5 Types of Exercises to Be Avoided After Knee Surgery
Knee injuries in today’s world have become so common that if choose you as a random person, still you might have someone related to you suffering from knee-related problems. This is due to the exertion that the knees must go through gradually in everyone’s lifetime. People often experience degeneration of cartilage in their knees because of this exertion as knee injuries. When this happens the condition of injured knees always takes a downhill path.
As human mobility is completely dependent on their knees, without the functioning of knees a person cannot even stand. Knee surgery is a procedure to substitute some of the important functions of our knee by installing an artificial knee in the place of the one which is natural but non-functional.
The fact that the efficiency of a natural knee cannot be replaced by any artificial means, results in the restriction of the movements that the person who has gone through a knee surgery makes. Immediately after knee surgery, it is advised to people that they perform some specific exercises for the recovery after the surgery but there are some exercises to be avoided after knee surgery too.
Here are 6 types of exercises to be avoided after knee surgery
Sitting
Exercises that involve sitting for long periods of time such as some yoga positions are harmful to a replaced knee. This is because prolonged sitting causes the blood supply to have obstructions in the knee while circulation. If this obstruction in the blood supply occurs within 2 or 3 weeks of surgery, there is a great possibility of the formation of blood clots? This can lead to immensely uncomfortable symptoms in the knee.
Weight lifting
There is a reason that after knee surgery, the patient is required to walk with the assistance of walking equipment such as a walker for at least 3 months. Even after one has recovered from the surgery, in these three months period a patient is advised to not even bare their own weight. To ensure this the patient is restricted to walking up the stairs too. Therefore, weightlifting exercises are to be strictly avoided after knee replacement surgery.
Sprinting and jogging
Speaking in the terms of force applied, any kind of exercise that include fast sprinting or even slow jogging exert much higher force on the knees in comparison to when we are simply walking. It is obvious that after knee surgery, the operated knee must not bear much force as there is the artificial knee has fragile bonds with the other parts of the leg and can be damaged easily because of running.
Skipping and jumping
For the same reasons as sprinting, physiotherapy doctors advise the patients to not involve in activities that include jumping of any sort. This is because these kinds of exercises can impact the knee with more force than jogging. So, this is a higher risk of damage in these exercises than even running.
Contact sports
Sports that require the players to be contacted with each other during the game are known as contact sports. Patients after knee surgery are required to avoid participation in these kinds of sports for longer periods even after the recovery as they can lead to unbearable traumas to the knee resulting in the disorientation of the artificial knee.
Some examples of the contact sports to avoid after knee surgery are as follows:
- Hockey
- Soccer
- Football/ Rugby
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Skiing
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Badminton
What exercises are good for your knee surgery
Movement is necessary after knee surgery, but this movement should be controlled and under the supervision of an expert. Some of the exercises that are advised to perform after knee surgery are as follows:
- Careful stretching of the leg: You will be asked to put an elevation under your heel and first move your toes in front and back motion. Then you will be asked to try to stretch your leg with the help of the assistance of a practitioner.
- Assisted bending of the knee: To ensure mobility after the recovery of your knee surgery your physical therapist will make you perform the exercise of knee bends. This exercise will require you to slide your foot towards your hips and hold the position of tension for 5 seconds.
- Cycling: After the period of 4 months of recovery, light exercises such as cycling, and swimming are really helpful to make your knee used to some exertion.
Conclusion
In this blog, we learned the types of exercises to avoid after knee replacement surgery. It is very important to stay active after knee surgery, but the movements should be controlled and beneficial.
To ensure the best assistance for your exercises after knee surgery, contact Om Physio Plus Nutrition.