You may be offered knee replacement surgery if: you have severe pain, swelling and stiffness in your knee joint and your mobility is reduced. your knee pain is so severe that it interferes with your quality of life and sleep. everyday tasks, such as shopping or getting out of the bath, are difficult or impossible.
Patients who can walk on level ground without much difficulty, or who only have pain when going up and down stairs, are not good candidates for knee replacement surgery.
There is a range of accepted weight ranges, but the current standard is that anyone obese (greater than 100 pounds over ideal weight or a BMI of roughly 40-45) should not consider joint replacement.
It may be time to have knee replacement surgery if you have: Severe knee pain that limits your everyday activities. Moderate or severe knee pain while resting, day or night. Long-lasting knee inflammation and swelling that doesn't get better with rest or medications.
Common symptoms include pain localized to the joint, stiffness, loss of flexibility, a grinding sensation, swelling, feel weaker, and tenderness to touch. In order to make a clinical diagnosis, a physical examination and imaging studies (usually x-rays) are utilized.
The average recovery time from knee replacement surgery is approximately six months, but it can take roughly 12 months to fully return to physically demanding activities.
Older patients who are overweight may be advised to lose weight ahead of surgery, but they may still benefit from partial or total knee replacement whether they lose that weight or not.
As knee arthritis progresses, the knee becomes much looser and more unstable. In some cases, this is mild. In other cases, it is substantial enough that cause the patient to fall. Patients who have bone-on-bone arthritis and are starting to fall because of it should strongly consider surgery.
Your mobility and recovery may be affected by putting knee surgery off too long. If you are not active due to knee pain, the muscles in your legs will lose strength, slowing your recovery and making physical therapy even more challenging due to loss of muscle mass and mobility.
Kneeling is one of the movements that knee osteoarthritis can increase the difficulty of. So, many people want to know if they'll be able to kneel after their knee replacement surgery. For most patients, the answer is yes.
Recovery is slow
While it's different for everyone and depends on the type of knee surgery you've had, many people are surprised by how long it takes to recover. The time it takes to start doing simple tasks around the home, get back to work and importantly bending your new and improved knee may catch you by surprise.
You can expect some pain and swell for a few months after surgery. Improved surgical techniques and new technology, such as robotic arm-assisted technology, makes the knee replacement recovery process quicker and less painful.
However, total knee replacement does not restore the ease associated with normal knee function. Research shows that people climb stairs slower after knee replacement; they also have a reduction in muscle strength around the knee and complete less total knee work.
Consistent Knee Pain After Surgery
It's normal for patients to feel knee pain for a few weeks after surgery. The pain should wear off as your knee heals. Your surgery may have failed if you continue experiencing pain, swelling, and bruising around your knee months after surgery. This calls for revision surgery.
Delaying Knee Replacement Surgery May Diminish Health
Patients who are relatively healthy when they have a knee replaced are more likely to recover sooner. The longer patients wait and allow their knee issues to affect them, the more it impacts overall health.
The answer: a resounding yes! In fact, people with knee osteoarthritis who walk for exercise are significantly less likely to go on to develop worse pain, according to a 2022 study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Severe knee cartilage loss makes walking, sitting, standing, squatting, and going up and down stairs extremely painful. People with a total loss of knee cartilage can benefit from joint injections. In many cases, surgery including a total knee replacement is needed to treat no cartilage in the knee.
Most people have much less pain after knee replacement surgery and are able to return to many of their activities. But as with any surgery, there are some risks, including: Lack of good range of motion. After surgery, some people can't bend their knee far enough to do their daily activities, even after several weeks.
When you put off surgery for too long, you can experience a continued loss of mobility and function in your joint. Plus, your body continues to age and your risk increases for developing other health conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Genetics notwithstanding, Sheth said there are some factors that can potentially stave off a knee replacement. Keeping body weight down eases the impact on the knee. And when exercising, Sheth said avoiding activities that cause pounding or other possible trauma to the knee can better preserve cartilage.
TKA patients begin rehabilitation during the seven-day bedrest period, with the goals of decreasing swelling, increasing ROM, promoting normal leg control and promoting normal gait with an assistive device.
Weeks after surgery
As the weeks go by you should notice your pain lessens and your range of movement improves. By the second or third week after surgery, you may be able to get around with just a walking stick or nothing at all.
You will usually be in hospital for 3 to 5 days, depending on what progress you make and what type of knee replacement you have.