Recovering From Your Knee Replacement
by Julia Gregory
Injury and age can both take a toll on the joints in your body. Knees are especially susceptible to wear and tear over time, resulting in the need for many people to undergo total knee replacements in order to alleviate pain and restore proper joint function. If you need to have a knee replacement, preparing for the recovery process is vital.
Here are three tips that you can use to ensure your total knee replacement recovery process goes smoothly.
1. Keep a supply of ice available at all times.
Once you are discharged from the hospital, you need to ensure that you always have access to ice while you are recovering from your total knee replacement. Ice can serve a number of useful purposes throughout the recovery process.
Icing your knee regularly will help you alleviate your pain. Ice can also act as an anti-inflammatory tool to help you control swelling around the newly replaced joint. Be sure that you keep a supply of ice available at all times, or invest in several ice packs that can be used to help you through the recovery process.
2. Elevate your ankle while resting.
You will likely spend a significant amount of time sitting or lying down during the initial stages of your recovery process. Although these resting periods might seem like passive activities, you should be taking action during your resting periods to help you maximize your range of motion.
Elevating your ankle by placing a towel that has been rolled into a tube shape underneath it can help allow your knee to extend slightly downward while straightened. This maximizes extension and helps to ensure that you will heal with a full range of motion following your total knee replacement.
3. Spend time doing physical therapy exercises each day.
Your surgeon will probably have you work with a physical therapist to help restore your range of motion as you heal from your total knee replacement. Although you may not be seeing the physical therapist on a daily basis, it is essential that you are performing the exercises that he or she prescribes for you on a daily basis.
These daily activities will help you condition your new knee to move properly and bear the weight of your body quicker, allowing for proper recovery.
Being prepared for the recovery process prior to knee replacement will help you get through this major surgery with ease. Be sure that you have ice available at all times, that you elevate your ankle while resting, and that you do daily physical therapy for proper recovery after a total knee replacement. For assistance, talk to a professional like Omaha Orthopedic Clinic & Sports Medicine PC.
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About Me
The decision to move one of my parents into assisted living was one of the most difficult I have ever made. I had extreme feelings of guilt that led to me being at the facility with my parent practically around the clock. It took a few months before I realized that I could not let my own life fall apart from the guilt I was feeling. I also learned that my parent was fine without me constantly hovering around. Since that time, I have had several friends express similar feelings of guilt. I started this blog to help others in the same situation understand not only their feelings about assisted living, but those of their parents.