Latest / The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement / Episode 120: Other Joint Pain After Knee Replacement (Why Walking and Daily Tasks Can Still Be Difficult)

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Episode 120: Other Joint Pain After Knee Replacement (Why Walking and Daily Tasks Can Still Be Difficult) · The Total Knee Success Podcast: Your Essential Resource for Navigating Total Knee Replacement

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  A smaller 2025 observational study followed 87
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  people and found that back -related disability
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  scores improved at three months and remained
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  improved at one year after knee replacement.
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  Are you ready to get back to what you love after
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  knee replacement? The Total Knee Success podcast
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  is your trusted guide with practical tips, evidence
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  -based strategies, and no fluff. It's not personal
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  medical advice, just solid education to help
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  you manage pain. regain mobility, and get back
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  to living the life you love. Let's dive in. Welcome
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  back to the Total Knee Success Podcast. I'm Michelle.
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  Your replaced knee is finally feeling better.
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  You're walking farther, maybe doing things you
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  haven't done comfortably in years. But now your
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  other knee hurts halfway through the grocery
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  store, or your back feels surprisingly better,
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  or a hip or ankle starts bothering you just when
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  you expected walking to get easier. Did knee
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  replacement help those other areas, make them
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  worse, or simply make you notice problems that
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  were already there? By the end of this episode,
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  you'll have a better idea of why symptoms elsewhere
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  can change after knee replacement, what those
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  changes might mean, and how to make decisions
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  about the activities you want to get back to.
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  The important question isn't whether every joint
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  feels perfect. It's what is actually limiting
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  you now and whether that information can change.
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  Think about what happens when you start walking
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  farther after surgery. Your surgical knee has
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  become more comfortable and stronger, so you're
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  willing to spend more time on your feet. That's
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  progress. But a longer walk also asks more of
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  your other knee, hips, back, ankles, and feet.
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  Something that rarely bothered you on a short
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  trip to the kitchen might become noticeable during
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  30 minutes in a store. That doesn't automatically
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  mean the operation created a new problem. And
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  it doesn't mean you have to give up the longer
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  walk. Start with your other knee. In the first
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  few weeks, you depend on that leg while your
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  surgical side regains strength. Later, it may
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  be the painful knee that determines how far you
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  can go. If arthritis is present on both sides,
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  replacing one knee treats that knee. It doesn't
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  remove the arthritis from the other one. But
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  here's the useful distinction. A limit caused
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  by your other knee calls for a different approach.
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  from a limit caused by the knee that was replaced.
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  Researchers have studied this. A 2024 observational
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  study followed 315 people with arthritis in both
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  knees after one knee was replaced. The researchers
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  measured pain in the other knee before surgery
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  and at one, three, and six months. More pain
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  in that knee was linked with greater difficulty
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  in daily activities at later visits. Lower strength
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  in the non -surgical thigh and more advanced
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  arthritis were among the factors associated with
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  worsening pain. The study did not test whether
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  a specific strengthening program could prevent
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  it. In another study, Maxwell and colleagues
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  found that greater pain in the other knee before
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  surgery was associated with more difficulty people
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  reported doing everyday tasks at least six months
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  after knee replacement. These findings help explain
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  why a comfortable replaced knee and a disappointing
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  walking distance can occur together. They don't
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  predict what will happen to you. They do suggest
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  that the other knee deserves its own attention
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  rather than assuming the knee replacement isn't
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  working. If your other knee starts hurting after
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  20 minutes of shopping while the replaced knee
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  still feels comfortable, you've learned something
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  useful. The other knee may be setting your walking
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  limit. You could shorten the trip, choose a store
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  with somewhere to sit, or divide a longer outing
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  into manageable parts. Those changes help you
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  take part in the activity while you explore care
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  for the other knee. Non -surgical options may
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  include appropriately selected strengthening
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  and activity modification, depending on the condition.
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  Research linking other knee pain and function
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  does not prove that any one treatment will resolve
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  it. Now let's consider the opposite experience.
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  Some people notice that their back feels better
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  after a knee replacement. They may be standing
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  straighter or walking more comfortably, although
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  research cannot tell us precisely why any one
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  person improves. Others still have back pain,
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  even when their replaced knee is doing well.
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  How can both be true? A 2014 study followed 225
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  people after a knee replacement. Everyone had
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  degenerative changes visible on lumbar, spine,
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  x -rays. The severity of those x -ray changes
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  was not associated with their pain and function
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  scores. More severe back -related symptoms, however,
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  were associated with more difficulty before surgery.
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  At the two -year follow -up, most of these associations
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  were no longer apparent. One exception was severe
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  pain traveling into a leg during activity, which
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  remained associated with a worse overall physical
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  health score. Two people can have similar age
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  -related changes on back x -ray, but very different
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  experiences standing at the kitchen counter or
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  walking through a store. One may stand comfortably
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  for half an hour. The other may have to sit after
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  five minutes because pain spreads down their
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  leg. The x -ray alone does not explain that difference.
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  The type of pain, how long it takes to appear,
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  and what activity brings it on help identify
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  whether their back may be limiting their function.
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  Pain traveling into the leg during walking deserves
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  an assessment rather than automatically being
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  attributed to knee recovery. A smaller 2025 observational
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  study followed 87 people and found that back
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  -related disability scores improved at three
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  months and remained improved at one year after
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  knee replacement. That means the group reported
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  less interference from back symptoms in daily
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  life, not just a change on an x -ray. The results
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  varied and this observational study cannot establish
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  why they improved or predict your outcome. But
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  it gives us a reason not to assume that every
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  existing back problem will continue unchanged.
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  If your back is improving as walking becomes
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  more comfortable, that's a useful change to notice.
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  If standing or walking still brings on back or
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  leg symptoms, your back itself may need attention
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  rather than simply increasing the work you ask.
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  of your replaced knee. A hip issue can be harder
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  to recognize because the discomfort isn't always
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  where people expect it. Suppose your knee bends
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  well, but putting on a sock is still difficult.
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  It may be the position your hip has to reach,
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  particularly if you feel groin pain or have restricted
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  hip motion. Hip arthritis can also produce pain
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  in the thigh or around the knee, so pain near
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  a replaced knee does not always originate in
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  that knee. Joint registry research found that
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  people who reported limitations from the hip
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  on the same side had two - and five -year follow
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  -ups also reported more knee pain and more difficulty
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  moving. Those problems were measured at the same
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  visit, so the study could not establish that
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  one caused the other. For everyday tasks, the
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  useful distinction is more concrete. If your
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  knee bends enough to sit comfortably, but you
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  cannot bring your foot toward you to put on a
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  sock, Hip pain or restricted hip motion may be
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  the obstacle. A hip assessment and appropriate
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  treatment options make more sense than assuming
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  every difficulty with dressing calls for additional
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  knee bending. Your ankles and feet also affect
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  walking, especially when the ground or distance
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  changes. Your shin has to move over your foot
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  and the ankle helps you move forward with each
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  step. You may be fine on a smooth sidewalk, but
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  uncomfortable on a hill or uneven path. That
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  difference can tell you something about the demands
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  of the activity rather than proving that your
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  knee has gotten worse. There's encouraging evidence
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  here, too. A 2022 study included 610 people who
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  had knee replacement and asked about foot or
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  ankle pain before surgery and afterward. Among
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  those who had foot pain before surgery and responded
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  at 12 months, half reported no foot pain. People
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  who began with foot pain had similar post -operative
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  knee and satisfaction scores to those without
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  it. Those are reported symptoms, not proof that
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  knee surgery repaired diseases of the foot. But
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  foot pain does not inevitably get worse after
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  knee replacement. A review of 11 studies also
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  looked at hindfoot alignment or the position
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  of the heel after knee replacement. Some alignment
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  patterns improved and others persisted. The studies
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  varied and the evidence was limited. Heel position
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  on an x -ray is not the same thing as comfort
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  when walking. What is useful to notice is whether
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  the ankle or foot becomes painful with a particular
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  surface, distance, or activity. That gives you
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  a more specific problem to address than simply
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  saying walking is still difficult. When an activity
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  remains difficult, compare what happens on an
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  easier day with what happens on a more demanding
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  one. A 10 -minute walk may be comfortable while
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  30 minutes brings on pain in the other knee.
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  Dressing may be difficult even though walking
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  is improving. Your ankle may tolerate level ground
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  but not a hill. Notice the activity where the
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  discomfort occurs when it begins and whether
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  reducing the demand changes it. That information
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  can help you choose a manageable version of the
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  activity and decide whether a separate joint
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  needs some attention. It's a starting point for
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  understanding the limitation. Not a way to diagnose
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  yourself. For example, if the other knee hurts
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  after a long shopping trip, you might try shorter
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  visits or planned opportunities to sit while
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  you explore treatment options. If groin pain
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  makes dressing difficult, more knee bending may
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  not be the answer. If back or leg symptoms are
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  changing, your doctor can help determine whether
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  another condition needs evaluation. Your physical
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  therapist can also assess movement, strength,
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  and walking demands when those are a part of
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  the limitation. None of these situations means
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  the replaced knee has necessarily failed. My
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  book, Walking Like Yourself Again After Knee
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  Replacement, explains the strength, movement,
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  balance, and coordination involved in walking.
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  You can find it through the link in the episode
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  notes. For ongoing education, the free Total
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  Knee Success Insider Newsletter is available
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  through the form at TotalKneeSuccess .com. A
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  comfortable replaced knee does not mean every
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  activity will immediately be easy. and pain somewhere
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  else does not erase the progress your knee has
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  made. The next time an activity is difficult,
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  identify what you were doing, how long you were
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  doing it, and which joint or area of your body
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  may have stopped you. You may be able to adjust
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  the distance, surface, or time on your feet while
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  exploring care for a separate problem. Some back
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  and foot symptoms also improve during recovery,
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  as the studies we discussed show. In our upcoming
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  research update series, We'll look at new studies
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  and what their findings mean for knee replacement
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  recovery. This podcast is for education and does
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  not replace individualized medical advice. New
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  persistent or worsening symptoms warrant medical
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  assessment. And seek urgent care for sudden severe
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  symptoms or other signs of a medical emergency.
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  Thanks for listening. I'm Michelle and this has
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  been the Total Knee Success Podcast. This podcast
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  is for educational purposes only. Discover more
• 12:03
  at TotalMeSuccess .com and be sure to subscribe
• 12:07
  and share because every step forward takes you
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  closer to living the life you love.