How long does it take to recover from knee replacement surgery?

When you undergo Total Knee Replacement, the recovery and rehabilitation play a decisive role in aiding you to resume your routine life. 

It can aid your healing process and also hasten it and substantially improve the percentage for success in the long-term. 

You must get committed to a plan and encourage yourself to perform maximally everyday especially during the critical 12 weeks of recovery.

Day 1: It is extremely important to begin using your implanted knee as soon as possible. Hence, patients are motivated to start a movement the very day of their knee replacement surgery, with the help of a walker or any other device.  Your PT will also teach you the ways to get in and out of bed.                                                                                                                                            

Day 2: A patient on a standard note remains in the hospital for a couple of days, or longer if required. Some patients may even be discharged the same day of their surgery if their medical team is confident of their safety. Patients who need additional attention or do not have any home support may be shifted from the hospital to a rehabilitation center, but every attempt is made to aid the patient to move back to their home environment with extra help.

At discharge, you should be able to;

1) Bend your knee well, minimally up to 90 degrees

2) Dress and bathe by your self

3) Depend on your walker to a minimum extent

 4) Get in or out of your bed with minimal aid

5) Walk at least 25 feet and navigate stairs using the assistive walker.

6) Achieve 90 degrees ROM of the implanted knee.

Physiotherapy in outpatient Total Knee Replacement patients is classically prescribed after discharge and usually is started within a week post-discharge from the hospital. A physiotherapist usually performs or aids the patient in knee strengthening activities, activities to increase range of motion of the knee and decrease scar tissue formation and also teaches the ways of using walking assistance devices such as walkers. Your PT may instruct you to walk for a short duration using the walker. The PT may also ask you to use a regular Western toilet rather than a bedpan or even try to navigate a few stairs.                                                                                                                

The majority of patients can attain the capacity of self-care and regain the capacity to perform daily activities within 6 weeks and also can drive within 3-6 weeks. Complete recovery may require 4 to 6 months or even a full year and only then, a patient may feel the total benefits of TKR. If you have followed your PT schedule, you should see a remarkable improvement in your implanted knee by 4 - 6 weeks.  Mostly, people experience full recovery or nearly full recovery after a year.

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