Why It Is Important To Commit To Physical Therapy After A Knee Replacement
Osteoarthritis is among the most common reasons for a knee replacement. The stiffness and weakening of the joints can make it difficult to perform everyday activities, lowering a patient’s quality of life. Depending on the severity of the condition, a doctor and surgeon may recommend a replacement.
Following a knee replacement surgery, seeking treatment at a Louisville physical therapy office is paramount. Physical therapists can create a custom rehabilitation plan that complements a surgeon’s and gets the patient on the road to recovery. If you are uncertain about physical therapy following a knee replacement, consider its five benefits.
1. Improve Your Blood Circulation and Heal Quicker
In general, exercise helps improve blood circulation and can accelerate healing. While any exercise is good for most people, patients recovering from knee replacements must focus on specific exercises and dynamic movements.
A physical therapist creates a rehabilitation and therapy plan based on the patient’s needs. For knee replacement, most of the exercise and therapy will focus on improving circulation to the knee and mobility of the leg from the hip to the foot. Therapists may also focus on developing core strength to aid in balance.
2. Rebuild Muscle Strength Around Your Knee
Focusing on the knee and the muscles surrounding it is uncomfortable but necessary. The replacement surgery, in effect, damaged or injured the muscles around the knee to fit the leg with the new knee. Therapy aims to redevelop those muscles and the cohesion with the foreign part now in the body.
If patients resist therapy and exercise because it is uncomfortable or painful, they risk permanent disability. The body must learn to work with the replacement as it heals.
3. Improve Balance and Mobility
Attending physical therapy Evansville will help knee replacement patients improve their balance and mobility. Walking with a foreign object in your body feels strange, but it will become natural over time.
The strangeness of the implant and the weakness following surgery mean a patient will struggle to walk and stay upright initially. However, with enough work and effort, they may find they walk and balance better than before their operation, especially given the time and commitment to heal.
4. Ease Pain and Reduce Inflammation
The primary purpose of physical therapy following a knee replacement is to improve the patient’s quality of life through the easing of pain, reduction of inflammation, and the rebuilding of muscles and balance. Initial exercises following surgery will be somewhat uncomfortable and possibly painful. Still, given time, they help calm pain by reducing inflammation and reducing the risk of severe scar tissue in the joint and surrounding area.
5. Release Endorphins
Finally, physical therapy can make a patient feel better through the release of endorphins. Known as the body’s happiness hormone, endorphins are a form of natural pain relief.
Are you getting ready to undergo a knee replacement, or are you currently recovering from an operation? Contact a Louisville physical therapy office to schedule an appointment to discuss recovery treatments and options. Your mobility may depend on it.
