Living With A Knee Replacement
Total knee replacement may greatly improve function, but most patients will not be able to do more than they did before the onset of arthritis.
A replacement knee may feel different than a natural knee. One small study3 found that most people report being aware of their new knees even 12 months after surgery. Their awareness was most notable when climbing stairs, kneeling, or rising from a chair. About half of the people in the study also reported symptoms such as knee stiffness , swelling, crackling, or numbness.
These symptoms can exist even though overall knee function is improved and knee pain is decreased. These symptoms do not mean the knee replacement surgery was not successful or that patients regretted having the surgery.
How Successful Is Surgery
Orthopedic surgeons have strict criteria to follow when deciding if a partial knee replacement is suitable to ensure they work and Physical Therapists are specially trained to help you make the best knee replacement recovery possible.
Studies looking at partial knee replacement recovery have shown that after:
- 10 years: approx 98% of partial knee replacements are still working
- 20 years: approx 92% are still working – 7% higher than Total Knee Replacements
Occasionally the fittings may come loose or arthritis may develop in the other side of the knee in which case a total knee replacementwill be performed. For more information see the risks and problems page.
Work On Your Walking Form
Pre-surgery my leg was bowed and walked with a noticeable limp. Once you start walking after TKR you may have to relearn to walk correctly.
My in-home therapist made it a point to walk behind me reminding me to walk with proper form. On your other walks, have your caregiver or walking partner critique your walking form.
Discard those old shoes that show wear from walking incorrectly.
If you can, video record you walking form before surgery and then have your walking partner video your new form occasionally.
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What Does Knee Replacement Surgery Involve
The team at Tri-State Orthopaedics provide the latest advancements in treating chronic knee problems. When conservative options arent enough, your provider may recommend knee replacement surgery. Also called arthroplasty, this procedure involves replacing the structure of the damaged knee joint with metal and plastic parts to restore the normal function of the knee and relieve chronic pain.
Knee replacement is an incredibly common and successful procedure. Over 90% of people who have knee replacement experience significant improvement in pain and their ability to get around. For most people, knee replacement restores a good quality of life, giving back independence and allowing you to engage in activities you used to enjoy. However, recovery is often a long road. If youre scheduled for or considering knee surgery, here are some helpful dos and donts in your path to recovery.
Returning To Activities / Sports
With knee replacement recovery time is one of the biggest healers. Over time the swelling will reduce, your muscles will get stronger and your knee should free up becoming more flexible than beforehand.
It is important to take things easy for the first few weeks but after that, you can start thinking about returning to your favorite activities. Here are some helpful tips on knee replacement recovery time:
- You can resume most activities after 6-12 weeks, for example swimming
- Some activities should be carried out with care e.g. golf dont wear shoes with spikes
- Some activities are not advised following a total knee replacement as they put too much stress on the new knee joint. These include: jogging, contact sports e.g. basketball and football, squash, badminton, jumping activities and skiing. If you are unsure, discuss things with your doctor.
Pain and swelling can take up to 3 months to settle and knee replacement recovery time continues up to 2 years after your operation.
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Ways To Manage Your Knee Pain
Aggressive intervention is essential is slowing the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, wherever it strikes. Although it is unusual to affect your knee joints first, it is still important to recognise the swelling/ pain and get a definitive diagnosis from your doctor. From there you have a number of options for managing the pain in your knee and preventing further erosion of your joints
1. NSAIDs . As the name suggests, these are designed to reduce the inflammation in your knee and increase its mobility. Common examples include Ibuprofen. This is likely only to be a short-term course, due to considerable side effects, particularly with long-term use.
2. DMARDs . These are used specifically to prevent further damage to your joints. They work by decreasing the cells that cause inflammation in the blood, therefore reducing the cause of joint damage. Examples include Ciclosporin and Methotrexate.
3. A Range Of Directly Injected Steroids Where Appropriate. Injected straight in to the knee joint, they can be used to reduce the inflammation. It is most likely your doctor will select from a range of corticosteroids to inject directly in to the joint spaces.
5. Strict following of the RICE technique Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. In other words, plan your days to ensure regular periods of rest, use ice whenever convenient to reduce the inflammation, Compress wherever possible to provide support and elevate when relaxing to rest and strong blood flow.
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.
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How Long Does It Take To Recover From A Knee Replacement
There are many factors that determine how long it takes to recover from a total knee replacement.
Patients are typically discharged from the hospital within five to 14 days after knee replacement surgery.
Short-term recovery, in which a patient can walk with minimal aid or no aid and only needs over-the-counter pain relief generally occurs within twelve weeks after surgery, and most patients can return to full normal activities within 3 to 6 months.
Characteristics Of Severe Arthritis Of The Knee
Pain
Pain is the most noticeable symptom of knee arthritis. In most patients the knee pain gradually gets worse over time but sometimes has more sudden flares where the symptoms get acutely severe. The pain is almost always worsened by weight-bearing and activity. In some patients the knee pain becomes severe enough to limit even routine daily activities.
Stiffness
Morning stiffness is present in certain types of arthritis. Patients with morning stiffness of the knee may notice some improvement in knee flexibility over the course of the day. Rheumatoid arthritis patients may experience more frequent morning stiffness than patients with osteoarthritis.
Swelling and warmth
Patients with arthritis sometimes will notice swelling and warmth of the knee. If the swelling and warmth are excessive and are associated with severe pain, inability to bend the knee, and difficulty with weight-bearing, those signs might represent an infection. Such severe symptoms require immediate medical attention. Joint infection of the knee is discussed below.
Location
The knee joint has three compartments that can be involved with arthritis . Most patients have both symptoms and findings on X-rays that suggest involvement of two or more of these compartments for example, pain on the lateral side and beneath the kneecap . Patients who have arthritis in two or all three compartments, and who decide to get surgery, most often will undergo total knee replacement .
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Will I Be Able To Bend Down On My Knee After A Partial Knee Replacement
As part of your rehabilitation at Summit Healthcare, we will include training you how to kneel on your repaired knee. This is a completely safe movement and patients usually only stop kneeling out of fear of damaging their repaired knee. The problem with this overly restrictive line of recovery is that kneeling is important for many movements and activities. For instance, older patients need to be able to get up off the floor in case of a fall. If they cannot kneel, they cannot get back up. Other activities from gardening to household chores require kneeling. You will not need to lose this ability because of your partial knee replacement.
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Ial Knee Replacement Recovery
Reviewed by: KPE Medical Review Board
Partial knee replacement recovery will vary from person to person but is generally very good with 92% of partial knee replacements lasting at least twenty years.
If you are about to have a partial knee replacement, be encouraged. People are usually up and about really quickly after surgery and are home within a few days.
You can usually get up the same day as your operation and can start rehab immediately.
Here we will concentrate on recovery from partial knee replacements, looking at short term recovery over the first week and longer term recovery over the first few months. We will also look at what rehab involves and how successful surgery is.
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How Long Does The Pain Last After A Knee Replacement
Over 90% of patients who have knee replacement surgery experience a significant improvement in their pain and mobility. But remember that this is a major surgery, which means that it takes time to recover after going under the knife.
It often takes three months to return to normal activities and six months to 1 year before your knee is strong and resilient.
What Is Knee Replacement
Total knee replacement surgery replaces parts of the knee joint with artificial parts.
What is Knee Replacement Used For?
Total knee replacement is usually used:
- To relieve pain caused by severe arthritis
- To restore function to an arthritic knee
- To correct significant deformity
- For severe patellofemoral arthritis
Total knee replacement may be considered when other treatments have failed to relieve the pain, which must be significant and disabling.
About 82% of total knee replacements last 25 years and can be affected by a patients activity levels. The procedure is usually reserved for older patients who perform modest activities or younger patients with limited function due to severe arthritis.
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Setting The Stage For A Successful Outcome: Surgery At Hss
Partial knee replacement is widely recognized as a technically demanding surgery. As demonstrated in the scientific literature, data shows that choosing an orthopedic surgeon and institution with extensive experience with this procedure can help ensure a good result. In fact, at high-volume institutions like HSS, in well-selected patients, surgeons achieve the same longevity for partial knee replacement as that reported for .
Its important to understand that partial knee replacement is a challenging procedure to perform, says , Attending Orthopedic Surgeon at HSS. At HSS, we collect data on partial knee replacement patients on an ongoing basis. This allows us to continuously refine screening and surgical techniques to achieve predictable results and the best outcome possible.
Tips For A Smoother Recovery
Physicians and patients share their insights for safely and efficiently getting back on your feet:
If you have concerns or if youre experiencing something you dont understand, speak up. Your doctor and physical therapist will know if its normal or not. In my case I mentioned a muscle spasm issue to my physical therapist, and she got on the phone with my doctor and I ended up needing a medication change to address it. Patient Sharon Barnes
Walking is the best therapy you can do. Walking in the park or around your neighborhood is really how youll be able to get back to normal life quicker. Dr. Courtney
Ive had both done, 14 and 15 years ago. Best advice: Do your before exercises and build up your strength, then after surgery, do your exercise as soon as youre able and keep doing them to get your best range of movement. Its going to hurt, but its so worth it. Healing pain is different, its pain with an end in sight. My father-in-law told me before I had my first one done, to remember, short-term pain for the long-term gain, and that was my mantra. Patient Kathy M., via Facebook
I had bilateral knee replacements done two years ago. My advice? Build up your leg muscles before surgery. I started three months before so the muscles were in tip-top shape. It made a huge difference in making therapy so much easier. Cheryl W., via Facebook
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Managing Your Recovery At Home
To begin with, its normal to experience:
- tiredness get plenty of rest, but then its important to slowly increase your activity
- swelling to ease this, keep your leg raised when sitting and use the cryocuff cold compress we gave you, or apply an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel
- pain take any painkillers weve prescribed until youre pain free
Here are a few things you can do to strengthen your knee, avoid damaging it and help your wound heal:
- Keep your wound dry for 45 days afterwards, and use a waterproof dressing when you have a bath or shower
- Continue the exercises the physiotherapist showed you
- Try low-impact activities like walking and gradually increase how far you walk
- Keep using your crutches or walking stick for as long as you feel you need to
- Dont lift anything heavy or do any strenuous exercise
- Youll be able to bend your knee 90-120 degrees, but you should avoid kneeling down
- Dont sit with your legs crossed for the first 6 weeks
- Avoid twisting at your knee
Massage Around The Knee Often
Massage definitely was a plus in my recovery. My caregiver usually gave me at least one extended massage on the sides of my knee and on the back of my knee.
I massaged my knee myself before my 3 daily exercise sessions. A massage right before bedtime also felt great.
I used the product Free Up Massage Cream that my therapist recommended. Other kinds of lotion or cream work well too.
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Arthritis Often Affects The Knee Joints Making It Hard For Sufferers To Do Everyday Activities But A New Treatment Could Reverse The Damage
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The most common form of arthritis in the knee is osteoarthritis, a degenerative wear and tear type that tends to affect those over 50.
According to Arthritis Research UK, there are 4.11 million people in England with osteoarthritis of the knee.
However, a new study by the University of Aberdeen may have found a way to repair affected knee joints using stem cells.
The researchers have identified how they can be used to reform and repair cartilage.
How To Encourage Healing
For anyone who has had knee surgery, it is essential to keep the wound as dry as possible until it has thoroughly healed. Covering the wound with a bandage will also help prevent irritation from support stockings and other clothing.
Having a healthful, balanced diet helps encourage healing, though a person may have a poor appetite for the first few days after their surgery.
The AAOS recommends exercising in the first few weeks after the operation. A physical therapist may recommend specific exercises that help restore movement and build strength in the knee, and a person may need to do these several times a day.
Otherwise, the best approach to aftercare largely depends on the type of surgery that a person has had.
Anyone who has undergone arthroscopy should exercise regularly. A doctor or physical therapist usually recommends 2030 minutes of exercise two or three times a day and walking for 30 minutes two or three times a day during early recovery.
A physical therapist may design a personalized activity program. This may involve gradually increasing the amount of walking and a timetable for resuming everyday activities, such as climbing stairs. They will also recommend rehabilitation exercises.
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Prepare Yourself Better For Knee Replacement Revision Recovery
Are you having problems with your knee implants? You might need revision surgery.
According to The Rheumatologist website, knee replacement revision surgery is expected to grow by 600% in the next five to ten years. Two of the major causes are plenty of younger people are getting prosthetics and more Americans are obese.
But there are other reasons why those who have a total knee replacement may require revision surgery:
Either the device has worn out or damaged, there is an infection, you have a periprosthetic fracture, or there is a buildup of excessive scar tissue that is causing stiffness.
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 âquality of lifeâ 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 lifeâlike walking shopping or reasonable recreational pastimesâare inhibited or prevented by the knee pain it may be reasonable to consider the surgery.
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