Calf pain/swelling after microfracture knee surgery.

by Richard
(California)

This is actually less of a question than an answer for anyone experiencing severe calf pain/swelling after having microfracture knee surgery. This website seemed like a good resource, so I thought I would post here.

First off, as everyone would tell you (hopefully including your surgeon), if the pain persists, you immediately should have an ultrasound to rule out a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). I had that done and the results were negative (good news) but I still had terrible (and, I mean, terrible) pain in my calf. Literally, I could not stand for more than 30 seconds without my foot turning dark purple and the pain so bad that I had to go back down to the bed.

Needless to say, I was very frustrated and became pretty depressed. Naturally, I took Vicodin to quell the pain, but tried to restrict that to bedtime only so I would not grow too dependent on the highly addictive stuff. That helped a bit but the pain in my calf just wouldn't go away.

Then one day a friendly neighbor saw me on crutches and suggested that I (a) put a warm heating pad on my calf and knee twice a day for 20 minutes at a time and (b) take a hot shower). I did both and literally the pain was much less within 2-3 days.

I also switched from Relafen (anti-inflammatory) to Alleve (2 pills twice a day) and started to gently do the exercise bike for a few minutes. Frankly, I'm not sure which of those actions was the solution (or maybe it was all three). My hunch, though, is that the heat from the pad/bike/shower was what my leg needed to help circulation in the area.

The main point I would like to make is that whatever you do, do not give up hope. Hang in there. It sucks (it REALLY SUCKS) but you've got to be positive. Trust me, I wanted to bitch and moan many times (and my wife would tell you that I was impossible) but I tried to keep my spirits up.

Final advice: reading blogs is both good and bad. Good if you can find SOLUTIONS, very (VERY) bad if you read people just saying things that will only (a) scare you or (b) depress you. Empathize with those poor souls but move on to the next blog/posting if it means finding a solution.

Good luck and I'm hoping that you persevere!

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Calf pain/swelling after microfracture knee surgery.

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Dec 14, 2008
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great advice
by: Bart - SII

Richard, this is great advice. Heat can definitely help to improve pain caused by muscle spasm and swelling. It is important to make sure that you are screened for DVT, especially if it is after surgery. Also, make sure that if you are applying heat that you are not increasing swelling.

Gentle massage to an area can also be beneficial for this type of condition.

Great post!

Bart

Jan 22, 2009
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calf pain/swelling
by: Anonymous

My husband is experiencing what you describe. He had surgery on New Years Eve. He was able to walk, with some pain, for three days and then had enough pain and swelling to call the surgeon. The surgeon brushed it off and told him he was doing too much. The next day he went to the emergency room and they did an ultrasound to rule out blood clots. He has since had another ultrasound and two different doctors have looked at him. It has been 22 days since surgery and he is in considerable pain and has been on crutches since the fourth day. He has significant bruising from the back of the knee down to and including his ankle. The skin on his lower leg is extremely sensitive to touch and he can not handle any type of massage. He is scheduled to start physical therapy. I do not believe this is at all normal. I think that either his leg was mishandled during surgery or he is having some type of toxic reaction to the local anesthetic that was administered after surgery. He is very discouraged. For a doctor to indicate that he has no answer for the pain or bruising and his colleagues will, of course, not go against anything the surgeon says. Even our family doctor tells my husband that sometimes these things happen and he just needs to be patient. It would easier to be patient if we knew just what exactly did happen.

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Jan 22, 2009
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Submitted by: Anonymous

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My husband is experiencing what you describe. He had surgery on New Years Eve. He was able to walk, with some pain, for three days and then had enough pain and swelling to call the surgeon. The surgeon brushed it off and told him he was doing too much. The next day he went to the emergency room and they did an ultrasound to rule out blood clots. He has since had another ultrasound and two different doctors have looked at him. It has been 22 days since surgery and he is in considerable pain and has been on crutches since the fourth day. He has significant bruising from the back of the knee down to and including his ankle. The skin on his lower leg is extremely sensitive to touch and he can not handle any type of massage. He is scheduled to start physical therapy. I do not believe this is at all normal. I think that either his leg was mishandled during surgery or he is having some type of toxic reaction to the local anesthetic that was administered after surgery. He is very discouraged. For a doctor to indicate that he has no answer for the pain or bruising and his colleagues will, of course, not go against anything the surgeon says. Even our family doctor tells my husband that sometimes these things happen and he just needs to be patient. It would easier to be patient if we knew just what exactly did happen.

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Jan 25, 2009
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Your husband's condition
by: Anonymous

I'm very sorry to hear that. It sounds like your husband's condition differs from the one I experienced. I had no discoloration or bruising whatsoever. Just some swelling and that terrible pain. I should tell you that it's now been more than 2 months since my surgery, and now I'm just starting to gently put weight on my foot. And wouldn't you know it, but my calve and foot have ballooned. Not too much pain, but literally my ankle is twice as large as the non-surgery leg. I saw my physician but he didn't seemed concerned. It's been about a week. I'm hoping that as I walk more it just goes away.

Good luck with your husband...I know it can be very, very frustrating -- especially when the MDs aren't telling you anything but that might be because they have no idea what's going on and don't want to make something up.

Feb 09, 2009
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More calf pain
by: Anonymous

My surgery was 1/21/09. My calf pain didn't start until about 5 days ago. I thought it was just me, so I am very relieved to see I'm not the only one. My knee still hurts, in fact it collapsed on me today and it's locked twice. I guess I will go on and call my doc tomorrow. I am going back to work tomorrow, part time. I sell shoes, so I'm on my feet all day. My store is very slow due to the economy, so there will be a lot of time for me to sit. I am so afraid to say anything about the pain. In this economy, I am afraid that if I say too much, I could lose my job since business is so slow. I haven't been to PT, I have been exercising on my own, but perhaps PT will help more. I have noticed how my hips hurt from favoring my knee for so long. Ugh, getting older stinks!

Mar 17, 2009
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Extreme Calf pain after ACL surgery
by: Anonymous

I'm a 30 year old man and I had ACL surgery about a week ago. At first everything seemed fine and was able to put some weight on the repaired leg, but 3 days after the surgery my calf and ankles started to swell. It got so bad that I couldn't even bring my leg down without it feeling like hot acid was being poured throughout my calf. I've sinced been back to the hospital where they did an ultrasound to checked for blot clots they came back negative. Talked to my surgeon and he wasn't quite sure what could be causing the pain and thinks it may be the internal bleeding from the hamstring graft. I've tried everything to keep the swelling down. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation and it's been over a week now and I still can't even put my leg down without the excruciating pain. I've been taking pain killers which doesn't seem to help. Just wondering if anyone has any else has experienced this and what they did to remedy the pain.

Mar 17, 2009
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Response to calf pain
by: Richard

Hi,

I posted my experience earlier. I had a very similar experience after my microfracture knee surgery. Seriously, the pain in my right calf was worse than my knee! It got so bad that if I were to stand for even a minute I had to sit back down so I understand the discomfort you're feeling.

What helped me was getting into a hot shower and letting the hot water run on my calf muscle for a while. I was also doing some very light exercise bike which also helped. Finally, adding a heat pad helped (although some docs say don't add heat, but that's in disagreement with Eastern medicine). The best thing was definitely the hot water -- if your dr. said you can take a shower, you should try that although for me getting in and out of the shower was difficult.

Hope that helps! Hang in there!

Apr 11, 2009
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Calf Pain
by: Jim

Thank you for your comments. I am having the same excrutiating pain when I stand after laying down. I don't even want to get out of bed because the pain is going to be so bad. I had surgery a week ago and everything was fine until three days ago when the pressure on my calf started to increase. The problem is, it seems to be getting worse, not better. I had an ultrasound and it was negative so it doesn't appear to be a blood clot. I will take Richard's advice and hope it gets better soon.

Apr 12, 2009
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Relief
by: Jim

After speaking with my doctor yesterday and using some common sense, I found great relief from my unbearable calf pain. I used a heating pad on my calf and did numerous stretching excercises throughout the day. I took 800 mg of ibuprofen every 8 hours and massages the calf muscle before I stood up. When I woke up this morning, I had almost no calf pain and have had very little today. I will keep up this regiment until the the pain disappears completely. Hope this helps.

May 01, 2009
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Re: Calf pain/swelling after microfracture knee surgery.
by: Anonymous

I had the microfracture Mar 26 2009. Also
had more pain in the calf than the knee,
calf and foot swelled and purpled. I ate alot
of advil and made sure nothing was rubbing against
it when I was using the cpm machine. Now my
calf is normal so life is good. Hang in there.

May 03, 2009
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6 days after ACL replacement surgery
by: Anonymous

I had knee, ACL replacement surgery on 27 April, first time surgery for me. Everything felt fine, post op instructions said change bandage after three days. I waited until four because I didn't want to mess with it because it felt good. I rolled down the TED hose to the ankle, replaced the bandage, gently scratched my leg for a moment and put everything back together. I have had deep calf muscle pain ever since. The pain is to the point that I have a hard time standing vertical without pain killers. As soon as I do I feel pain in my knee from the surgery that I can live with but the pain and pressure that pinpoints a very small area in my calf muscle is a killer. I can't wait to see the Dr. next week to rule out a blod clot so that I can try some of the things you guys have said. It feels like a blood clot to me but reading these blogs have left me wondering. Good luck to everybody else out there who's going through this because I can vouch for how baqd it sucks.

May 28, 2009
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Calf Pain after arthroscopy
by: Anonymous

I had an arthroscopy for a torn miniscus 3 weeks ago. I was swollen at the front and back of the knee for a good 2 weeks but now that has settled down. So I have been making myself walk without limping. The knee is great but my calf muscle became excrutiatingly painful after about 5 minutes of normal walking. So much so that I had to go back to the old style of walking. Is this because I haven't been using my calf muscle previously and it just needs stretching out?

Jun 04, 2009
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calf pain after microfracture knee surgery
by: Anonymous

my surgery was on 4-24-09 I began experiencing extreme pain in my calf I was sent for a dopler test for a blood clot which came back negative. The pain continued and I found out later that the test they use is only accurate 80 out of 100 times, On 5-5-09 I had pulmonary embolysm which travelled to my right lung almost killing me another test was ordered on my leg revealing a massive clot in my leg, so please if you have a test and its negative and the pain persists do not wait go back for another test and another if necessary remember its your life.

Jun 14, 2009
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Micro fracture
by: Anonymous

I have had micro fracture surgery and 2 months after my calf and ankle are very sore and swollen. I have been tested for DVT and thankfully that has returned negative Nobody has told me what is causing this horrible burning sensation .I have tried ice anti inflammatory drugs but this pain is still with me

Jun 15, 2009
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discoloration and cold flashes
by: Coach Rob

I am glad I found this site. I had microfracture surgery 5 weeks ago. I was fortunate, and with cycling after week 1, and lots of icing, the swelling was almost all gone by week 3.. however, for the past five weeks I have had two really weird things happen, which I just want to share so no one freaks out, and maybe someone has experienced the same. 1) My operated leg gets ice cold, and I mean cold, starting around mid calf and all the way down to the toes. Exercising, icing, elevating, using a heat pack, massaging, etc does not help! It comes and goes, once or twice a day..
2) my entire lower leg gets red.. especially after I get out of bed in the morning, and when I am done exercising.. almost beet red..

The hard part is my surgeon: he has this line: " dont worry, lots of changes are going on!"..
anyways, I am nearing week 6.. I wont see my doc until week 7,. but am going to try to walk a bit after that mark.. I know the deep water running and kicking helped the most, and those are the two things I will telleveryone to do.. plus it is so nice to get out from under the crutches and get in the water! so.. go water rehab!

Jul 05, 2009
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microfracture calf pain
by: btate80

I'm 10 days out from microfracture surgery and I'm having this calf pain as well. I have seen some with the same surgery saying they have taking alive or other anti-inflamation medications. I was told this was a big no-no because that could affect the healing process from the surgery.

I might try the heat thing and see if that help.

Jul 09, 2009
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Calf pain
by: dean

Hi, i had surgery a week on my acl it was a hamstring graft . All was fine until yesterday.(5 days after surgery) and i have extreme pain at the top of my calf muscle that heads up toward under my knee! Feels like an extremely tight pain and if i stand up can't last more than 30 seconds due to the extreme throbbing pain! my calf is a little swollen but not a great deal, and there is no discoloration and my foot seems fine! Is very frustrating as i was making progress with walking and getting range back now cant even get out of bed! I don't have a heat pack to try that but will try lightly massaging the area. I also am not allowed to shower till i see my surgeon again which is in 6 days and have my bandages removed.
Any other feedback or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Dean

Aug 27, 2009
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Knee surgery and potential for blood clots
by: Anonymous

I have had experience with the same issue and after 4 days of feeling like I could not stand on my leg because of the pain in my calf I finally called my doctor. My doctor rushed me to get an ultrasound and I did have a blood clot in my femoral artery. I've been told had I not gone to the doctor when I did I could have thrown the clot and died. If you are experiencing this type of pain along with any redness, streaking where the veins are, heat from the sight of pain and swelling you need to call your doctor. Ruling out blood clots, even if you find that the ultrasound is negative is very well worth it.

Sep 03, 2009
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Calf Pain after Microfracture
by: Sedona

Hi I had Microfracture surgery on June 23rd I was ordered to stay off my leg and on the lovely cruches for 2 months. When I started walking on my leg again I had the extreme calf pain everyone is mentioning in most of the listings. I talked to my doctor and he explained to me that from not using the leg and the positions your leg is put in during surgery it can cause your tendons that run though your leg to get very tight and spasm. So my PT did very extensive streches on my leg and I continued them at home and within a week the pain was gone. Now for my problem that has no answer. I am almost 12 weeks post-op and I am unable to straighten out my leg completely, no streaching, icing,heating, massaging etc. helps. The doctor has no explanation and neither does the PT so has anyone else experienced this kind of situation? I mean when I attempt to lay my leg flat I feel as if my knee cap is locking onto my tibia. Please help....

Sep 05, 2009
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Calf pain
by: Anonymous

I had Microfracture surgery on July 1st, and was non weight bearing for 6 horrible weeks! I had circulation issues during that time too, my leg from the knee down were ice cold even though it was 80degrees out. I was concerned but my doctor told me it was normal?! When I was allowed to walk again I got the intense calf pain that everyone talks about, my PT told me it was from non use for so long that it just needed some time to get stronger. It was better after a couple days of walking. And the circulation issues straightened out too.

Oct 07, 2009
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microfracture recovery
by: Anonymous

I had microfracture surgery on July 29th and was told to scrupulously avoid putting weight on my leg for 6 weeks. I used my CPM religiously and all the rubbing caused a circulation problem in my calf. I ended up with a cellulitis infection that was very painful and in many ways worse than the knee surgery. I had to go to the ER and they also did an ultrasound for a clot but didn't find one.

The cellulitis was pretty demoralizing because it put me back in bed. I had just started swimming, which was heaven after almost 3 weeks on crutches.

From week one I was doing prone leg hangs to straighten my leg and with the CPM I got to maximum flex pretty quickly. I have found that now that I'm walking again that my calf is still pretty tight, which causes pain behind the knee.

Swimming and yoga seem to be key in the recovery process. I did 20 minutes of cycling from week two as well. Moving the leg was good, but not as nice as swimming where i could use my whole body.

This is a long recovery process for sure.

Oct 07, 2009
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Mystery Calf Pain strikes again!
by: johnny

Hey Folks,

Same story as many others it seems... ACL surgery with the hammy on 09/29/09. I have crutches and a leg brace. About 3 days after the meds wore off, I started having calf pain when I got out of bed, or from sitting on the couch. The pain would be excruciating for a bit, and then subside when I rested the leg again. I gave it heat and massages. I have not noticed any swelling, high temperature, and my calf is not hot to the touch. I thought it was the brace at first, but even removing it just helped temporarily. After a few hours with it off, and laying on the bed, I got up to use the bathroom and the pain hit my calf like a ton of bricks! Some mornings were fine, and I would get up and go around on my crutches, but here it is 10/07/09, and I am still having the pain! I am typing this on my laptop in bed after I ate dinner and tried to do some walking around the apt. The pain just got to me and was making me want to punch the wall! I had to go to use elevation, heat, and massage to feel better. The see the surgeon tomorrow for a post op and will let you all know what the result are.

Also, if anyone has any follow up... please share! Everyone seems to post about their pain... but what we all need to know is what happened after and for how long?! This has got to end!

Oct 07, 2009
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Post ACL Surgery Mystery Calf Pain
by: Anonymous

Hey Folks,

Same story as many others it seems... ACL surgery with the hammy on 09/29/09. I have crutches and a leg brace. About 3 days after the meds wore off, I started having calf pain when I got out of bed, or from sitting on the couch. The pain would be excruciating for a bit, and then subside when I rested the leg again. I gave it heat and massages. I have not noticed any swelling, high temperature, and my calf is not hot to the touch. I thought it was the brace at first, but even removing it just helped temporarily. After a few hours with it off, and laying on the bed, I got up to use the bathroom and the pain hit my calf like a ton of bricks!

Some mornings were fine, and I would get up and go around on my crutches, but here it is 10/07/09, and I am still having the pain! I am typing this on my laptop in bed after I ate dinner and tried to do some walking around the apt. The pain just got to me and was making me want to punch the wall! I had to go to use elevation, heat, and massage to feel better. The see the surgeon tomorrow for a post op and will let you all know what the result are.

Also, if anyone has any follow up... please share! Everyone seems to post about their pain... but what we all need to know is what happened after and for how long?! This has got to end!

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Oct 07, 2009
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Submitted by: Anonymous

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Comment
Hey Folks, Same story as many others it seems... ACL surgery with the hammy on 09/29/09. I have crutches and a leg brace. About 3 days after the meds wore off, I started having calf pain when I got out of bed, or from sitting on the couch. The pain would be excruciating for a bit, and then subside when I rested the leg again. I gave it heat and massages. I have not noticed any swelling, high temperature, and my calf is not hot to the touch. I thought it was the brace at first, but even removing it just helped temporarily. After a few hours with it off, and laying on the bed, I got up to use the bathroom and the pain hit my calf like a ton of bricks! Some mornings were fine, and I would get up and go around on my crutches, but here it is 10/07/09, and I am still having the pain! I am typing this on my laptop in bed after I ate dinner and tried to do some walking around the apt. The pain just got to me and was making me want to punch the wall! I had to go to use elevation, heat, and massage to feel better. The see the surgeon tomorrow for a post op and will let you all know what the result are. Also, if anyone has any follow up... please share! Everyone seems to post about their pain... but what we all need to know is what happened after and for how long?! This has got to end!

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Oct 08, 2009
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Post-Op
by: Sedona

Hey everyone,

I posted once before and I am just following up on my post. Just a reminder I had micro-fracture surgery on June 23rd. I am now doing tons of PT and walking except for one thing. I am still unable to straighten my leg out completely to make full leg rotation. Because of this I walk funny which is throwing off my back, as well as, causes massive pain in my heal when I attempt to walk. The doctors and my PT have no answers. I read that if your muscle is weak in your thigh you won't be able to straighten your leg, but my muscle has been built up, I can walk up and down stairs with ease. So if anyone else has had this problem please help. The pain from not straighten my leg out is getting worse by the day... I am starting to feel like I am stuck walking like this and that I will never get better. I am loosing hope...

Also for everyone committing about calf pain. I had that as well after surgery and I found doing calf streches really really helps. My pain was gone in a week just by doing these streches...

Like someone said before, everyone is commenting on their troubles but has anyone out there had any success....

Oct 16, 2009
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Foot / Ankle Pain
by: Micro-Fracture Veteran

Hello fellow microfracture veterans. I am 2 1/2 months post micro-fracture to the media femoral condoyle. Recovery has been difficult on many levels anyone reading this probably knows. One aspect in particular that has been odd is pretty bad foot and ankle pain ever since I began to walk without crutches. Mostly along the top of the foot and into the ankle on the same leg as the bad knee. My PT has tried a few things, but nothing has ultimately worked all that well. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Thanks

Nov 11, 2009
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calf pain
by: Anonymous

I have the same problem so I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one! I had a meniscectomy and repair for Osteochondritis Dissecans end of October. 3 days later I got a really bad pain in my calf but I just thought it would go away. 4 days of pain and I called my Dr and he sent me for an ultrasound to check for a blood clot. Negative. At physical therapy, I got a deep heating ultrasound and that took the pain away for a week. But... the pain is back now. I agree, it's worse than the knee pain. Sometimes my foot is purplish. I've been putting heat on it and trying to stretch. My Dr doesn't seem concerned but it's a really annoying pain! This is my 3rd knee surgery (2 ACLs previously) and I never had this problem before. Any info or help would be great!

Nov 19, 2009
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ACL w/ Hamstring Reconstruction post op pain
by: Anonymous

I just had ACL w/ hamstring reconstruction surgery
one week ago. Two days after the surgery my calf felt like it was going explode from the pain.
I have been to the ER twice this last week to rule out DVT (blood clots). None were found but the pain/redness/heat has been unbearable. I went to my Ortho today and questioned him about me possibly having cellulitis. I googled the symptoms and they are exactly what I am experiencing. He wasn't 100% sure that is what I have but he did prescribe me Keflex, just in case. I can honestly say after one dose my redness and pain have already decreased.
Don't be afraid to question your Ortho, because they don't always have all of the answers.
I will keep you posted.

Nov 19, 2009
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Dec 02, 2009
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Calf muscle pain after acl surgery
by: Mario from Perth, australia

Hi all,

My story is very similar to many of yours: surgery on nov-23, all was excellent until 5 days after surgery, when the horrible calf pain started. As many of you described, this "new" pain was a lot worse than the initial post-op knee pain, and frustating as well because it started when I was beginning to believe I was making a speedy recovery.

I had the usual ultrasound to rule out DVT, and no clots were detected; however, the ultrasound did find a very small tear in the calf muscle on the area where my calf pain originated. This finally gave a real reason for the pain, and to me, it was somewaht relieving as now I know that once the tear heals up, the pain will completely go away (hopefully)

In any case, my last visit to the doctor (yesterday morning) I was in pain: as described by many of you, the pain would kick in as soon a I stood up). On that visit, my dr wrapped my calf with bandages to "support" the calf, and guess what, I walked out of the consultation (still in crutches of couse) PAINFREE.

It all fell into place then: the day the pain started was the day after my dr removed the bandages to look at the surgery wounds (I had a fever and he wanted to rule out an infection)

my dr says that my calf muscle had been weak, and I may have injured it whilst doing pt exercises; the pain I felt originated by gravity pulling the torn muscle whilst standing, which only became apparent when the bandage support was removed. I now need to wear the bandage for a while to help the muscle heal and prevent the pain, and need to be careful about how much strain I put on my calf when doing pt.

I hope this helps anyone else who as I, come across this page after searching for help about calf pain after surgery.

Mario

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Dec 02, 2009
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Submitted by: Mario from Perth, australia

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Comment
Hi all, My story is very similar to many of yours: surgery on nov-23, all was excellent until 5 days after surgery, when the horrible calf pain started. As many of you described, this "new" pain was a lot worse than the initial post-op knee pain, and frustating as well because it started when I was beginning to believe I was making a speedy recovery. I had the usual ultrasound to rule out DVT, and no clots were detected; however, the ultrasound did find a very small tear in the calf muscle on the area where my calf pain originated. This finally gave a real reason for the pain, and to me, it was somewaht relieving as now I know that once the tear heals up, the pain will completely go away (hopefully) In any case, my last visit to the doctor (yesterday morning) I was in pain: as described by many of you, the pain would kick in as soon a I stood up). On that visit, my dr wrapped my calf with bandages to "support" the calf, and guess what, I walked out of the consultation (still in crutches of couse) PAINFREE. It all fell into place then: the day the pain started was the day after my dr removed the bandages to look at the surgery wounds (I had a fever and he wanted to rule out an infection) my dr says that my calf muscle had been weak, and I may have injured it whilst doing pt exercises; the pain I felt originated by gravity pulling the torn muscle whilst standing, which only became apparent when the bandage support was removed. I now need to wear the bandage for a while to help the muscle heal and prevent the pain, and need to be careful about how much strain I put on my calf when doing pt. I hope this helps anyone else who as I, come across this page after searching for help about calf pain after surgery. Mario

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Dec 11, 2009
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Pain in calf after a week from surgery
by: Strhuntrss

By reading everyones comments sounds like I just need to have alot of patience. Sitting in the car seems to aggravate my knee and calf. I have been to P.T. for a week now and I told them I have issues in the back of my knee. Particularly the outer hamstring in my left leg. It crackles when I walk and makes me feel like I'm going to fall when I step down on my leg. They told me to use just one crutch oppposite my left leg. They also gave me more exercises to do with the bad knee/leg. The P.T. says that I should have pain in the front of the knee but instead I have it in the back of my knee. The surgeon said that there was no tear in the meniscus but that the meniscus was being smashed between the bones and that there was already significant arthritis in the knee and that I would have to have a total knee replacement later. He was going to give me an injection of fluid to help starve off the damage of the arthritis but couldn't do it right now. I have to wait 3 months for that. Right now I am sorry that I had this done. But I'm sure that this feeling surely will pass. I am a bit depressed but he said to keep my mind on the goal and the end of the tunnel. Thank you all for this sight. It has helped me feel like I'm not alone in this and that what I am experiencing is normal. Keep up the good work here and Good luck to all and God Bless!

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Dec 11, 2009
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Submitted by: Strhuntrss

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By reading everyones comments sounds like I just need to have alot of patience. Sitting in the car seems to aggravate my knee and calf. I have been to P.T. for a week now and I told them I have issues in the back of my knee. Particularly the outer hamstring in my left leg. It crackles when I walk and makes me feel like I'm going to fall when I step down on my leg. They told me to use just one crutch oppposite my left leg. They also gave me more exercises to do with the bad knee/leg. The P.T. says that I should have pain in the front of the knee but instead I have it in the back of my knee. The surgeon said that there was no tear in the meniscus but that the meniscus was being smashed between the bones and that there was already significant arthritis in the knee and that I would have to have a total knee replacement later. He was going to give me an injection of fluid to help starve off the damage of the arthritis but couldn't do it right now. I have to wait 3 months for that. Right now I am sorry that I had this done. But I'm sure that this feeling surely will pass. I am a bit depressed but he said to keep my mind on the goal and the end of the tunnel. Thank you all for this sight. It has helped me feel like I'm not alone in this and that what I am experiencing is normal. Keep up the good work here and Good luck to all and God Bless!

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Dec 15, 2009
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Swelling getting better
by: Anonymous

5 days after ACL recon with hamstring, I had terrible pain in the calf. The knee pain was nothing. I did have blood clots in my calf & had PEs (clot in both lungs). So be careful with the calf pain, do get it checked out. Now I am 5 weeks, post-op doing PT 3 times a week and walking fairly well & doing the stairmaster. I am on my feet a bunch and my calf swells but no calf pain for the last couple of weeks. From what I heard from my PT and reading, once your veins & vein valves get stretched & damaged by the swelling : They will take awhile to heal and the swelling will be less. I do not have time to rest my calf, but my swelling is getting less each day.
44 year old Mom who has finished 2 Ironman race in the last 3 years

Dec 15, 2009
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Jan 18, 2010
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Microfracture Surgery with Blood Clot
by: Anonymous

On 12/22/09 I had microfracture surgery on my left knee. I was told to stay on crutches until further notice. Almost 3 weeks later, I woke one morning with pain in the lower calf/achilles area of the leg. In addition, I noticed the lower leg and foot were always cold, tingly and felt like it had been out in the cold too long. I thought this was due to not using the leg but was curious as to why it would start 3 weeks after surgery. A couple days later I noticed swelling around the ankle and foot and the leg was bluish. I went to the local ER and a Doppler showed a DVT (blood clot) in the leg. I was admitted and put on blood thinners. I had immediately started exercising the leg as instructed by the surgeon right after the surgery and tried to move around as much as possible without putting weight on the leg but still got a clot. If you have similar symptoms I suggest you get it checked immediately since it is extremely dangerous of the clot breaks loose and travels to the lungs.

Jan 20, 2010
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Update after knee surgery
by: Strhuntrss

Just wanted you all to know that time does heal. My left knee is coming along. I no longer have the pain in the calf. But I still have trouble walking on it because of the crackling hamstring in the back of the knee. I do walk with a cane. It gives me peace of mind that I will not fall when the leg feels like buckling under me. I am going to try a new pair of shoes today to see if some of my problem is with the type of shoes I wear. My PT told me about Sketcher's that they have a rocker type of shoe that might help me. At this point I am willing to try anything. I see my Ortho on Wednesday next week for my 2nd follow-up. I will let you know what comes of that. Keep the faith and remember because of this wonderful sight, we are not alone! God Bless!