Physical therapy plays a pivotal role in the total knee replacement recovery process. It tackles postoperative challenges like joint stiffness, knee pain, and inflammation through a series of targeted exercises, mobilizations, and massage.
At Specialized Physical Therapy, we offer personalized rehabilitation plans to ensure you return to your favorite physical activities with ease.
Overview: Total Knee Replacement
Total knee replacement surgery (or total knee arthroplasty) is an orthopedic procedure for treating severe osteoarthritis and other joint diseases. Most people consider it as a last resort to regain lost flexibility in affected knee joints.
The process involves replacing damaged bones and deteriorating—generally the femur (thigh bone), tibia (shin bone), and patella (kneecap)—with prosthetic joint surfaces. These artificial joints are primarily made of high-grade metal alloys, plastic pieces, and polymers.
Orthopedic surgeons place a spacer between these metal and/or plastic joints to promote smoother joint movement.
Total knee replacement exercises are an essential part of the rehabilitation phase. These exercises can restore joint mobility as you learn how to use your prosthetics. Additionally, it resolves postoperative challenges like knee pain, swelling, redness, and stiffness.
Overall, these sessions support total knee replacement recovery in a natural and noninvasive way.
Symptoms
Prepare to experience mild pain and discomfort right after your surgery.
Post-knee replacement symptoms include:
- Knee pain
- Swelling and redness in surrounding area
- Weakness with lifting the lower extremity
- Knee joint stiffness
- Mild bruising
- Difficulty walking and navigating stairs, inclines, declines
These symptoms usually subside with time.
However, you might notice swelling, tenderness, and/or pain throughout the upper and lower leg when you walk, pivot, and squat in some cases. When that happens, it’s best to seek medical attention immediately.
Causes
Total knee replacement surgery becomes necessary for patients suffering from severe osteoarthritis pain.
These individuals often have mobility issues like:
- Walking problems
- Difficulty in climbing stairs
- Trouble getting on and off a chair
Other reasons to undergo knee replacement surgery include:
- The progressive degeneration of knee joints
- Traumatic injury
- Destructive joint disease
Surgeries are performed to alleviate debilitative pain and restore lost range of motion. Our physical therapy exercises support the total knee replacement recovery process naturally.
Diagnosis
We do a comprehensive assessment of your symptoms and medical history after your total knee replacement. Our physical therapists will ask you to walk, climb stairs, and do other functional activities to observe your knee strength, flexibility, and mobility. We also look at other aspects of your post-surgery, like skin integrity and scar healing.
After this, we develop an individualized rehabilitation therapy program focusing on total knee replacement exercises. It often includes suggestions for supportive footwear and functional training.
Treatment
We support knee replacement recovery with onsite physical therapy and home-based exercises. These techniques enable patients to regain knee joint stability after the operation through muscle strength and stretching exercises. We focus on surrounding muscles to reduce the risk of scarring after surgery. When appropriate, we utilize the NEUBIE to accelerate strengthening of the knee and reduce pain around the knee.
Additionally, we offer manual therapy sessions and manipulation to offer comfort and relaxation after your knee surgery. These are performed to reduce knee pain and mitigate the risk of postoperative complications.
The rehabilitation program includes functional training aligned with individual lifestyle and movement goals. It involves everything from muscle coordination, gait and balance techniques, everyday activities (like walking and climbing stairs) to optimizing physical performance.
With our support, you will be back on your feet in no time.
Call 201-773-8851 or contact us to schedule an appointment or ask questions concerning a TKR