Recovery after orthopedic surgery, week by week
After a lumbar laminectomy or other spinal decompression surgery, most people return to work at around four to six weeks and to usual activities by about three months. Leg pain and walking usually improve more than back pain.
After hip arthroscopy, most people go home the same day, use crutches for one week to about two months, and return to desk work within one to two weeks. Hard exercise usually waits until around three months, and sport commonly takes four to seven months.
After hip fracture surgery, the aim is to stand and walk with a frame the day after the operation. Most recovery happens in the first six months and can continue for up to a year, and daily exercise, family support and preventing the next fall make the biggest difference.
Hip precautions usually mean no bending past a right angle, no crossing your legs and no twisting the leg inward for about six weeks, mainly after posterior surgery. Many surgeons now use fewer rules or none, because dislocation rates look similar either way, so follow your own surgeon’s list.
Most new knees end up bending to around 120 degrees, and you need about 90 for stairs and chairs. Some early stiffness is normal; a bend that stalls below 90 in the first few months is worth raising with your surgeon early.
After a meniscus trim, most people are back to daily life in about 3 to 6 weeks. After a meniscus repair, expect a brace, crutches and limited bending for around 4 to 6 weeks, and 4 to 6 months before sport.
For most people, a boot with early rehab gives about the same result at a year as surgery, with a slightly higher chance of re-rupture and fewer surgical complications. Either way, full recovery from an Achilles rupture takes about a year.
Achilles tendinitis usually takes at least three months to settle, and sometimes up to a year. A steady calf-strengthening program, done most days for about 12 weeks, is the treatment that works; rest alone and steroid injections into the tendon do not.
Plantar fasciitis usually lasts months, not weeks, and about 8 in 10 people are better within a year. Stretching the arch, strengthening the calf and foot, and supportive shoes do most of the work; injections and shockwave are for heels that don’t settle.
A mild ankle sprain usually settles in one to two weeks, and a bad one can take six to twelve weeks or longer. Early movement and balance training matter more than rest, because they are what stop the ankle from going over again.