heave-ho.org

Your New Knee: What You Should Know

Author: Dr. Stefan Tarlow

You will notice a few differences between your old knee and your new knee. Your new knee may feel a little numb and stiff. The numbness will be around the incisions. The stiffness will probably be greater if you do a lot of bending. You may also notice that your new knee doesnt move quite as freely as your old knee. Still, you are sure to find it an improvement.

You may find kneeling difficult, but rest assured, kneeling will not hurt your new knee. You may also hear a bit of quiet clicking from time to time. This is caused by the flexion of the metal and plastic as you walk and bend. This will lessen as time passes. Most patients have no problem adjusting to it. Surely they find it less distressing than the pain and restricted activities they suffered with their old knee.

After your surgery, your activity level will be determined by your ideal pre-surgery activity level. If you were active when your natural knee was well, you can be active again. Your new knee will bend and straighten to allow you to get in and out of cars, to climb stairs, and perform other activities of daily living.

Click here for more on knee replacement surgery .

When you go to the airport or a federal building or other building with a metal detector, be sure to have a word with the guards to avoid unpleasant incidents. Your new knee has some metal parts that will set off the alarms.

Here are some steps to follow after your surgery:

Be extra careful not to hurt yourself or to fall. If you have a fracture after your knee surgery, you will just need more surgery.

Trust your orthopedist. He or she is also a medical doctor. Therefore, a lot of training backs up his or her diagnosis and treatment plan. Your orthopedist is familiar with the musculoskeletal system (bones, nerves, joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons) and fully capable of determining both surgical and non-surgical treatments.

When you go to the dentist, be sure he or she knows about your knee replacement. You must always take antibiotics prior to any dental procedure to prevent bacteria from traveling to the site of your operation and causing problems.

Take regular exercise to keep your new knee strong and mobile.

See your orthopedic surgeon annually for an examination and x-ray.

Dr. Tarlow is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon with over 20 years specializing in knee surgery. He opened his own clinic, Advanced Knee Care, with a focus on specialty patient care. Click here to learn more about Dr. Tarlow, arthroscopy surgery and total knee.

Tags: aging, athlete, doctor, Education, Health, insurance, knee, medicine, nutrition, retirement, school, sports, surgery

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 2:02 AM and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.