When to start physical therapy after total knee replacement
Knee Replacement Surgery Exercises | Knee Replacement Recovery | Phase 1
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hi i'm dr. matthew bows and welcome to
our video series proper therapy
exercises are important for recovery
from most orthopedic conditions I've
designed this series to provide you with
up-to-date therapy regimens that you can
access at home in the gym or on the road
I hope you find these videos helpful and
best of luck in your recovery
it's important to get the knee out fully
straight early on in the post-op period
avoid putting pillows underneath the
knee which can help it heal in a bent
position we prefer these heel props
which allow some space underneath your
knee so with gravity the knee can fall
back into full extension this is
important to make sure you don't have a
limp after surgery if it heals with a
little bit of hitch like like that's
shown that's when you walk with a limp
you can do this on a towel roll at home
it's important to start lightly getting
the strength back around the muscles
this is a very simple stretch just
tightening the muscles in front of the
thigh and holding the contraction for
five seconds
progressing with gentle strengthening
these are straight leg raises try and
lift the heel about 12 to 18 inches off
the table or the floor and hold that
position for a one or two count at the
top
again with hip abduction
you can add some light ankle weights to
increase resistance
we also strengthen the inner part of the
hip muscle or the hip joint lifts up
across the midline of the body and hold
for one or two count
it's important to do calf pumps or ankle
pump exercises flexing and extending
your ankle to tighten up the calf muscle
general range of motion starts by
sliding the heel along the table or the
floor you can lift up under your thigh
to assist in getting your knee bent up
as well start getting the knee moving
light strengthening proceeds with some
knee extension exercises come from the
knee bent about 90 degrees only up to a
40 degrees I don't like you coming fully
straight at this point as it can
irritate the front of the knee we start
doing balancing exercises just with some
light weight shifts with your feet
staggered front and back hold on to the
wall if you need to steady yourself just
getting used to transferring your weight
and developing the muscles to get your
balance back this will help getting you
in a position to get your normal gait
back
you also do side to side weight chef's
put the bulk of the weight on one side
hold for a few seconds and go back to
the other side
kneecap mobility is important as soon as
the wound in the front of your knee is
healed enough you can start mobilizing
the patella
this helps prevent scar tissue formation
around the kneecap and helps improve
your knee bending and knee function
after surgery
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you
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