Can I Climb Stairs After Knee Replacement Surgery

Navigating stairs may be one of the exercises a patient performs in the hospital after surgery according to the american academy of orthopaedic surgeons.

Can i climb stairs after knee replacement surgery.

He went home on the same day as surgery and even was able to climb stairs prior to discharge. If you have waterproof dressings you can shower the day after surgery. Also due to arthritis in the knees patient s joints are so deformed that they cannot bear even their own bodyweight and thus cannot climb stairs effectively and thus avoid doing it. I know i will never again run up and down stairs like i was able to before but part of that may just be getting older.

Once i was released from the hospital i started outpatient pt and within a few weeks they had me practicing a more normal alternating leg pattern on stairs. In a recent article in the toronto star dr. You can walk a little further and climb a few steps with help from your pt. Most patients have no problems with stairs.

You will be instructed on how to go up and down stairs at the surgery center before you leave that day. David backstein operated on a patient at women s college hospital who walked hours after a knee replacement. Babette maybe you should put off your tkr a little longer. The key to successful outpatient total joint replacement appears to be the use of modern anesthetic techniques that encourage early mobility motivated and healthy patients and effective multi modal pain management strategies.

I put mine off but for me i just was not ready for another hospital stay and recovery six months after my transplant. So if stairs are the only issue you could do them but it would just be slower than normal. In knee replacement surgery surgeons cut away damaged bone cartilage and a ligament or two and add an artificial joint made of metal and plastic. After successful knee replacement surgery a patient should be able to return gradually to normal activities including climbing stairs says mayo clinic.

When can i have sex again after outpatient knee replacement. We do ask that you keep it to a minimum until the home therapist arrives to further instruct you. He should experience significantly less pain than before surgery when engaging in stair climbing and other activities. For people who ve suffered years of pain and.

I could relate to it because after arthroscopic surgery my mom was reluctant to do stair climbing for first few days so it is definitely a big deal for knee replacement patients. At 6 weeks i can mostly do stairs normally but if i am tired or trying to carry something i still revert back to the one step at a time. Using stairs after hip or knee replacement surgery can be especially scary since the last thing you want to do is reinjure yourself and compromise the prosthetic.