Recovery after orthopedic surgery, week by week
Post Op Physio Recovery A clot in the leg after surgery usually shows up as throbbing pain, swelling and warmth in one calf or thigh, and needs checking the same day. Sudden breathlessness or chest pain means call emergency services. Here’s how to tell a clot from normal swelling and how to lower your risk.
Weight bearing after surgery runs from none at all to full, and your surgeon sets your level to protect the repair. Here’s what each level means, how to use crutches or a frame on the flat and on stairs, and why using all the weight you’re allowed matters.
The core home exercises after knee replacement, phase by phase: get the knee straight and the thigh working in the first two weeks, win back bend from weeks 2 to 6, then build strength and balance to week 12. Some discomfort is fine if it settles within an hour or two and the knee isn’t worse the next morning.
After a Bankart repair or Latarjet, expect a sling for 3 to 6 weeks, driving from about 6 to 10 weeks and contact sport at around six months. The week-by-week timeline, what you can’t do early, and how the two operations differ.
Swelling after knee replacement usually lasts about 3 to 6 months and often peaks around four to six weeks. Swelling that rises and falls with your day is normal; swelling that keeps climbing, or comes with a painful calf, a red wound or a fever, needs a call to your surgeon.
After MPFL reconstruction most people use a brace and crutches for the first few weeks, reach about 90 degrees of bend by 4 to 6 weeks and start jogging around 3 to 4 months. Return to sport takes about 6 to 9 months, once strength and hop tests are close to the other leg.
Exercises after rotator cuff surgery move in three phases: the arm is moved for you, then you move it yourself, then you add resistance. What to do in each phase, what to avoid early, and how pain should behave.
Most people wear a sling for 2 to 6 weeks after biceps tenodesis, avoid lifting with the arm for about 6 weeks, and are back to full activity at 4 to 6 months. What to expect week by week, and how likely the Popeye bulge really is.
Most people with back pain don’t need surgery. It clearly helps leg weakness that’s getting worse, cauda equina syndrome and severe leg pain that won’t settle, but it rarely helps back pain on its own.
It’s usually time to consider a knee replacement when arthritis pain disrupts sleep and daily life and non-surgical treatment no longer helps enough. Signs to look for, X-ray vs symptoms, and the risks of going too early or waiting too long.