At The Woodlands Sports Medicine Centre, we pride ourselves on delivering outstanding care to residents of Conroe and The Woodlands, Texas. That includes those who rely on us for total knee replacement surgery, one of our most common procedures.
If you’re considering a total knee replacement or you’ve already booked your procedure, planning for recovery might be a top priority. We’re here today to discuss what those initial weeks could look like, to give you the information you need to prepare ahead of time.
The first few days after a total knee replacement require some adjustment. If you’re used to handling numerous tasks throughout each day, it might be difficult to shift into a slower pace.
But your body needs time to heal properly, and pushing too hard, too fast can only lead to trouble. As you plan for your recovery, build in plenty of downtime to give you the time and space you need to heal.
This might look like asking for help around the house, or frontloading your tasks at work so you can take time off to recover. If you have kids or grandchildren in the home, make sure everyone in the household understands that you won’t be functioning at your normal speed for a while.
For many people, the mental challenges of knee replacement recovery are more difficult than the physical hurdles. Give yourself grace during this time, and know that you’ll be back to full capacity relatively quickly.
As you move through the stages of recovery, you might be surprised at just how much activity you need to maintain to keep the healing process moving forward. While you need plenty of rest to heal, your body also needs a certain amount of movement.
Walking is going to be the central focus of your physical activities in the aftermath of joint replacement surgery. This simple, gentle form of exercise keeps blood flowing to the surgical site, which is a critical part of tissue repair.
Frequent movement also helps keep the knee joint moving freely. You may need to start out using a walker, cane, or crutches, but before long you’ll be walking unassisted.
Adhere to the guidelines our office provides after your total knee replacement. Avoid the urge to push past the limits, but also avoid any urge to stay sitting down for long periods of time. Short, frequent rounds of walking can keep you on track for a speedy and uneventful recovery.
Everyone has a unique experience of post-surgical discomfort. Some can transition to over-the-counter pain medication within a very short period of time, while others need to continue using prescription pain meds for several weeks.
Pay close attention to how your body responds after surgery. While a degree of discomfort is to be expected, you shouldn’t be in intense pain. In the early days, stick to the pain management dosing schedule provided by your specialist. You can soon reduce your meds to an as-needed basis.
It’s important to remind you to never drive, operate heavy equipment, or make important decisions while taking prescription pain medication. We want you to emerge from your recovery better than ever, not facing a whole new set of injuries!
Your recovery journey is shaped by a number of factors, including your age, overall health, and what your daily life looks like both before and after your procedure. Don’t feel that you have to “measure up” to anyone else’s experience, whether it’s someone you know in real life or stories shared online.
If you have additional questions or concerns about what your first six weeks after total knee replacement might look like, we would love to meet with you and share more information. You can set up a visit at The Woodlands Sports Medicine Centre online or over the phone today.
