Why Is Physiotherapy After Knee Surgery Important?

Physiotherapy After Knee Surgery

Our knees play a vital role in our physical movements like walking, sitting or standing, etc. However, there can be many reasons for getting knee surgery. It may be due to an underlying medical condition or injury in the knees. After the surgery, the doctors usually recommend getting physical rehabilitation for faster recovery. There are many reasons to undergo physiotherapy after knee surgery.

Here we’ll check out why physical therapy is necessary. Also, we will learn the best exercises for quick healing.

Benefits Of Physiotherapy After Knee Surgery

Ordinarily, a physiotherapy exercise program is quite essential after knee surgery. That’s because physical therapy helps to restore the normal functioning of the joint. To illustrate, here are some crucial benefits of physiotherapy after knee surgery.

• Normal Movement – A surgical procedure can hinder the normal movement of the knees. Thus, physical therapy workouts are effective in restoring the normal movement of the knee joints.

• Restoration of Strength – After surgery, the bones and surrounding muscles also become weak. Hence, the doctors always create the perfect physiotherapy plan. Physical therapy helps to restore joint strength and mobility.

• Reduce Pain & Swelling – Swelling and pain are inevitable after an operation or surgery. For this reason, the physiotherapy programs emphasize healing the after-effects of knee joint surgeries. Thus, a doctor will recommend the best physical exercises for you. These exercises will help alleviate the pain and swelling from the knee area.

• Facilitate Physical Movements – After knee surgery, you need to learn to walk and perform physical activities like a baby. In other words, you will need to slowly work on the movement of your knees to return to normal.

Hence, a physiotherapist will help you to walk. It will help restore the normal range of motion for your knees. For this reason, you’ll need to perform various physical therapies. Your doctor will assign special physiotherapy exercises for your case.

• Stimulate Blood Circulation – Most of the surgeries involve incisions and other surgical procedures. Thus, the development of blood clots is quite common after surgery. So it’s essential to make sure that the blood clots don’t form. Also, there should be no interruption in blood circulation. For this reason, physical therapy is crucial to stimulate the flow of blood after surgery.

Physiotherapy Programs

According to your need, there are different types of physiotherapy programs available. To illustrate, here are the three main physiotherapy programs for you to select.

• Home Care – After undergoing knee surgery, your surgeon will recommend the assistance of a physiotherapist. That’s because you will need an expert while performing the recovery exercises.

In Home-Care, your doctors will recommend a physiotherapist to your case. Thus, the therapist will come to your place to assist you in performing the physical exercises. These exercises will help in improving and restoring the mobility of your knee joint.

• Physiotherapy Center – On the other hand, you can always go to a physiotherapy center to get treatment. It is a cheaper option than getting a physiotherapist to visit your place. Thus, you can save a lot of money. Also, an expert will help you perform the exercises safely and correctly.

• Self Care – In cases involving a minor knee surgery, the doctors may recommend exercising yourself. However, the doctors will give your proper instructions for doing the exercises carefully and correctly. Furthermore, you can always check how-to videos on the internet.

When To Start Physiotherapy Treatment?

Generally, the doctors recommend starting the physiotherapy treatment immediately after surgery. In other words, the patients mostly begin their physiotherapy treatment the next day of surgery.

However, if you’re experiencing mild pain, you may start therapy on the same day of the surgery. In the beginning, you will perform simple exercises like sitting, standing, and walking with support.

Thus, the doctors may provide you with a walker to walk in the first few days. Furthermore, the doctor may tell you to perform simple foot movements. All these will help to improve the mobility of your legs.

Common Physiotherapy Exercises

Here are some of the most common physiotherapy exercises after knee surgery.

• Knee Straightening – In this exercise, you will need to straighten your knees slowly. Also, you may have to tighten your thigh muscles. At first, each set may include 10-20 repetitions of the steps followed by one-minute rest.

• Straight Leg Lift – As the name suggests, this exercise involves lifting a straight leg in the air. For the first few days, you may ask a family member to offer support to the legs. After that, you’ll need to perform 15-20 repetitions per set without help.

• Ankle Thrust – In this exercise, you’ll be performing forward and backward movements with your feet. Thus, your ankles will act as the focal point for this workout. You will be performing 15-20 repetitions per set.

• Knee Bends – This exercise involves the bending of knees while getting the support of the bed. Thus, you will be bending your knees to slide your foot towards your buttocks. Make sure that your entire foot is on the bed for proper support. You need to do 15-20 repetitions of this exercise per set.

• Sitting Knee Bends – For this exercise, you will be sitting on a sturdy chair. After that, extend and bend your knees slowly. For the first days, you may do this exercise with support from a family member. After few days, you’ll need to perform this exercise without any help.

Activities To Avoid

Since our knees play a vital role in most physical activities, proper care is a must after surgery. For this reason, you’ll need to avoid some physical actions or movements. Thus, here are some of the most common activities that your doctor will advise you to avoid.

• Sprinting
• Sports
• Athletics
• Jumping

The Bottom Line!

Thus, physiotherapy is very vital after knee surgery. As we all know, the human body is like a machine, which requires proper care after repairs or service. Similarly, physical therapy plays a huge role in the quicker and better recovery after an operation. A physiotherapist knows the best physical exercises for restoring the mobility and strength of knee joints.