Arthroplasty – Recovery Timeline

Transcript

The first 10 to 14 days are the most critical part of your recovery process in terms of watching out for acute complications. And you want to make sure you have a good communication with your doctor throughout this period, if there’s anything concerning or questions you have throughout this process. Approximately two weeks after your joint replacement surgery, we’ll remove the bandage completely and answer any questions you may have about your recovery process. Approximately two weeks after joint replacement, we’ll have you come into the office where together we will remove your bandage, revealing all absorbable sutures underneath. We’ll answer any further questions you have about your recovery process. From two weeks following a joint replacement all the way up until six weeks is also a very critical point of your recovery process. Typically many patients will then start to drop their ambulatory aids, either the walker or the cane, and become more confident with their joint.

Your recovery from two to six weeks is highly dependent on whether or not we did a hip or a knee replacement surgery. For our hips, we have to realize that the implant itself is growing into the bone surrounding it. So instead of focusing more on physical therapy and exercises, instead, for hip replacement, we really want to focus on allowing the muscles surrounding the hip to just relax and start to recover on their own, focusing more on simply mobility, walking, and gaining confidence in your new hip replacement. For knee replacement, we focus much more on physical therapy. We want to really get that knee to be moving. An important part of satisfaction after knee replacement surgery is the range of motion of the knee replacement. This is why we focus so much on the physical therapy following knee replacement in order to gain back that range of motion following knee replacement. After the surgery, the knee wants to be stiff, and it becomes more and more painful to improve the mobility of the knee. Physical therapists are an integral part in the recovery process of knee replacement surgery, allowing the patient to improve their range of motion, which ultimately equates to satisfaction after knee replacement surgery. Because we don’t have such a rigorous physical therapy program with our hip replacements, the recovery does tend to be slightly less painful.