When Do You Need To Have Arthroscopic Knee Surgery
The operation can be exploratory in nature, but there are times when more invasive methods are necessary to perform the proper procedures and repairs , but that is a topic for another post. Reasons for Needing Arthroscopic Knee Surgery
The stitches will stay in until they see the Surgeon again or some Doctors allow the Physical Therapist to remove the stitches prior to the patients two week follow up with the Surgeon. Either way, usually it only takes 7-14 days for the scope holes to heal and stitches to come out. When Can I Walk after Arthroscopic Knee Surgery?
When Do You Go Home After Knee Arthroscopic Surgery
Unlike open surgery, arthroscopic surgery generally does not require a hospital stay. Patients usually go home the same day. Any crutches or canes required prior to surgery will be needed after surgery. Follow-up visits will be scheduled within about a week, at which point dressings will be removed.
Exercises Am I Still Doing To Strengthen The Knee
I continue to go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week. I also try to swim and ride my bike several times each week.
All three exercises are helping to build up and maintain the strength in my knee and my range of motion.
In the gym I use several machines: leg press, leg pulls and leg lifts. I do calf raises and calf stretches. I do squats with the exercise ball on my back against a wall.
I also continue to strengthenmy hips by doing bridges and using bands.
For range-of-motion the most helpful exercise for me is using the large exercise ball, lying on my back, heels on the ball and pulling my legs forward and back.
I would not discourage any specific exercises that I have been doing. All of the exercises were prescribed by my physical therapists.
I would, however, caution you to be conservative with the amount of weight you use. You dont have to keep adding weight.
My therapist suggested I get to a comfortable weight and then increase repetitions. At this point I am working on strength and on maintaining the growth that I have made.
I am not trying to add weight and increase personal bests.
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Getting Back To Normal Walking Patterns After Hip Surgery
In this study, researchers from the Gait and Posture Lab at the University of Montreal in Canada compare walking patterns between patients who had a total hip replacement versus a surface replacement arthroplasty. An earlier study by Mont et al comparing these two groups reported a slower walking speed and decreased muscle force in the hip abductor muscle of the hip.
Results for the patients in the previous study were reported for six to 18 months after surgery. The effects of different implants on gait pattern were measured six to eight months after surgery in this study. The authors thought that a tighter time frame might give them a better way to compare these two patient groups.
Hip joint resurfacing was introduced several years ago to help younger patients who are more active and who would likely dislocate or wear out a total hip replacement. Surgeons found a way to replace the surface of the joint without removing the bone and replacing the entire joint. Bone is saved because the femoral head isn’t cut off. And it isn’t necessary to put a long stem down into the canal of the femur since the head isn’t replaced.
They tried to keep the surgical groups fairly simple in order to make clean comparisons. For example, no one in the surgical groups had any other hip or knee problems that could affect the way they walked. No one was obese, had a neurologic problem of any kind, or had back pain .
Walking The Second Week After Knee Replacement Surgery
After my third home therapy session my therapist began taking me on walks outside the house. During my first walk outside I used a walking pole.
The walking poles were extremely helpful for balance and allowed me to support my legs by putting some weight on my arms. You can check out my article on the best walking poles after knee replacement here.
I walked down my driveway and on to the sidewalk for about 50 yards and then turned around and walked back to the house. The therapist walked behind me encouraging me not to limp and to work on good technique.
During this first walk I relied heavily on my poles. My balance was a little shaky but I took my time and completed the task.
I was still taking the pain medication so the walking was not painful. She told me that I was to continue outside walking after each of my 3 daily workouts.
My walking followed my therapy workouts and my knee swelled from the workout and the walking. After walking I immediately elevated my leg and applied ice. This routine continued throughout the first two weeks after my surgery.
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Walking The Day After Knee Replacement
The morning after my surgery was my second opportunity to walk. My IVs were no longer attached and with the walker I walked to the bathroom and back to the bed where the physical therapist was waiting to take me on a short walk down the hall.
I walked down the hall by four adjacent rooms and turned around and walked back to my room. The physical therapist congratulated me on my success and said she would be back later in the morning to give me a stair test.
When she returned she gave me the choice of walking with the walker or riding in a wheel chair. I opted to walk. It turned out to be a longer walk, about 50 yards each way.
When I arrived at the physical therapy office there was a set of 4 stairs to walk up and down. She explained the technique I should use: good leg up first going up and bad leg first going down with a tight grip on the rail.
I completed the task successfully and walked back to my room about ten oclock. At noon I had my next opportunity to walk.
It was a short walk to the wheel chair that would take me out to the car waiting to take me home. At the car I used the walker to help position myself for entry in to the car.
When I arrived at my home I used the walker to go from the garage to my recliner in the living room. After arriving home that first day I only got up with the walker to use the bathroom.
When Do The Stitches Come Out After Arthroscopic Knee Surgery
The stitches will stay in until they see the Surgeon again or some Doctors allow the Physical Therapist to remove the stitches prior to the patients two week follow up with the Surgeon. Either way, usually it only takes 7-14 days for the scope holes to heal and stitches to come out. When Can I Walk after Arthroscopic Knee Surgery?
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How Soon Will I Be Up And About
The staff will help you to get up and walk about as quickly as possible. If you’ve had keyhole surgery or are on an enhanced recovery programme, you may be able to walk on the same day as your operation. Generally, you’ll be helped to stand within 12 to 24 hours after your operation.
Walking with a frame or crutches is encouraged. Most people are able to walk independently with sticks after about a week.
During your stay in hospital, a physiotherapist will teach you exercises to help strengthen your knee. You can usually begin these the day after your operation. It’s important to follow the physiotherapist’s advice to avoid complications or dislocation of your new joint.
It’s normal to have initial discomfort while walking and exercising, and your legs and feet may be swollen.
You may be put on a passive motion machine to restore movement in your knee and leg. This support will slowly move your knee while you are in bed. It helps to decrease swelling by keeping your leg raised and helps improve your circulation.
Walking The Day Of Knee Replacement
Four hours after the surgery and two hours after leaving the recovery room a physical therapist came in to my room and got me on my feet. After disconnecting the air and ice cuffs she had me stand up next to my bed with the aid of a walker.
She showed me some simple exercises to do while standing. Since I did not have a catheter she asked me if I would walk to the bathroom for the first time.
My son rolled my IVs next to me and I walked a short distance to the bathroom. It took a few minutes for me to complete the task of urinating standing up.
I then walked back to my bed. I did not feel any pain during this first walk as I was heavily medicated. It was a slow walk.
I didnt have good balance and I relied on the walker for support. My leg felt very tight. There was a great deal of swelling and the doctor had repositioned my leg that had begun to bow inward over the years.
Once in bed the staff reconnected the air and ice cuffs. My entire leg was very swollen after surgery so it was hard to tell if this first walk added to the swelling.
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Knee Replacement Range Of Motion: Post Surgery
Not only do people have different ROM potentials, to begin with, people also heal at different rates. With that in mind, here is the Knee Replacement Range of Motion, based on studies of some total knee replacement patients.
Stage 1 65-90° flexion. This amount of flexion allows for walking without any assistance, standing, and some stair climbing . Before you leave the hospital, your doctor will be looking for flexion as close to 90°.
Stage 2 115° flexion. At this point, you should have made noticeable improvements from your early recovery days. This means moving around normally, bending to the ground, sitting down, and even tying shoelaces!
Stage 3 A goal to hit 115°- 120 Degree Knee Flexionor greater should be the aim. The timeframe for this varies but should be consistently working towards. A flexion of 125° is great and 135° is excellent .
Throughout each stage of the Knee Range of Motion Chart, its important that you keep working on your surgical knee and artificial knee prosthesis. The first 3 months of your recovery are critical for working out your new knee to gain back flexibility and movement.
If you stay idle, inconsistent, or not fully committed to gaining back range of motion, your knee may become stiff. If your knee becomes stiff, you risk the need for revision surgery and a joint that will cause lifelong issues.
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Recommended Products For Walking After Knee Replacement
I would highly recommend that you have a walker in your hospital room from the get-go. The hospital provided a walker for me. I assume I was billed for it.
Without the walker, I could not have gotten out of bed so soon. I needed it to use the bathroom and to take the walking and stair tests that allowed me to go home .
The cane felt just as comfortable as the walking pole. The reason I chose to transition from the walker to the walking pole was that I had two walking poles and I didnt have a cane. If I had a cane I may have opted for it.
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What The Clicking Means
While any clicking following a knee replacement can be unsettling and even annoying, it is generally not a problem. It is not unusual for people to be able to hear or feel their knee replacement after they have surgery.
Usually, a little reassurance that nothing harmful is taking place is all that is needed in these situations. Your surgeon can examine your knee, and possibly obtain tests such as an X-ray, to ensure nothing is wrong with the implant.
Noises can come from a number of possible sources, including the metal and plastic implants, tendons, and scar tissue around the knee. Determining the source of the noise is something your surgeon can help you with. However, take comfort in the fact that many patients describe clicks and other noises that come from their knee replacement.
How I Progress My Patients With Walking
I always request my patient to not take pain medications at least two hours before my arrival, otherwise, the pain medications mask the pain. I need unmasked pain responses from my patient during treatment to be sure the treatment is within the patients pain tolerance limits.
At the initial evaluation, I walk my patient, usually with a front wheeled walker, to the distance that they begin to feel like that is as far as they should go. I request they walk until their body gives them the first sign that they should consider stopping.
Since I am asking the patient to stop at the first signs of discomfort, I have to pick a walking route that will allow the patient to be seated as soon as any discomfort is felt. This means I cant walk the patient in a straight line until discomfort , so I pace out a 50-foot lap within the home that we walk until the patient needs to sit down.
Usually, that first session, the tolerated distance is somewhere between 150 feet and 500 feet.I always stop the patient at 500 feet on the initial visit, even if they feel they can go further.Many years of experience have taught me that allowing the patient to walk further than 500 feet on the first visit is safe for all my patients, but allowing them to go further on the first visit can cause some patients to experience increased pain after walking further.
I do not want them to walk as far as they walked with me, only ½ that distance, but to repeat that distance 2-3 times daily.
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Getting A Proper Gait After Knee Replacement
Lets talk about your gait after knee replacement, your walking pattern. One really important thing is to get that extension, the straightening of your knee. When your knee is completely straight it should be at zero degrees, and thats what you want to strive for following a total knee replacement surgery. When we walk normally, our heel should hit the ground first, and then we should roll through our foot to the ball of our foot and our toes. And thats what we push off with for the next phase of the walking pattern. Again, we hit with our heel, we roll through our foot and we push off with our ball of our foot and our toes. That first step, when the heel hits first, is called heel strike. Then once we roll through and we push off with the ball of our foot and our toes, that is called toe-off. Those are two of the phases that Ill be talking about today in reference to getting that extension at zero.
Knee Replacement Recovery Timeline
Most patients are discharged one day after surgery. On your discharge day, you may be able to stand and walk out of your hospital room, or you may need assistance with walking, which is completely normal. In the weeks following, most patients gradually expand their physical abilities. Every case is unique. Your surgeon and your physical therapist will coordinate to progress you as quickly as possible. Although everyone progressed at a different pace based on numerous factors, some common timeframes are:
- 3 weeks after surgery: At this point, you should be able to walk for more than 10 minutes at a time, without a walker or crutches. Your physical therapist may challenge you to go on longer walks and stop using an assistive device like a cane.
- 6 weeks after surgery: Between weeks 4 and 6, you may be able to start driving again, if your doctor clears you.
- 12 weeks after surgery: Typical physical therapy programs last for up to 12 weeks. At this point, you should be able to walk for several blocks at a time and may even be able to pick up hobbies like swimming and cycling. As your therapy program ends around the 12-week mark, stick with your walking schedule and gradually challenge yourself to walk further and longer.
- One year after surgery: You will continue to make progress for an entire year after knee replacement. By this time, your knee should reach its full strength and you should be able to return to most activities.
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How Long Does It Take To Walk Or Work After Meniscus Repair Surgery
10/10/2019
Meniscus tears of the knee are one of the most common problems seen by orthopedic surgeons. The meniscus is a c-shaped pad of cartilage that acts as the shock absorber of the knee and lower stress on the bones and cartilage. It can be pretty painful when damaged.
All patients and meniscus tears are different, and there are many variables when deciding how to treat these tears. The treatment of meniscus tears usually falls into one of two categories:
- A true repair that involves sowing the tissue back together with stitches
- Damage that is not repairable, treated with partial meniscectomy, or trimming out the torn portion of the meniscus
The treatment approach for a particular meniscus tear depends on many factors. For one, there are many different types of meniscus tears large or small, simple or complex, acute or chronic, associated with arthritis or not, and more. In addition, we have to take into account the location of the tear with regard to its blood supply. If there is no blood supply it may have a hard time healing or scarring back together. As you can see, there are many variables to consider and it would be impossible to apply a one size fits all type of approach to the treatment of meniscus tears. This is where physician expertise and experience becomes important.