Everyone has a different pain experience with a knee replacement and it doesn’t always meet their expectations.
So what does the research say about how long pain lasts after knee replaceemnt?
Whilst pain is at its most intense in the first week after surgery, severe pain mostly resolves over the first 3 months.
However, most people will still be experiencing some knee pain at 3 months, but by 6 months, 75% of people will be pain free or have only mild pain.
This is explained in more detail below.
Severe Pain:
From our research, we determined that 70% of people experienced severe knee pain associated with osteoarthritis before their knee replacement.
And at 3 months after knee replacement, this had significantly reduced to 10% of people.
At 12 months after knee replacement, this had reduced further to 5% but this remained unchanged up to 3 years post-surgery.
Pain free:
From our research, we determined that only 15% of people were pain free 3 months after their knee replacement.
However, by 12 months, 50% of people had become pain free.
Learn more about our research→
More pain research
The Australian Orthopaedic Society found that at 6 months after knee replacement, 75% of people had improved pain with 20% unchanged and 5% worsened pain.
At this time, 30% of people had no knee pain, 45% had mild pain, 17% had moderate pain and 8% of people reported severe knee pain.
What can you do if you have pain persisting after your knee replacement?
Ongoing pain can slow your recovery and return to enjoyable activities.
Our Kneed program was designed to reduce pain and speed up recovery.
