Post-knee surgery physical therapy benefits in Rockford, MI

If you’ve recently had a knee replacement surgery in Rockford, Michigan, you aren’t alone. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) reports that more than 680,000 knee replacements were done in 2014, and these numbers are expected to continue to climb. Now that your surgery has been successfully completed, physical therapy should be a major part of your recovery. This is because physical therapy after knee surgery can provide many benefits. 

1.   Helps prevent blood clots

Some knee surgery patients will have to remain in the hospital for a few days after surgery. During this time, a physical therapist will likely be assigned to help you start your recovery. For example, they can help you learn exercises to reduce the risk of blood clots. 

Blood clots are clumps of blood that have changed from a liquid to a gel-like consistency, and these clots can cause a number of issues for recovering surgery patients. The issues they cause varies depending on where the clot forms, but in your leg, they can lead to symptoms like swelling and pain. Using gentle and targeted exercises, therapists can help improve the blood flow in your leg, which decreases the likelihood of blood clots. 

2.   Reduces pain

One goal of physical therapy after knee surgery is to help reduce pain as fast as possible. Therapists are typically able to accomplish this goal by getting you moving after surgery. When you don’t move the recovering knee, it encourages muscles to stiffen, and this stiffness can actually lead to an increase in pain. 

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t rest your knee at all after surgery. However, physical therapists and doctors now realize that rest and movement both need to happen after surgery. This is why many knee surgery patients will be asked to start moving around very soon after their procedure. In some cases, therapists could even have you up and moving the same day as your surgery. This can be beneficial for your knee because movement helps lubricate the joint and decreases muscle stiffness, both of which can help reduce your pain. 

Advent Physical Therapy in Rockford, MI, can help you with physical therapy after knee surgery

At Advent Physical Therapy in Rockford, our team has helped many people recover from knee surgery. We even offer pre-surgery therapy that is designed to help speed up your recovery process. Also, we can develop a personalized post-surgery therapy plan for you that’s intended to help you recover faster, and this plan may include therapy techniques like: 

• Manual therapy
• Kinesiology taping
• Balance training
• Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment if you want a great physical therapy team on your side after knee surgery.