7 benefits that show why PT is necessary after a knee replacement

If you’re relatively young and healthy, you may be tempted to skip physical therapy after knee replacement surgery and manage your recovery on your own. Well, physical therapy is one thing you can’t really re-create without an expert to guide you.

After a knee replacement, physical therapy is absolutely necessary. Along with keeping your knee pain and swelling down and recovering your mobility, PT will help minimize the formation of scar tissue and prevent complications. Working with a therapist ensures that you’ll be able to walk and get back to your daily activities as soon as possible without aggravating your knee.

7 benefits of physical therapy for knee replacement recovery

Your physical therapist will definitely show you some stretches and exercises to keep your blood flowing through all stages of post-surgery rehab. Doing these exercises on your own doesn’t compare to having someone there to observe your movements, guide you through the motions and provide specialized treatments. 

Each patient and each surgery is different. But physical therapy is always necessary after a knee replacement because your body will be getting used to a new prosthetic joint. It will bear about half your body weight and enable you to walk. Whatever challenges you’re facing on your recovery journey, a PT can help you meet your goals and get back to living your life. 

The following are seven reasons why physical therapy is necessary after a knee replacement:

• Preventing complications — You may not be worried about complications from the surgery itself. But there are plenty of issues that can come up during recovery, like blood clots, deep vein thrombosis and ongoing stiffness. A PT can’t fix all of these problems, but they can help you prevent them.
• Easing your pain and swelling — Physical therapy isn’t just about getting your strength and mobility back. There are also PT techniques that ease pain and swelling by manipulating blood flow in and around your knee.
• Reducing scar tissue formation — After a knee replacement, you’ll need physical therapy to reduce the amount of scar tissue on all sides of your new prosthetic. A professional PT knows how to exercise your knee from every angle so you’ll end up with a minimal amount of scarring.
• Improving your range of motion — Recovering your mobility is one of the biggest reasons why physical therapy is necessary after a knee replacement. Your knee is a hinge joint that moves in one direction, but it’s part of a complex system. A PT knows how to guide you through each phase of recovery at the right pace for you.
• Strengthening your muscles — As your knee heals up, you’ll need to get your strength back in the affected leg, once again, at the right pace. Your PT will create a personalized treatment plan for you, and they may need to adjust it as you go.
• Teaching you how to do daily activities — While you’re recovering, you won’t be able to do things like get up from a chair, climb stairs, or get in and out of a car like you used to. These are all things a PT can help you adapt to as your strength and mobility comes back.
• Helping you walk again — There are a lot of steps between surgery and walking again after a full recovery. Depending on your lifestyle, abilities and healing process, there are different types of equipment and movement techniques that might help you get around. Your PT will help you figure out what works best while keeping you on track to walk and run like you used to.

Physical therapy techniques for your post-knee surgery treatment plan

Your post-knee replacement PT plan will be personalized to fit your needs, goals and abilities. There are many different therapeutic modalities that might help along the way, and your therapist will use more than one during each stage of recovery. 

Physical therapy is necessary after a knee replacement because a well-trained and experienced PT has enough familiarity with knee recovery to provide these treatments without causing damage. Most of them aren’t things you can do by yourself, and it’s worth finding someone who knows exactly what things should look and feel like.

You may need these types of physical therapy after a knee replacement:

• Manual therapy — Manual therapy or hands-on therapy includes different techniques that improve mobility in your joints and soft tissue, increase blood flow, or help eliminate scar tissue.
• Therapeutic exercises — Exercises like hamstring or quadriceps contractions and straight leg raises will help you get strength and range of motion back.
• Functional strengthening — Functional exercises assist with increasing specific muscle function and improving the patient’s ability to perform daily mobility tasks such as squatting, walking and navigating stairs.
• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) — IASTM is a technique with a set of stainless steel tools that your therapist will use in massage-like motions to break up scar tissue and boost cellular activity.

Start physical therapy for your knee replacement recovery with Advent PT

If you’re having a knee replacement, you’ll definitely need physical therapy to have the best recovery experience. Advent PT physical therapists provide the expertise and encouragement you need to get through your recovery journey and get walking again. We even offer at-home care for the days following your procedure. 

Call us or request an appointment today to schedule your initial appointment for post-knee replacement physical therapy.