Have Knee Surgery? How Physical Therapy Can Help You
If you had knee surgery, you are likely in a lot of pain right now. It will take time to heal but there are things you can do to make the process go a little faster. Your doctor will likely give you many tips to help. One thing your doctor may recommend is having physical therapy after your surgery.
Start at the Hospital
In most cases, the physical therapist will visit you in the hospital to start therapy early. One thing they will have you do is to sit on the side of the bed with your feet dangling. They will ask you to move your leg back and forth as much as you can. The therapist will show you how to elevate your leg to help with muscle strengthening and swelling.
The therapist will tell you how to apply ice to your knee, as well as how to wear compression stockings, which will help with swelling. In addition, they will show you how to get in and out of a chair and bed safely. If you need help, the physical therapist can show you how to use a walker or crutches.
After Surgery
After a couple of weeks, you will start more intense physical therapy. The therapist will have you do exercises to strengthen the muscles in your leg and knee. You will do a range of motion exercises to help get your knee moving the right way. This is important as the range of motion is needed to properly walk in the right way. Because your knee will be painful and swelled up, you likely will not want to move it at all. This will cause your knee to become stiff and even more painful.
Fortunately, the therapist will show you a variety of strengthening exercises to help strengthen your lower leg and thigh muscles that help support your knee. They will then decide the type of strengthening exercises that are best for you.
In addition to this, the physical therapist will teach you about balance training. This is to help teach your knee to respond to things like rocky or uneven pavement or sidewalks. Once you are able to walk with all your weight on your knee, your physical therapist will teach you more exercises to help you turn. They may ask you to use a balance board to help with this.
Your physical therapist can give you much more information on how they can help you with recovery. Contact a physical therapist for more information.