Hi! This is Dr. Salam, I practice at One Care Medical Center, one of the cities best ortho hospital in Coimbatore. I have been a practicing orthopedic surgeon for the last 12 years in my medical practice. In this short read, I want to tell you everything about recovery after knee replacement surgery.
Total knee replacement is a surgical procedure where the knee replacement surgeon replaces the damaged knee with plastic and metal parts.
The statistics of patients& getting a successful knee recovery surgery are about 89%. A successful knee recovery after the surgery is very crucial and as a patient, you as a patient have a greater part of making this recovery a
successful one.
Consult with your physician first if you have any queries or doubts regarding your routine chart. One important thing that you need to do is to bend and straighten your legs because giving complete rest to the legs is not very advisory.
For improving your extension, you should lay your leg down with a rolled towel underneath your ankle. Make sure you keep the legs as straight as possible and to improve your flexion, you can sit on your chair bending your knee back not completely but just curling your legs underneath the seat of the chair
Do not lift heavy objects, why? Lifting heavy objects could add an excessive amount of stress to your artificial knee and there are chances of you damaging it. Point to remember:
1) Do not twist your knee when you’re turning around. Always remember that when you turn to face in a different direction, you turn your entire body. This way you won’t twist your knee
2) Consult your physical therapist to perform regular movements because you need to watch your form when you bend down and sit.
Your doctor would have prescribed a list of vitamins or supplements, do not forget them you take them. Most of the patients find that they lack Vitamin D. Also many patients who have undertaken orthopaedic surgery take iron to help replenish blood count after surgery. Doctors mainly recommend supplements to aid muscle recovery in patients.
It is good to alternate between ice and the heat. Ice will help your knee inflammation and pain. Keeping ice is particularly effective for the first few days after surgery because it might reduce the swelling and eases any stiffness. Benefits for alternating cold and hot packs are that, it will help your muscles relax.
Make sure you avoid or minimize your alcohol consumption especially if your taking strong medication or you&have been prescribed to any narcotic pain medication. If you smoke, make an effort to stop because your smoking might skrink your blood vessels which results in a slower healing process. Healing lungs leads to better blood oxygen levels and faster healing.
Watch your weight; it’s always advisable to keep your weight down. A few extra Kgs will put a lot of pressure on your knee and will result in slow recovery. If you are overweight then you might risk in developing arthritis on your other knee. So a major part of recovery does matter on you managing your weight
Walking will definitely help strengthen the leg muscles and increase the overall blood flow. Start walking as soon as possible, but remember to start with a short distance and then add up as you move along. Moving just around the house doesn’t provide enough exercise. To strengthen your knees , consider low key activates like peddling on your bike , playing golf etc.
We know your experience might cause a lot of difficulties to lead to your path of recovery. However, 50% of positive results come from the patient& willingness and hard work in physical therapy and rehab. Do not give up on yourself and do how much ever you can with a good attitude
