“My mother underwent a joint replacement surgery. How long will the recovery take?”
My mother is 68 years old and went through joint replacement surgery for her knee. How long is the recovery time for this? What should we do to help her?
7 Answers
Recovery from joint replacement can vary, depending on the physical health of the patient coming in to surgery. Typically, patients will get better and stronger for up to a year after joint replacement surgery, depending on their situation.
She should have been given a program for rehab prior to leaving the hospital. It is of the utmost importance to start rehab as soon as possible. Knee replacement surgery patients do very well, but you need a good exercise program to be successful. It can take up to 12 weeks or more, depending on many factors. Please see her doctor to get physio started. She needs to be walking every day with specific exercise to the knee. Swimming can helpful. She is not very old, so she has age on her side and she should do well.
Good luck.
Good luck.
A joint replacement takes on average 6 to 8 weeks for recovery but can vary greatly based on individual factors. Encourage her to stay on top of her exercises and keep her pain controlled.
A lot depends on her condition prior to the procedure. If she was healthy/active with strong quadriceps/ had completed physical therapy pre-conditioning / and was self motivated. She most likely would see continued progress over 3 Months. There is a wide range of recovery periods -depending on several factors.
It will depend on your mother's other condition. If she is healthy, with no other illness, she should be recovered in a few weeks. She will have a good outcome. She needs to work with a physical therapist for joint range of motion exercises, even though it is very painful. Have her take some painkillers 40 minutes prior to the physical therapy session.
The recovery time is variable but the first 85% of the recovery takes about four months. Usually people are off the walker or cane in 2-4 weeks and then are working on ROM and quad strength for 6 weeks to three months. It takes about three months before they are sleeping comfortably through the night. It takes about 12-18 months until you can say the knee is as good as it is going to get. The most important thing for recovery is to make sure to get as much ROM in the first 4 weeks and then to work hard on the PT for the first three months. Hope that helps.
Steven M. Simon
Physiatrist (Physical Medicine)
The knee will heal sooner than hip. Healing time really depends on which joint, the condition of other joints, and one's general health (pre-surgery status). If she is an old 68, I definitely recommend in-patient rehab until independent. If healthy, out-patient rehab will benefit as well. Plan on anywhere from 6-12 weeks to really feel good and have stamina.
