Physical Therapy for the Elderly After Knee Surgery

Physical Therapy for the Elderly

Is your elderly loved one going to have knee surgery? If so, the recovery might be a grueling process. Your elderly loved one will likely need to have physical therapy, medications, and other treatments. As a family caregiver, it would be a good idea to learn more about the physical therapy process, so you can be better prepared and know what to expect, as well as your elderly loved one doing the same. 

Initial Assessment

After your elderly loved one has the knee surgery, they will likely start physical therapy soon. Before they can start doing exercises, the physical therapist will assess their condition. For example, the home health care provider can come to your elderly loved one’s home to find out what range of motion your elderly loved one has in their knee. From there, they can help them to set goals to get their knee as mobile as possible. 

Setting Goals

The goals that your elderly loved one wants to set need to be realistic. They aren’t going to recover right away and won’t be able to run a marathon anytime soon, if at all. However, there are some goals that might be reasonable that your elderly loved one can look forward to, such as:

• Walking around a track at the park

• Going hiking

• Being able to fully or almost fully bend and flex their knee

Setting goals is one of the most important parts of physical therapy after a knee surgery. The goals are going to help the home health care provider (physical therapist) to set up exercises that benefit your elderly loved one the most. 

Doing the Work

Your elderly loved one is going to need to commit to doing their physical therapy plan. If they continously miss appointments or times when they should be doing the exercises, their recovery process isn’t likely to go very well. In fact, missing exercises can cause stiffness and pain in the knee. If the tissues and muscles heal in those uncomfortable positions, it could cause long-term issues. In addition, the results of the physical therapy may not be great either. 

Making Adjustments

One great thing about having home health care providers come to your elderly loved one’s home so they can do physical therapy is that they can make adjustments to the treatment plan as needed. For example, if your elderly loved one has achieved one goal quicker than expected, the physical therapy home health care provider can help them to set up new goals. 

Conclusion

The average recovery time for a knee replacement is about 12 weeks. If your elderly loved one is going to have this surgery, they need to do physical therapy. These therapy sessions will help to strengthen their muscles, tissues, and bones. They can also improve range of motion and the overall recovery, too. 

 

If, at any time during the recovery process, you have concerns about your elderly loved one’s treatments in physical therapy, please feel free to talk to the home health care providers as soon as you can. 

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Home Health Care in Fairfax, VA please contact the caring staff at Thrive Health Care Services today. (703) 992-0484

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7462050/