Your knee operation result is closely linked to how much energy you are personally willing to invest in your rehabilitation. During the first phase after your hospital stay, the main objective is to reduce swelling and control pain, while at the same time working intensively on the mobility of your knee joint. The time factor is also important. Just a few days after the operation, the scar tissue starts to form. This effect is hoped for so that after two weeks the stitches and staples can be removed.
However, this automatic and unstoppable scarring process is not hoped for within the joint itself. The lubricating layers must, with the support and advice of your physiotherapist be kept supple. As a rule, it has been shown that: if within the first two weeks you have reached 100° flexion and extension, and after four weeks a few rounds on a Home-Trainer, you have accomplished what we had hoped for. If after six weeks you attain between 110° and 120° flexion and complete extension in terms of knee joint mobility, you will subsequently return to excellent mobility.
It is not worthwhile to reduce your pain medication until you have reached your mobility goal. In the event that the pain is too great to carry out the planned training, please contact our practice.
Pain Therapy Partners
The Post-Operation Phase
You will see Prof. Arnold for your first check-up after your departure, six weeks after the operation. The goal up to that point is: nice, steady walking without crutches, nice mobility in the knee joint, the wound is in satisfactory condition and the pain is manageable.
In the next phase, up to the four-month check-up after the operation, your daily life will continually return to its normal status, the specific development is, of course, individual. Extremely good progression can mean that already after four months you are playing volleyball. However, normally the management of daily life is the first thing that happens. You feel your knee every day, but more and more it fades into the background. After four months your knee is can be enjoyed, but not yet perfectly. It is best explained using an analogy from the world of wine: The Barolo is now in the bottle, most of the work is done, patience and good care will help it improve even more.
One year after the operation, Prof. Arnold most often sees a satisfied patient. Ideally, you do not even think about your knee any more. You are no longer conscious of it. You have the best knee that you could imagine: a knee, which you no longer notice.