Recover from a total knee replacement

Knee replacements are becoming more and more common, this is partly because the surgery has become more and more successful. Therefore the risks of doing surgery far outweigh the benefits of the surgery in more and more situations.

As physios, one of the things we need to look at is what function do you want after a knee replacement.  How we gain this most efficiently depends on the 4 things that really need to be improved.

1. Range of Movement – Patients will need to be able to bend and straighten the knee: range of movement.  This can be quite hard to gain after a knee replacement and will require some work on behalf of the patient as well as the physio.  It’s not a guarantee and so the earlier and more efficiently you move the knee the better things will be.  On top of that taking pain killers is really important.  If nurses and doctors advise them analgesia will help maximise your recovery.  The less pain you have the more you can exercise and the quicker you will get better.
2. Strength – Strength is really important to regain a healthy knee.  You will regain strength in the fullness of time as long as you do exercises.  In the early days range of movement should be your priority as this can get stuck in a bad place.
3. Walking – Thirdly walking is obviously important from using crutches through to using nothing at all.  This depends to a large extent on how much strength you have but that’s not the only factor.
4. Any Other Important Functions – If there’s any other function you want to do then this is one cycling, running around with the grandkids, playing golf or even just walking on a beach.  There are effective strategies to be able to return to these things.  One of the things I learnt early in my career is kneeling on a replacement feels really quite uncomfortable and there is a way to rehab this.  There is no mechanical reason you can’t do this. It’s just a question of getting the right advice

Call (09) 4481277 or book online here.  You will need a gradual progression of stretches, strengthening, and functional rehabilitation.  The good news is with quality physio a functional recovery is very likely.