Pain after knee replacement requires timely rehabilitation

Today's medical level is very advanced, and artificial knee replacement has been widely promoted. It has a good effect on eradicating patients' knee joint pain. Pain after knee replacement is also relatively common. The key is to do a good job of daily care.

1. Continue knee range of motion exercises

During the hospital stay, the patient's knee flexion angle can usually reach more than 90°, so after being discharged and returning home, the knee flexion range of motion exercises are mostly in the range of 90°~135°. The exercises in this range are relatively difficult compared to the exercises in the range of 0°~90°, but if you practice hard according to scientific methods, you can achieve a range of motion that satisfies you. The specific method is:

①Seated leg curl: This exercise is still suitable when you just get home (suitable for practice at 90-100 degrees). The specific method is as follows: the patient sits on a stool with both lower limbs on the ground and the affected limb bent at the knee. The healthy lower limb can also be used to assist in bending. The degree of bending is determined by pain. After bending to the painful point, maintain for 1 to 2 minutes and then extend the knee. Practice bending 4 to 5 times each time, and practice 2 to 3 times a day.

② Sitting and hugging legs: As the bending angle of the knee joint continues to increase, you can use the method shown in the figure below. The patient sits on the bed, holds the ankle of the affected limb with both hands, and bends the knee joint to the maximum angle. This is the final sprint stage of practicing the knee joint bending angle!

③Straightening exercises: Your knee joint may be fully straightened when you are discharged from the hospital, but preventive exercises are still needed. Straightening exercises are particularly important in your exercise after returning home, because your knee flexibility has not yet recovered to the pre-operative stage. As your knee bending angle increases, straightening difficulties cannot be ruled out. The specific method is:

Use a 10-15cm towel roll to raise your heels, ensuring that your knee joints are suspended in the air. Do this for 20-30 minutes at a time, twice a day (preferably in the morning or before bed). If the joint extension difficulty is more serious, you can use a 3 to 5 kg rice bag to press on the thigh while doing the above-mentioned extension exercises to increase the intensity of the training.

We recommend that straightening exercises be continued until the knee joint reaches its maximum flexion angle.

2. Recovery of muscle strength:

The recovery of muscle strength plays a positive role in helping patients regain normal gait after surgery. In addition to the straight leg raising exercises that you will do most during your stay in the hospital, you can also do some advanced training. The specific methods are as follows:

① Straight leg raising exercise: The patient lies flat on his back, with the knee joint of the affected limb fully extended, and then does the leg raising movement. It should be noted that the height of the leg raising does not need to be too high, 15 to 20 cm from the bed is enough.

② Lateral straight leg lift exercise: The patient lies on his side with the knee fully straightened, lift the leg up and lift it 20~25CM off the bed.

③ Back straight leg raising exercise: The patient lies prone, straightens the knee joint as much as possible, lifts the legs upward, and lifts them 20~25CM off the bed.

Do the above exercises 10 times per set. There is no strict requirement for the number of sets. Just feel thigh soreness after each training. The training volume can be gradually increased or decreased.