If you have just had a knee replacement than it is very important you take precautions. The first few months after the operation are critical as your body has yet to recover from the operation. Eventually, your knee will be able to gain back whatever type of movement you enjoyed before but your new knee will always be temperamental. In order to facilitate comfort and avoid more injury, it is important to adhere to a few guidelines. Here are the most important things to consider when getting used to your new knee.
Getting Dressed
Putting on and taking off clothes will never be the same with a new knee. Essentially, you do not want to do anything that causes you to bend too much. So when you get dressed stabilize yourself by sitting on the edge of your bed or in a chair. Put your pants, socks, and shoes on the leg that had surgery first and let any tricky movement be reserved for your other leg.
Use devises to reduce the amount of bending you have to do. This ranges from shoe horns and elastic shoelaces to an actual aid who helps you change. When undressing makes sure to take off the clothing on your surgery side last as that helps you avoid tricky bending.
Bathing
Once again you want to avoid bending so utilize sponges that have handles to get those hard to reach places. A great way to accomplish this by installing a shower-seat or buying a plastic shower-friendly chair. You can sit and bath more effectively while reducing any stain on your knee. Shower seats can be professionally installed by assistance services.
Such services can retrofit a lot of places in your house to be more friendly to the newly knee-replaced. Places like PatientHandling Australia are great providers. They have additions to your shower or bath you have never even heard of. Objects like teachers for instance, which help you grab bottles of shampoo and bars of soap without having to bend for it.
Use a Cane
Using a cane or a walker is the easiest way to support your new knee. They help you with everyday mobility and provide the added support to let your knee recover. A great thing about canes is that offer protection. If you are in public and are using a cane or a walker people are less likely to jostle you They will look at the cane as a symbol of something fragile. This is good because you do not want that new knee jostled at all.
Take Pain Killers
Do not hesitate to use medication to treat pain. Toughing it out is never a good idea because sometimes pain is caused by inflammation. If you do not take pain killers to treat the inflammation it is detrimental to your recovery. Pain also can keep you from participating in rehabilitating exercises and proper recovery techniques.
This can lead to a loss of function if you are not careful. Additionally, untreated pain can become chronic which is never good. To avoid such horrible outcomes and treat your pain when it happens. Get out there and do your rehabilitation so you can regain your movement.
Plan Ahead
You know weeks in advance that you are getting a knee replacement so plan for rehabilitation. Outfit your home to make it more supportive of your condition. Get the necessary accessories that accompany your recovery. Make sure that you retrofit your life to accommodate the recovery period so that you can get your original range of motion back.
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