Knee Replacement Surgery Recovery Time

The aim of knee replacement surgery is to alleviate chronic knee pain caused by various types of arthritis or knee cartilage injuries. This operation has a very high success rate, operating at about 90%. That means that once you have completely recovered, you will almost definitely experience a drastic improvement in your knee pain, and maybe no more pain at all. And this will mean a great increase in your productivity and quality of life.

But there are reasons why this form of surgery is the last step in the treatment plan. Major surgery like TKR is going to have a long way to complete recovery.

At Ortomedica's Joint Replacement Center, we want you to have all the data and details you need so that you can have reasonable expectations and make informed choices about your treatment. And an important part of these goals is understanding how long it will take to heal and recover.

After your surgery, there are three stages to your recovery that we will talk about in this article.

1. Immediate Postoperative Therapy (1 Day)

The day immediately following your surgery, your physical therapy will begin. Our staff will have you up on your feet and trying to walk right away. This will be a bit painful and difficult, at first. But our professional staff will be there to help you, and you can take advantage of assistive equipment such as parallel bars, crutches, a walker or a cane. The bottom line is that It’s important to get your joints moving and regain your strength quickly, in order to avoid problems.

2. Going Home (21 Days)

While it is usually possible to go home within a couple of days after a knee replacement surgery, our program at Joint Replacement Center is comprehensive, and includes a thorough rehabilitation and wellness program. That means you will be visiting our state-of-the-art facility in Mexico City for three weeks before going home, completely healed. The benefit of this is that your surgical wounds will have already healed, and you will be well on your way to reaching the full potential of your new knee’s abilities.

3. Maximum Recovery (6 Months to 1 Year)

This is the hard part. Once you have returned home, you will have a brand new, prosthetic joint installed and functioning. But your goal is to reach a level of recovery that includes dramatically less pain than you experienced before surgery, or perhaps no pain at all. To achieve this goal, you will have to be a proactive participant. After returning home, you will absolutely need to follow up with a complete physical therapy plan with follow-on medical care from your physician. You will have to strengthen muscle and learn your limits, to maximize the useful life of your prosthesis.

Knee replacement surgery is a major commitment on your part as a patient. It is also a major investment of your time and your hard work. There are no shortcuts to total recovery. But, with a highly precise surgical procedure at Joint Replacement Center, coupled with the comprehensive follow-on care of Terapias Elite, our physical therapy department, your chances of reaching your goals of greatly improved mobility are dramatically increased.

If you haven’t already booked a procedure with us, contact us now to find out more. Our professional surgeons have more than 30 years of collective experience, and they will take good care of you. Our medical concierge service will make sure you are treated like a VIP, and we can even help you arrange your transportation!