Here Are Some Of The Reasons You Might Need Knee Surgery:
- Stiffness in the joint and pain makes it difficult to walk, stand up, or climb stairs
- You often have swelling in the knee area
- Chronic pain bothers you when resting
- The pain is disrupting your sleep
- The knee has defects or is bowed
- Medication and physical therapy havent been effective in managing the pain
If you can relate to any of these symptoms, then its time to talk to a sports medicine doctor about your treatment options.
More Than One Knee Replacement Surgery
Knee pain can develop from many causes. For most people, however, knee pain results from arthritis, which is a degenerative condition that worsens with time. When conservative treatments no longer alleviate your knee pain, then you may be considered a good candidate for knee replacement surgery.
Dr. Karas offers two knee replacement options:
Who Should Consider Total Knee Replacement Surgery
It is usually reasonable to try a number of non-operative interventions before considering knee replacement surgery of any type. Prior to surgery an orthopedic surgeon may offer medications knee injections or exercises. A surgeon may talk to patients about activity modification weight loss or use of a cane.
The decision to undergo the total knee replacement is a “quality of life” choice. Patients typically have the procedure when they find themselves avoiding activities that they used to enjoy because of knee pain. When basic activities of daily life–like walking shopping or reasonable recreational pastimes–are inhibited or prevented by the knee pain it may be reasonable to consider the surgery.
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How Much Weight Can Be Put On The New Knee
Knee replacement patients are given weight-bearing guidelines to follow in the hospital and at home. Exactly how much pressure the new knee can initially support will depend on factors such as:
- The type of surgery preformed
- The type of prostheses and how it is fixated to the natural bone
- The condition of the patients natural bone
Over time, patients will be asked to put incrementally more weight on the new knee.
What To Expect After Knee Replacement
A patients recovery and rehabilitation plan is crucial to the overall success of knee replacement surgery. A recovery and rehabilitation plan can help the patient:
- Leave the hospital sooner
- Regain knee strength and range of motion more quickly
- Resume independent living sooner
- Avoid potential complications
Typically, knee replacement patients are able to leave the hospital within 1 to 5 days , and they can take care of themselves and resume most activities 6 weeks after surgery. The majority of patients are 90% recovered after 3 months, though it can take 6 months or longer before they are 100% recovered.
Some knee replacement patients do not follow the typical recovery timeline. For example:
- Patients who did knee-strengthening exercises in preparation for surgery sometimes recover more quickly.
- Patients who are older, smoke, or have other medical conditions may take longer to heal.
Deviation from the typical recovery timeline cannot always be predicted, but these differences are usually okay as long as the patient, doctor, and physical therapist, continue to work together towards a full recovery.
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When Can You Go Home After A Hip Or Knee Replacement
May 30, 2017
When knee and hip replacements were first developed most patients would stay in the hospital for a minimum of a week, sometimes longer. This lengthy hospital stay was felt to be necessary for patients to get the physical therapy and the care they required for a full recovery. Today, this has changed. Most patients do not need to go to a nursing home for further rehabilitation and are able to return directly home after surgery. Most stay only 1-2 nights in the hospital, and some patients can actually go home the day of surgery.
Why is it Necessary to Be in the Hospital After Joint Replacement Surgery?
Certainly if a patient has diabetes, cardiac disease, kidney problems, sleep apnea or COPD it is important to be monitored closely for the first few days after surgery to ensure that there are no medical complications following surgery. But, what about someone without any of these medical problems? Do they need to stay in the hospital just for physical therapy? In the hospital, physical therapists work with joint replacement patients only once or twice a day. This could certainly be done at home.
But Whats Wrong with Staying at the Hospital for a Few Days?
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Outpatient Hip and Knee Surgeries at a Surgical Center
Not Every Patient is a Candidate for Outpatient Hip or Knee Replacement
Outpatient Physical Therapy After Knee Replacement Surgery
Depending on your surgeons protocol and your current healing status, you will beginoutpatient physical therapy between 2-7 days after knee replacement surgery. You can expect to see your physical therapist 2-3 days per week for 10-14 weeks, depending on your recovery time.
As stated above, knee swelling will limit your flexibility after knee replacement surgery, but the normal healing process, along with tissue scarring, will also prevent the knee from bending and straightening.; Your outpatient physical therapist will help you slowly improve this mobility and decrease stiffness while also making sure not to aggravate the knee, potentially causing more trauma and swelling.
Stephanie Patek, PT, DPT explains, As physical therapists, we are highly trained to provide movement progressions and graded exercises to help you achieve the best outcome from your knee replacement.
Other than swelling and limited motion in your knee, you may also notice that your leg feels weaker and unsteady. This is most likely due to thequadriceps muscles, which are the thigh muscles that straighten your knee, having difficulty turning on. This sensation of weakness is typical post-knee replacement. Your physical therapist will help you regain this muscle strength that will allow you to become more functional, including walking without a device and negotiating stairs.
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Is Total Knee Replacement Considered A Disability
If knee replacement surgery has left you unable to work, you could get Social Security disability benefits. If you have had knee replacement surgery on a knee with degenerative joint disease or after a bad knee injury, you may be able to get Social Security disability benefitsif you are unable to work.
Setting You Up For Success Before Joint Replacement
Our team approach includes multiple specialists to optimize your care before surgery. Youll have a pre-surgery rehab evaluation with a physical therapist. This hour-long session gives us an in-depth idea of your physical ability and social support needs.
Youll also visit other doctors to make sure your heart and lungs are in good condition. If you have another medical condition, this team can help you take proactive steps to manage it.
Finally, we offer joint camp before surgery. During camp, you can visit our hospital, interact with nurses, and learn what you need after surgery, such as walkers or medical devices. We give you a preview of your surgery and answer questions.
Overall, the more educated you are before your surgery, the better off you are after surgery.;
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How Long Does Knee Replacement Surgery Take
Wanting to learn more about how long knee replacement surgery takes to perform? Ill share my surgery time when I had TKR.
My actual knee replacement surgery took approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes to perform. This included falling asleep just before surgery and when I woke up.
However, the process for TKR Surgery actually begins the night before your surgery. After dinner you are no longer able to eat or drink liquids.
You also have been given a bathing kit with directions. Thenight before you go to bed, you are instructed to thoroughly wash your body withthe soap and washcloths that they provide.
The next morning you are instructed to bathe again exactlylike the night before. Then, you are off to the hospital.
If everything goes well, expect to be home the next day.Below Ill share a few more details of my experience.
Knee Replacement Recovery Starts Right Away In The Hospital
These days, a typical inpatient stay following knee replacement surgery lasts two days, although some patients go home the same day as surgery, and some patients may need to stay longer.
When thinking about getting back on your feet, its helpful to consider the recovery process in phases, beginning immediately after surgery. Health care teams are proactive about keeping patients comfortable for recovery by administering medications such as low-dose narcotics, nerve pain medication, and anti-inflammatory medication. From there, its all about getting your knee joint moving again.
Physical therapy starts the day of surgery and could be as minimal as dangling your feet over the side of the bed, says Dr. Parks. The remainder of your hospital stay will likely involve physical therapy focused on activities of daily living, which youll need to move around your home.
Our physical therapist sees patients the same day as surgery to get them up and walking around the nurses station, adds Dr. Courtney. Its no longer about bed rest like it used to be. Now we get patients moving a lot quicker.
Indeed, Barnes remembers that the hospital staff had her up and moving almost immediately. I started walking the day of surgery, she says.
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Why Is My Knee So Tight After Surgery
Arthrofibrosis is also known as stiff knee syndrome. The condition sometimes occurs in a knee joint that has recently been injured. It can also occur after surgery on the knee, such as a knee replacement. Over time, scar tissue builds up inside the knee, causing the knee joint to shrink and tighten.
Icing After Knee Replacement
Ever wondered why Ice machine is on best 20 knee replacement gifts list, because of this very problem of knee replacement swelling.
Let me tell you ice will help you in many ways, including edema or fluid reduction and pain control.
Whenever you apply ice to the body part, it has four sequential effects on that body part: Cold, Burning, Aching, and Numbness.
The icing on the operated knee can result in blood vessel constriction, and thus it helps with swelling control after knee surgery. It also enables you to control pain after a knee replacement by numbing the nerves in the area.
One of the common questions asked is how long to ice after knee replacement surgery? The usual answer is 15-20 min for 2 to 3 times a day. However, you should consult with your doctor if you have any medical complications like diabetes or skin sensation issues.
Just a word of caution for proper incision care since icing can make area wet.
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Knee Replacement Recovery Tips
Here’s some top tips for four common questions about total knee replacement recovery time:
You can find the answers to loads more similar questions in the total knee replacement recovery questions section.;
My First Night In The Hospital
In my earlier article I left off after having dinner my first night in the hospital. After dinner, my day shift nurse brought in the night shift team and introduced them.
I had a new nurse that had two assistants and a nursing supervisor for the floor. They put the new team names on my whiteboard in front of my bed so I could remember and call them by name.
My new nurse informed me she was a traveling nurse and therefore she had limited knowledge of this particular hospital.; She said she would do her best to meet my needs. She also told me that I was one of 5 patients assigned to her during this twelve-hour shift thats no easy task!;
She went over my health information on the computer, scanned my wristband and made sure all the information she had received from the day shift was correct and up to date. When it was time for my pain medication she first asked me to tell her my name and date of birth .
She asked me to rate my current pain level on a scale of one to ten (I was constantly asked about my pain level on a 0-10 scale and the staff tried their best to keep me below 5. She recorded my response, scanned my wristband then gave me the Percocet pill which I took orally.
The questions became a habit before receiving medication.; They were always double-checking to avoid mistakes.
She returned in a few minutes with another pill that I was to begin taking regularly to help with bowel movements.; Apparently, the pain medication has a tendency to back you up.
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How Long Does It Take To Recover From A Total Knee Replacement A Surgeons Timeline
Published on: 19th December 2018
A few weeks ago, Channel 5 aired a documentary called Operation Live: Total Knee Replacement. Did you catch it?
It caused quite a stir, mainly due to its no-holds-barred content. As the title implies, the programme featured live coverage of a patient undergoing a total knee replacement at the Royal London Hospital. You can see it on catch-up here , though do exercise viewing caution, for obvious reasons.
For anyone who works with Total Knee Replacements or is considering one, Operation Live was a fascinating watch. It wasnt for the squeamish. But that was the key take-home point: for all its great benefits, TKR does take significant recovery time. More than many patients realise.
So what does that look like in practice? Keep in mind that recovery times vary from person to person, but here is a general guide.
Who Performs Knee Replacement Surgery
If you need knee replacement surgery, then an orthopedic surgeon is the type of doctor you must see. Here at Orthopedic Associates, we offer a range of doctors, physical therapists, and sports medicine specialists to help you manage the pain and recover as effectively as possible.
Our team offers three knee replacement surgeries:
- Total Knee Replacement Surgery
- Partial Knee Replacement Surgery
- Revision Knee Replacement Surgery
Additionally, we have other joint replacement procedures for different types of sports medicine injuries and other orthopedic concerns:
- Reverse Shoulder Joint Replacement Surgery
- Shoulder Joint Replacement Surgery
- Direct Anterior Hip Replacement Surgery
- Partial Hip Replacement Surgery
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Knee Replacement Recovery At Home And Outpatient Therapy
It would be nice if a knee replacement was like getting a new car part installed and away you go. The surgery is just the beginning of the knee rehabilitation process.
Swelling, stiffness, and strength are necessary to improve in order to decrease pain and progress therapy to higher level activities. They will be the primary focus of therapy early on to set up the patient for successful rehabilitation. It will take time for the knee tissues to heal and gradual loading to improve strength and flexibility.
Can Rehabilitation Be Done At Home
All patients are given a set of home exercises to do between supervised physical therapy sessions and the home exercises make up an important part of the recovery process. However, supervised therapy–which is best done in an outpatient physical therapy studio–is extremely helpful and those patients who are able to attend outpatient therapy are encouraged to do so.
For patients who are unable to attend outpatient physical therapy, home physical therapy is arranged.
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The Night After Knee Replacement Surgery: My 30 Hour Hospital Stay
In a previous article I wrote about my experiences the day before and the day of my TKR surgery. In this article, I write about my first and only night in the hospital after knee replacement surgery.
I also share information about the second day until I was discharged at noon. I was at the hospital for less than 30 total hours and had some interesting experiences.
Most of the experiences were good but my stay in the hospital wasnt without challenges. Because this was my first TKR my frame of reference was limited.
If I had experienced TKR and knew what to expect I may have made some different decisions. I did do a lot of research prior to the operation but theres no lesson like experience.
Even though I was part of my medical team, I put my trust in the hospital staff and hoped they knew what was best for me. I hope this provides valuable insight as you prepare for your knee replacement surgery.
Knee Replacement Range Of Motion
Knee swelling will limit knee flexibility, but there is also healing and scarring of tissues to consider that will prevent a knee from bending and straightening. ;Patients need to slowly improve their flexibility so their knee does not heal stiff, but at the same time not push too much that they are aggravating the recovery and causing more swelling.
The normal knee range of motion is 0 degrees of knee extension to 135 degrees of knee flexion . It is not unusual for someone to have 5-10 degrees of hyperextension and knee flexion varies anywhere from 120-150 degrees.
The expected range of motion after knee replacement is 0 degrees of knee extension to at least 115 degrees of flexion or greater, but this can take several weeks or months to achieve. Starting out, the goal is to get the knee to bend to 90 degrees within the first week and then improve 5 to 10 degrees each week after that until full flexion is reached. Again, this timeline is variable from patient to patient.
It is important to achieve full knee extension for walking to feel more natural and have less knee pain. If you dont achieve full extension, it will feel like youre walking with 1 leg shorter than the other.
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