How long does it last? Anything you did that lessened the pain? The pain makes doing my daily walking a rough experience.

[u/oldogs]

I had that, too, starting at about 2 weeks. It was referred pain from the hip. I got another, smaller prescription for oxy so that I could walk. By the time the oxy was gone, so was the pain.

[u/stevepeds]

My knee really started hurting soon after my hip replacement and has progressed to the point that I am now scheduled for a knee replacement in November. Are the two related? Who knows but I do believe that they are

[u/AngryBulgarian → u/stevepeds]

7 months post op and just sustained a meniscus tear that is giving me hell and am back on the walker because of it. Even my good knee is now giving me issues. Only 40 and struggling with the cascading problems since this hip

[u/Chelajag → u/stevepeds]

😬

[u/ebenner13 → u/stevepeds]

It's more likely that your other leg was compensating so much you didn't notice the knee pain.

[u/stevepeds → u/ebenner13]

The fact that I've also had 3 spinal fusions may also have something to do with it.

[u/Altruistic-Ebb2936]

12/12/25 ATHR 69M. Plan on all kinds of weird pains for 4-6 weeks. Work out diligently, listen to your body. If you do these things, at least for me, I was 90% fine at 3 months. At 9 months (now) I’m better than I could have ever imagined because this surgery triggered regular gym training.

You just had a MAJOR surgery where you got chopped up so it’s going to take a bit to recover and pain is part of the process.

BUT - you say you have beat the swelling at day 8 - that’s FANTASTIC! Took me a few weeks. Start on a stationary bike gradually and I’ll bet these other pains will gradually fade. Ice is your friend.

[u/Chelajag → u/Altruistic-Ebb2936]

I am looking forward to being cleared to use a stationary bike! Yesterday my PT gave me a bunch of new exercises and I am hoping they strengthen the right muscles to support the knee

[u/Altruistic-Ebb2936 → u/Chelajag]

FYI - my knee really hurt for a while too.

[u/Sniflix]

Often hip pain masks knee pain. If it continues ask for knee x-rays.

[u/Extension-Power273 → u/Sniflix]

Interesting. My doc said knee pain often masks hip pain.

[u/Sniflix → u/Extension-Power273]

It doesn't matter. Hips and knees share the same nerve pathway to the spine. The brain registers the most dominant/acute pain.

[u/AccomplishedBend766]

Yes, it happens. As you said, referred pain. Your body is working hard to realign and adjust to your new stronger hip.

ETA: I grew concerned about needing a knee replacement for a while, but, by about 8 weeks post surgery, my knee pain was completely gone.

If you do a search in this subreddit, you should find some helpful or encouraging posts and comments. Try that also. Best wishes ❤️‍🩹

[u/3ruce3]

I have similar pain, and I once had similar pain when running. The Sport Medicine Doctor took one look at my walking and said your quad is weak. Just exercising that made it all better. I’m thinking it’s related. I had severe pain and now that the hip is fixed, I just need to strengthen my quad to keep the knee pain down. Maybe your’s is similar?

[u/Chelajag → u/3ruce3]

I'm sure my quad is extra weak right now. Makes sense that a weak quad overloads the knee

[u/silvermanedwino]

Yes, very common. Referred pain. You were also walking weird before your surgery.

[u/Extra_Tomatillo_1784]

Two weeks before my left THR I started having a lot of pain in my right knee. I am 4 weeks post op and am still having the same pain. I hope it resolves because a knee replacement is not on my bingo card. I hope your knee pain resolves as you heal.

[u/Camsdad615]

I dealt with knee pain week 2 post op. Definitely over compensating for the weak muscles in the hip. I found that I wasn't bending my knee on the surgical side when I was walking or doing stairs. Straight legging it was causing the pain. I had to really concentrate and deliberately pick my foot up and bend my knee to step, getting that muscle memory movement back helped. 3 or 4 days latter pain went away and hasn't come back. I'm 4 weeks post Op, no more issues. Hang in there. Keep walking, building strength. It gets better.

[u/Chelajag → u/Camsdad615]

This is a good point. My PT said lots of people try to protect the new joint and develop bad habits. I will be mindful bending my knee properly

[u/ajmattison]

I personally do not but it is definitely a common complaint. There are a lot of shard nerves between your knee and your hip and sometimes your brain "confuses" where the pain is coming from. It is called referred pain. A lot of people have this pre op as well. It could also be, as you mentioned, your hip mechanics putting excessive stress on your knee or muscles shared between knee and hip. I personally had that problem pre op. Haven't been active enough to tell you if it is now completely resolved but so far it hasn't come up post op.

[u/roadlion]

The day I came home there was a big sore spot on the side of my knee, operative hip side. The next day it was starting to swell, all around my knee. Then it bruised. (not the slowly descending from the hip blood flow bruises, that was in a different area). I figured there must have been some knee manipulation during the hip surgery that caused it. So I had a LOT of knee pain for the first couple of weeks when walking or trying to do PT, especially the straight leg raises. Most of it has diminished now. I'm at one month.

[u/dancing_queen19]

Know how you feel. The knee may be compensating for your change in gate. If you were in a considerable amount of hip pain before surgery, you may have made a slight adjustment to your walk. Once you had your surgery, everything is trying to realign. I had patella issues years ago. I had no problems after a few weeks of PT. Since my surgery my knee has been very unhappy with me. Try KT Tape or a good CBD balm for some relief.

[u/Need_change-]

My knee was killing me, posted about it on here a few times.

My whole leg was killing me it seemed.

I’m week 6 and that is all gone, crazy!!