I have been an orthopedic physical therapist for more than 40 years. For the past few years, I have been seeing total joint replacement patients in their homes, initiating a home physical therapy program, and transitioning them to an outpatient physical therapy facility of their choice to complete their rehabilitation process. Prior to being a…
As a home health physical therapist, I see total knee replacement patients in their homes within two days after the surgery. Upon leaving the hospital, often these patients are at pain levels of 4/10 or less at rest and have an excellent range of motion, but by the time I see them in their home,…
This post contains four valuable tips for sleeping through the night following total knee surgery, so you don’t wake up in the middle of the night from knee pain. In my capacity as a physical therapist, getting a good night’s sleep following total knee surgery is a common concern I hear from the hundreds of…
As a physical therapist who has seen total knee replacement patients for decades including bedside immediately after surgery, in the patients home after surgery, and finally in my own orthopedic outpatient physical therapy office for the patient’s final phase of rehabilitation, one thing clearly stands out to me. Of all the exercises necessary for a…
As a physical therapist, having progressed hundreds of total knee replacement patients through the first 3 weeks after surgery, walking endurance is one primary focus of the patient’s rehabilitation program. Out of all the exercises a human being can do, walking is the best overall exercise that will return the best benefits for the time…
This article discusses the pain a total knee replacement patient will have after surgery, the contributing factors, and how to minimize that pain. As a physical therapist, I have seen thousands of patients over the last 40 years who have had total knee replacement surgery. I can tell you that the surgical procedure has improved…
An almost universal problem my total knee replacement patients have, when I see them in their homes a day or two after surgery, is the incorrect instructions they have received on the use of ice packs and the incorrect size of the ice pack they have been provided after surgery for their use at home….