One of the most frequently asked questions in my practice from patients about to undergo knee replacement is, “How long will I be out of commission?”

The answer may surprise you. 

While robotic knee replacement patients tend to recover range of motion sooner than with non-robotic knee replacement, it answer is that you are considered “in recovery” for a year. 

We have you return to the office twice within 6 weeks, once to remove your staples  and check healing, and again to check alignment and placement at 6 weeks, with x-rays taken before you come back to the office.

You initially are homebound for about two weeks where nurses and physical therapists come to your home or hotel (in the case of medical travel patients) to take care of you. 

The first few days, you’ll usually feel pretty amazing

That’s because you are on the tailwind of the medications we use in surgery that control your pain very effectively. 

On or about day four, you may begin to experience some breakthrough pain. For this, we give you a limited supply of narcotic pain relievers to deal with the breakthrough pain. If you need more than prescribed, you should call us right away, because that’s not typical.  You’ll probably use some of this medication for the first few weeks. You’ll have what we expect you’ll need for the first 30 days. You should not be alarmed if you feel achiness and feel some pain because of the swelling and surgery. This is totally expected and natural.

One of the reasons you may experience breakthrough pain is that while you are in that immediate post-operative phase you may be tempted to do “too much” because you feel so wonderful and full of hope. If you overdo it, your body will let you know.

We offer several options to deal with the breakthrough pain that are not opioids.  The less opioid you use, they quicker you’ll usually recover.  These include movement — using your RomTech device, walking short distances, taking your multi-modal pain management regimen medications, application of ice, and elevation above heart level.

Your most accelerated improvement will happen in the first three months immediately following your surgery.

You should also expect to have some pain as you progress through physical therapy exercises after the two weeks at home. Be sure to prepare for physical therapy by taking your anti-inflammatory and over the counter pain medication (e.g. Celebrex, Acetaminophen, and similar).

You may experience more pain at night because there’s less to think about and your brain isn’t as distracted from the pain as it can be during the day.

Some of my patients need narcotic pain medications in decreasing doses for the first six weeks, while others have reported not needing any narcotics at all after surgery. Everybody is different.

You should not be alarmed if your knee quickly reacts to movement with warmness and swelling for the first three months.

It doesn’t mean that anything is wrong or delayed or infected. It’s normal healing.  Knee replacement is extremely traumatic for your knee and the surrounding tissues that are reacting to this abnormal violation of their status quo. 

In the first few months, after your staples are removed your scar will be purple and slightly swollen. This too, is normal. After a few months, it will start to transition to white, relax and flatten up, and become less tender to the touch.  The purple coloring of the scar is from increased blood flow you need to heal the wound.

When will you be ready to return to work or leisure activities and driving?

While there are no standard answers, if you work at a desk job, you may be ready to return to work in about three weeks, as long as you make time for ice, elevation and physical therapy a few times per week.

If you work on your feet for the whole day, you can expect that you’ll be off work for about three months after surgery.

How long until you feel better than you did before surgery?

Until you feel better than you did before your knee replacement surgery, you won’t really be able to realize the benefits of your surgery. On the day you triumphantly proclaim “It feels better” it will just dawn on you. It is then when you realize you’re on the upside of the episode of care for your knee replacement. If you were at the point where you could barely walk prior to surgery, this proclamation may come as early as two weeks!  Many patients make this proclamation on their 6-8 week post-operative appointment. 

Can I have both knees replaced on the same day?

We try to dissuade most people from doing this unless there’s some compelling reason to do so. For most people, one knee will always be faster and easier to recover than it’s partner. Doing both knees at the same time is riskier for falls, infection, blood clots and other problems. 

What if I still have pain months after my surgery?

From time to time, patients report measurable improvement, but still have some nagging pain that bothers then at night on the new knee. This too, may be your normal and may resolve sometime between the 6 month and the one year anniversary of your knee replacement.

Many of my friends got better faster than me or slower than me. Why is that?

Everyone is different and there are way too many variables. For starters, your knee may have been in worse or better shape before surgery. Your body may swell less and bleed less than your friends.  There may be age and weight and conditioning differences. 

If you have more questions please schedule an appointment to visit with me one-on-one, or attend our Dinner with the Doctor event. We schedule them monthly and there are 50 seats available per event.  They fill up fast, so  please reserve early so you don’t miss out! 

<a href=”tel:4357057039″>Call us at 435-7057039-3378</a>
to reserve your seat for you and your surgery buddy.