[12th Health Tip] Exercise methods after artificial joint surgery

Last spring, my mother underwent knee joint replacement surgery at Sinchon Severance Hospital.

For two weeks after the surgery, you received physical therapy and joint exercises at the rehabilitation hospital.

The remaining two weeks, I exercised with him at my house, and the exercises we did helped, so he recovered faster than expected.

So, I would like to share the exercise method I did with your mother at that time.

 

 

Knee rehabilitation that is more difficult and challenging than surgery

 

Why is an exercise process necessary?

 

Patients who require artificial joint treatment often have not only knee joint issues but also significant muscle weakness and problems with ligaments, muscles, and cartilage.

After surgery, knee strength further weakens due to pain and swelling. Therefore, rehabilitation therapy is necessary to strengthen the knee muscles beyond their pre-surgery condition.

Ironically, even if you are in pain, you need to do rehabilitation exercises to reduce the pain and to recover joint mobility and muscle strength more quickly. Additionally, knee rehabilitation therapy promotes lower limb circulation, which can help prevent blood clots, one of the complications after artificial joint surgery.

 

 

 

This scene shows your mother receiving treatment at a rehabilitation hospital.

 

 

After surgery, the knee was bent to 90 to 110 degrees at the hospital.

When I came to the rehabilitation hospital, it was five days after surgery, and with the exercise equipment I see now, the angle was bent up to 120 degrees.

And gradually increased the angle, performing exercises that bend up to 140 degrees by the time of discharge.

 

 

Since then, he has come to my house and exercised with me. At that time, I looked at the exercise method below and exercised with my mother, and the exercises I did at home for two weeks were very helpful.

 

These are six movements that I started doing about 2 to 3 weeks after the surgery.

 

This is a photo of the exercise my mother used to do.

This is the third exercise movement among the exercises introduced above.

This is a demonstration of knee bending exercise using a towel.

This is an exercise where you use a towel to pull your ankle and bend your knee as much as possible, and it was more difficult than it looked.

 

 

I finished all six exercises and ended my daily workout by lying down and pulling my knees up to my chest.

This movement was done once in the morning and once in the afternoon every day.

Whenever I had free time, I would sit on a chair and do leg-raising exercises, and I also did wall-supported squats.

And I also did marching in place, alternating lifting my knees up to my navel while standing.

 

Because I exercised like this every day, during the regular check-up after a month, I went to the hospital for treatment, and when I compared myself to those who had surgery at the same time as my mother, I could see that my recovery was much faster.

My mother benefited from this exercise, so I am sharing exercise tips in hopes that it will help others as well.