Physical therapy is commonly used to help people who have had a total knee replacement. But some people do everything they can to avoid doing physical therapy after their knee surgery. Every patient has the right to choose to do therapy or not, but choosing not to do it can have many negative consequences. Here are two drawbacks that avoiding therapy can have for you:
- Increased implant wear
One drawback of not doing physical therapy after knee surgery is that it can lead to increased wear on your knee implants. A total knee replacement is designed to place specially designed implants at the end of the femur and tibia. There is also a plastic spacer placed between the bone implants, and in some cases, an implant may also replace the kneecap. Just like joint cartilage, these implants will eventually wear out. An article published by The Lancet reports that this wearing can take about 25 years. However, it can increase if your muscles are weak and the joint is misaligned because you avoided physical therapy.
- Increased pain
Feeling more knee pain after surgery is another drawback that can happen if you don’t do physical therapy after your knee surgery. One reason for this is that you’ll have less of an incentive to move around during your recovery. Although it seems logical that not moving should lead to less pain, the opposite is actually true. In fact, not moving much for weeks or months after surgery can weaken key knee-supporting muscles, and it can also cause them to become tense and painful.
Lack of movement can also lead to decreased blood flow in and around the recovering knee. Less blood flow means that the healing tissues won’t get as much oxygen and nutrients, and the lack of these can cause tissue to heal much more slowly. Also, moving around encourages the body to produce endorphins. These are the body’s natural pain relievers, but you aren’t as likely to make them if you don’t move around after surgery. The combination of all these issues can mean you could end up in greater pain, and that pain could also last longer.
Panther Physical Therapy offers effective post-knee surgery physical therapy
Why would you avoid physical therapy after knee surgery when you could come to Panther Physical Therapy? Our team has helped many patients recovery from knee surgery, and our goal is to help you recover faster and with less pain. We offer free screenings that can help pinpoint areas you should work on both before and after surgery. Our team can also build you a personalized plan that offers pre-surgical therapy and post-surgical rehab, and this plan can include highly effective therapy methods like:
Don’t wait to start getting our help with your knee surgery physical therapy. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an appointment.