While knee surgery proficiently relieves any discomfort in your knee, it can trigger other inconveniences like back pain. This common occurrence emerges from nerve damage during the surgery. But there are countless solutions using which you can relieve back pain after knee surgery.
Back pain can also occur when you start walking in an unfamiliar posture after your knee surgery. It can strain your muscle which causes your back pain to become more significant. Moreover, nerve irritation can also lead to pain as the nerves in the back and knee muscles are connected.
Usually the pain goes away on its own which is why we’ll assist you by suggesting different ways you can relieve back pain after knee surgery. So stay tuned!
Ways to Relieve Back Pain after Knee Surgery
It’s better to consult a healthcare professional if the pain lingers for an extended period. But here are some remedies with which you can relieve your back pain after the knee surgery:
Apply Hot and Cold Compress
Applying heat and cold can soothe your back pain naturally. But it’s often confusing which one to use first.
You’re recommended to start with ice first to manage your post-operative pain. Cold therapy will relieve pain from swelled up nerves by numbing them. With less blood flowing to the spot, your inflammation will gradually decrease.
Other than ice, you can continue your cold therapy using cold gel packs and towels. Make sure not to use them directly on your skin otherwise more irritation can follow.
Next switch to heat therapy. The warmth relaxes your back muscles, increasing blood flow. This means that the impaired tissues will start repairing on their own.
Using heat pads or saunas can significantly reduce the stiffness arisen from back pain after your surgery.
Follow a Better Lifestyle
Shifting to a more healthier lifestyle after surgery can not only curb your pain but also creates a good influence in your life. You can reinforce better habits to make your back pain more tolerable to deal with.
You should cut some slack on eating carbs to look after your body. Gaining weight will add to your miseries as the extra fats can put more strain on your back muscles.
The medications you’re recommended won’t work if you haven’t cut off your alcohol consumption. Moreover, it adds calories which can also make you put on weight.
Most importantly, stop smoking. It slows down your healing process by constricting your blood vessels. Make sure to have a positive outlook for boosting healing from inside.
Take Proper Rest
Giving your leg a break during your recovery phase is essential to restore its strength. You’re mostly advised to lay in your bed during the initial stage. But after a while, your doctor will instruct you to move your body or shift positions instead of doing completely nothing.
Slightly moving will put less force on your back and at the same time will help in circulating blood in that area. This speeds up your recovery process which in turn will reduce your pain overtime.
Crutches can be used to move around to put less pressure on your back. Again, other low-effort moving activities like swimming and walking will strengthen your back muscles. Therefore, total bed rest is necessary during the beginning but you should start moving after some time.
Elevate your Legs
Yes it’s not a myth! Resting with your legs elevated can indeed reduce your back pain by a significant amount. It’s because this posture shifts the pressure away from your lower back.
What most people are unaware of is that sleeping with your legs straight keeps the pain concentrated on your back. Sleeping as such can even increase your back pain overtime.
Adjustable beds are available to assist you soothe your back pain. Spine alignment can also be adjusted with the help of these beds where your legs are rested in a higher spot than the rest of your body.
You can also go for a more makeshift option by putting your legs over a stack of pillows or folded blankets.
Don’t Forget your Medicines
By the time your knee surgery is over, you’ll be on Cloud 9 with all the anesthetics and nerve blocks. However, you’ll slowly begin to feel a pinching sensation followed by pain as soon as all the drugs wear off.
During that time, you’ll be prescribed with new doses of pain-relief medications as sometimes the pain can be unbearable. Opioid medications can relieve your back pain initially as they’re good enough for moderate intensity of pain. This includes morphine or hydrocodone which is present in Vicodin.
Some other anti-inflammatory medicines that you may find in your prescription includes ibuprofen like Advil. These medications will very effectively decrease your swellings.
Make sure to consult a healthcare professional as overdose may lead to addiction.
Be Regular on Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy curbs back pain during your rehabilitation process of recovering from knee surgery. Physiotherapists will provide you with a bunch of therapeutic exercises and manual therapies that will manage your back pain.
Manual lymphatic drainage is a massage where your skin is stretched to drain lymphatic fluid out of your swollen back. Along with this, other exercises will assist in minimizing your agony by restoring your damaged tissues.
You’ll notice your mobility will get better by following some motion exercises your therapist recommended. All of these therapeutic techniques will bring back flexibility in your lower back.
These exercises will also strengthen your back as cramps can significantly make your muscles weak. Make sure to rely on exercises to get back your old self.
Use Light Therapy
Red light therapy is a non-invasive treatment that eases your back pain without you having to move a muscle! These light therapy devices come in a bunch of handheld device options that can be used at home. Just position it correctly to your sore spot. With regular use your lower back will get better in no time.
Low wavelength red light possesses healing properties that seeps deep into your mitochondria. It instructs your cells to produce more energy which very efficiently heals muscle spasm.
Blood circulation also improves which means your back swellings will be significantly reduced due to all the oxygen supply. Use it for two minutes everyday post-surgery to get the best results.
Bottom Line
Although your knee surgery has been successful, chronic back pain can linger as a side effect. Now if you’ve tagged along, you pretty much know how to relieve back pain after knee surgery if you come across it.
In short, post-surgery complications like back pain can be derived from getting knee surgery. You can start by changing your lifestyle and taking enough rest. But laying on your bed will give you back sores so elevate your legs and use hot or cold compresses. Take medications regularly along with joining physiotherapy classes. Finally, invest in light therapy devices to alleviate pain anywhere.
While movement triggers your pain, training your muscles can do wonders. Therefore, by following these guidelines your post-surgery complications can be significantly mitigated.
Add Comment