Rehabilitation seems to be all the talk around knee replacements. The "window of opportunity" and "no pain, no gain" are derived from the physical therapy community, so it's no wonder these tactics instill determination as well as fear. The unknowing patient walks into surgery (well, maybe walk isn't the right word) assuming the hard work is ahead of them. But is there anything that can be done beforehand to support a speedy and effective recovery?
I first heard the term "prehabilitation" and thought it as a hypocritical term. How can you strengthen muscle and improve function on a damaged joint incapable of such things? I was skeptical until I read some convincing literature. On the contrary, muscle tone and flexibility have proven to be important factors in short-term post-operative outcomes:
PM R. 2009 Aug;1(8):729-35. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.06.003.
The effect of prehabilitation exercise on strength and functioning after total knee arthroplasty.Topp R1, Swank AM, Quesada PM, Nyland J, Malkani A.
With that, I'm going to take a shot at a "pre-hab" knee exercise regime before my surgery.
So far, I've focused on some knee-centric gym workouts to strengthen my quads, hamstrings, and calves. Pain is my only limitation essentially, but it'll be an interesting experiment nevertheless. Muscle entropy is the devil so any efforts to combat that should be helpful right?
I first heard the term "prehabilitation" and thought it as a hypocritical term. How can you strengthen muscle and improve function on a damaged joint incapable of such things? I was skeptical until I read some convincing literature. On the contrary, muscle tone and flexibility have proven to be important factors in short-term post-operative outcomes:
PM R. 2009 Aug;1(8):729-35. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2009.06.003.
The effect of prehabilitation exercise on strength and functioning after total knee arthroplasty.Topp R1, Swank AM, Quesada PM, Nyland J, Malkani A.
With that, I'm going to take a shot at a "pre-hab" knee exercise regime before my surgery.
So far, I've focused on some knee-centric gym workouts to strengthen my quads, hamstrings, and calves. Pain is my only limitation essentially, but it'll be an interesting experiment nevertheless. Muscle entropy is the devil so any efforts to combat that should be helpful right?