Recovering from Knee Replacement Surgery
Having a knee replacement surgery is a significant operation, especially for people who have may never have had a significant medical intervention in their lives before. Many patients should be able to return to their daily routine within six weeks, however, it can take between three months and a year to completely recover and start realising the benefits of knee replacement surgery.
In this blog post, we offer you a few tips to help you recover from your knee replacement operation.
Immediately After Surgery
After your procedure, you’ll be taken to the “recovery” area in the operating theatre suite. The recovery room staff will make sure you are comfortable, ensuring you have good pain control. You will have your blood pressure checked and monitored. You may be given something to eat and drink at this point, perhaps a cup of tea and some toast!
From the recovery room, you will be taken back to your room on the ward.
You will be helped by the physiotherapists and nursing staff to begin walking with the help of crutches or a walking frame on the same day of your operation.
Timeline for Recovery
Within the first couple of days, your physical therapist should have you standing and walking short distances with the help of crutches or a walker and climbing stairs. Most people stay in hospital for 2-3 days before going back to their own homes.
As the first couple of weeks progress, you should begin relying less on crutches and begin a daily exercise routine provided by your physical therapist to help strengthen your knee.
By weeks four to six, you should be going for longer walks and returning to your normal routine and daily activities.
Exercises to Strengthen the Knee after Surgery
Following your knee replacement surgery, you’ll need to visit a physical therapist to help find your areas of weakness that need to be strengthened. Together, you’ll both develop a daily routine of exercises and stretches that are very important to follow and keep up with for a speedy recovery.
These exercises will mostly be targeting your quadriceps and hip flexor muscles. Exercises like quad squeezes at first will help get the blood flowing and the muscles back used to working again. From here, you’ll be able to progress to straight leg raises to strengthen the quadriceps and hip flexors, along with heel slides to help strengthen the rest of the thighs and legs.
Call My Knee Doc for your Knee Replacement Surgery Today
With all of this helpful information about recovery, you’re set to start taking a look at whether you need a knee replacement surgery, and where you would get it. Make sure to give a call to My Knee Doc at 0161 464 6399 to speak with a specialist knee surgeon about your options today.