Lower leg tightness

Mommabear
Mommabear Member Posts: 23
edited 8. Apr 2025, 20:34 in Living with arthritis

Since my surgery, my lower leg feels very tight, from mid calf to my ankle. I’m taking all my pain meds. Would a heat pad or hot water bottle be a good idea when my leg is up?

Comments

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,299

    Have you asked the 'hippies'? @Janlyn , and @Fran54 and @Trish9556 they might know best what helped them.

    Toni x

  • Trish9556
    Trish9556 Member Posts: 843

    Hi @Mommabear

    I remember my leg feeling very tight for a while post surgery - I didn't really think about it to be honest, I just put it down to swelling and all the pushing and pulling during surgery :)

    Maybe trying an ice pack or, if your tens machine has it, a massage option. I also have footspa which was bliss for my feet as there were lots of lovely bubbles popping. I set it for half an hour on the days I was told to change my surgical stockings. As always, if you're unsure, speak to your medical team/gp/physio :)

    Thanks @frogmorton for the tag :)

    Good luck

    Trish xx

  • Wobblylegs
    Wobblylegs Member Posts: 146

    @Mommabear I’m 8 weeks post op now and I still have tightness down the outside of my thing muscle and also knee to ankle if I try to do too much. My osteopath is sure that it’s just post op swelling and the manipulation done to my hip during the op which is exacerbated by the gait patterns before the op because of arthritis. Plus the muscles struggling to adapt to the new patterns. She’s helping me work on it through massage but is convinced it will put itself right as I heal.

  • Fran54
    Fran54 Member Posts: 302

    @Mommabear

    I seem to remember having tightness from below my knee to my ankle for quite a while after the op. Even now I still have slight stiffness when getting up in the morning. I find that after doing a few stretches it does ease off fairly quickly. If you are worried at all as @Trish9556 suggests it is best to contact your medical team/physio person or GP. Also try and make sure that you do elevate your leg as much as possible to help ease any swelling that you may have. I know that the swelling also caused my leg to feel stiff. Take care.🙂

  • Janlyn
    Janlyn Member Posts: 646

    @Mommabear sorry for my late response but I can agree with all the comments above. I had similar too and put it down to post-op stiffness, and my terrible gait from before my surgery. Eventually it has sorted itself out but it did take time and the right amount of walking/exercise. If in the slightest doubt I would get it checked out just to be sure, but otherwise most things do sort themselves out, albeit sometimes seeming to take forever.

    Take care, and hope you'll be feeling better soon.

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