If any of your loved ones have had undergone a total knee replacement surgery, then you might know the pain a patient has to suffer from. Pain can be reduced or the surgery can be made successful only when the post knee replacement/ after knee replacement precautions are taken with care. If planning the things before a knee joint replacement surgery is important and easy then post knee replacement precautions are even more crucial and difficult.

Patients should follow the consultations/precautions given by their doctor diligently in the initial weeks to make the surgery a success event and in this time period, it’s the responsibility of a family member to take care of the patient.

Tips to take care after knee replacement surgery are:

1. Recovering from a knee replacement is challenging and demanding as the patient is not able to work of his own for the first month but doing slight changes in the patient’s room can ease their work and help in speedy recovery. Do these changes in the patient’s room after knee replacement surgery:

• Try to give a room on the ground floor for them as elevating stairs is not recommendable in the initial stage.

• To call for help, a cellphone and a bell should be there

• Bathroom should be easily accessible, if not, then arrange some bedside commode or urinal

• Walker and wheel chair

• Patient’s bed shouldn’t be too high or too low

• Medications should be in easy reach to the patient

• Room should be clean and no clutter should be there so as to make the patient’s movement easy

2. Daily Exercise: Post-surgery, exercise must be on the top of a patient’s day to day task list. Though it will pain but for a speedy recovery, a patient has to do. Never let them do exercise of their own. Only allow exercises that are prescribed by the doctor or physical therapist. Keep up with physical therapy exercises to maintain strong muscles around the knee, which will support the artificial joint.

3. Like exercise, walking is also necessary. In the starting weeks, let them walk with a walker or you’re your support. Their knees are not strong enough in the starting weeks to bear the body’s weight alone. After a month, the patient can increase the distance and speed and try walking without support. Walking is much more necessary than exercising. After 3 months, a person should walk approximately 3 km in a day.

4. Never allow them to do household chores over the next several weeks. They are unable to do any work as they don’t have to stand, bend, or stretch for a long period of time. So don’t say them to work for even light chores like dusting and grocery shopping etc.

5. Take care of the patient’s medical appointments and medication. As they are not able to walk on their own to doctor for a checkup, so it’s your responsibility to keep a check of appointment history and medications. You can even have a time table in their room for the medications. In case if you are busy with other work so that they don’t miss on with medicines.

6. Keep monitoring the wound for swelling and inflammation. Seek medical attention when you see the wound is red, more swollen, starts to leak, or has an odor. Do the dressing as directed by the orthopedician and always wash your hands thoroughly before and after removing the bandages for reducing the chances of infection.

7. Don’t allow the patient to sit with cross legs or on the floor. They must be suggested to keep knee joint straight although it may not be comfortable, they have to. Let them minimize the amount of time they spent on their feet, and be sure they use crutches or a wheelchair while moving.

8. After exercising and walking, do icing on the patient’s knees. The sooner you do icing, the sooner the swelling decreases and they feel relaxed.

9. Bring them a whole new pair of shoes having an airy cushion or memory foam so as to make their walking smooth and pain-free. While walking, keep suggesting patients for their posture. If they are not walking properly, guide them.

10. Despite being a helping hand in their all physical work, you have to be in there in their emotional state. Total Knee replacement is not an easy decision to take. The patient may feel distressed after TKR because of the unbearable pain. At that time, you have to be calm and support them with positive thoughts. A positive thought patient recovers easily and early as compared to a pessimist one.

Planning ahead will make it much easier for you to take care of your loved one after total knee replacement. Within this post, some tips are included that could help through recovery.

Exercise and treatment are the keys to recovery. The more relaxed your patient feels, the more quickly he/ she will recover.