Recovery after orthopedic surgery, week by week
Post Op Physio Recovery After a broken ankle, the first job is getting the ankle moving, especially bending it up, then rebuilding the calf, then balance and a normal walk. Stiffness and swelling are normal for months, and a daily home program is what brings the ankle back.
After back surgery, walking is the first and most important exercise, starting the day of surgery or the next. Gentle core and hip work usually follows from about two weeks, and proper strengthening from around six weeks, later after a fusion. Your surgeon’s limits on bending, lifting and twisting come first.
Regular balance exercise cuts falls in older adults by about a quarter, and programs that mix balance and strength do even better. The programs that work challenge your balance, add up to around three hours a week and keep going for months.
After a tibial plateau fracture most people keep little or no weight on the leg for about 6 to 12 weeks, and full recovery often takes around a year. Protecting the joint surface while keeping the knee bending is what matters most.
Most groin strains heal without surgery: about 1 to 3 weeks for a mild strain, 4 to 8 weeks for a moderate one and 2 to 3 months or more for a complete tear. Gradual inner-thigh strengthening, including the Copenhagen exercise, is the fastest way back and the best way to stop it recurring.
Facet joint pain is a deep ache beside the spine, worse leaning back or twisting and stiff in the morning. Exercise comes first, and needle treatments are only for pain that won’t settle once a numbing test has confirmed the source.
After a broken kneecap most people are back to normal daily activities in about 3 to 6 months. The knee is held straight in a brace for the first weeks, the bend is unlocked gradually, and rebuilding thigh strength takes the longest.
A hip flexor strain causes pain at the front of the hip and usually heals in about 1 to 3 weeks if mild or 4 to 8 weeks if moderate. Front-of-hip pain with no clear injury, or pain that keeps building, may be a labral tear or stress fracture instead.
A complete quadriceps or patellar tendon tear almost always needs surgery, and it works best done soon after the injury. After a few weeks locked straight in a brace, the bend is opened up gradually, and full recovery often takes about a year.
Snapping hip is a click or clunk as the hip moves, and in most people it’s harmless and needs no treatment. If it hurts, exercises usually settle it; a painful catch or locking deep in the groin needs checking for a labral tear.