Knee Replacement Surgery

It is very person dependent on recovery time.

How is your strength and ROM now, before surgery? Are you currently in the gym?

While you may not set any new squat or deadlift PRs due to the knee replacement, there is plenty you can do for upper body and conditioning work.

I would suggest doing a month or so of “prehab” sessions with a PT in conjunction to your gym routine. You aren’t going g to drastically improve during this time but you will allow your brain and body to learn what the movements and interventions are supposed to feel like.

If your PT clinic doesn’t have some actual gym equipment, search for one that does.

After you are discharged it'll be an average of 12 weeks of PT. The first week after your surgery you are going to feel like you made the worst mistake of your life. It's going to hurt like nothing you've ever known in your life (for the average person). After that first week it'll start feeling a little bit better and will exponentially get better after that. It will not feel like "your" knee until 12 months or so, but you will be able to do the things you normally do well before that. Three months after your surgery you'll be active. Playing golf, no problem walking, etc... At 6 months is when you'll probably be doing squats and deadlifts etc...

Do's:

Extension: It's going to hurt bad. I can't reiterate that enough. But suck it up and get as much ROM as fast as you can. Especially extension! Get full extension (being able to straighten out your leg completely). That is the most important thing for your everyday activities like walking.

Flexion: Really you're looking at trying to get at least 115 degrees. More is better, but 115 will let you accomplish pretty much whatever activity you want to do. Again, you will hate me for saying this, but suck it up. It's going to hurt.

Don'ts:

Don't be a bitch. Suck it up. Don't get pissed at your PT. Total Knees hurt bad. I don't envy what you are about to go through. And to be honest I've never gone through it. I've gone through some pretty painful surgeries/rehab myself, but not a TKA. Which, to be honest, is maybe one of the most painful and miserable rehabs for a patient. I've rehabbed a bunch and they all usually follow the same pattern.

Final Thoughts:

First 3 days after surgery you will want Full Extension and 90 degrees of Flexion. It takes 6 weeks, or so, for the bone to heal and that hardware to solidify.

Also, don't let this discourage you. If you are at the point where you are contemplating a TKA, then that means the pain and the arthritis in your knee is limiting you and your ability to live an active life. The consequences of not doing it will be much more detrimental to your health than the pain of rehab.

Good luck with everything. I hope that helps.

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PrezCock

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Excellent post. That's a good post to prepare people contemplating TKA, but I would add that they aren't all as painful as many describe. Some people sail right through the recovery process without as much pain.

It is very person-specific, and I wish modern medicine could figure that out a lot better.