Knee replacement peas...give me all your best advice

My mil had a knee replacement at 89. Her physical therapist told her that whatever movement she had at 3 weeks post surgery would be about all she would have. He came to the house 5 days a week for those first 3 weeks. Luckily, my mil is very compliant, and is just fine. She is 93 and getting around well.

DD is a PT and would agree with those above. She sees a lot of knee replacements. She also says to take your pain meds at least an hour before PT, as it will help you do your exercises better and more effectively. Finally, rent or buy the ice machine. You can find used ones on Marketplace. That will help with post op swelling. My 80 yo dad just had a replacement last year and those were her recommendations.

She also recommends trying to strengthen the knee as much as possible prior to surgery. Those muscles will help stabilize the knee post op. I’ll ask her if she has any specific exercises to recommend, but I would imagine walking would be one, as painful as it is.

cindyupnorth is a PT. Maybe she has some suggestions. 

Not knees, but both hips replaced here. Use the helpful tools that are suggested. Toilet seat lifts, the little strap that helps you lift your leg as you get into bed, etc. make all the difference in the first few days/first week. Did I feel kind of dumb buying two toilet seat lifts? Yes. Were they the best purchase ever? Also yes.

Best of luck with your surgery. The three friends I know who had knee replacements are a million times thankful they did. Made a huge difference in all their lives.

My husband had his replaced last June. He ordered a machine (off Amazon maybe) that ran cold, ice water over his knee. He also did all of his exercises faithfully and probably more than needed. Within five weeks he was up on his bike and street riding (stayed off the mountain bike due to not want ing to crash) and rode at least 300 miles in August. He also did rehab a bit longer than insurance paid. He said he wanted two sets of eyes on his recovery.

Do you have someone that will be around the first week or two? We have two sets of stairs, so that was kind of important in his case.

As others have said stay on your pt. Don't be a hero, take the meds especially at first. I was able to taper off to Tylenol after the first week. You'll need ice or an ice machine.

the biggest thing I had to relearn is that even though it's a "new" knee your range of motion will be the same as it is now, if you can bend to 105 now then you'll be able to bend to 105 after (eventually). For me it wasn't the range of motion it was the pain level. I could not stand in line for longer than 5 minutes and if forced to I wouldn't be able to bend it back again once I would be able to sit down. Now I can walk easily and stand in line and am trying to get the other knee (which desperately needs to be replaced) to cooperate.

Recovery is no joke, but once you're through the first 2 weeks it gets MUCH easier.

I had both of my knees replaced in 2023, about 6 months apart. I concur with all the advice already provided but would add walk, walk and walk some more. Get up at least once an hour and walk. Even if it’s ten steps, keep that knee moving.

Well, I had my left knee replaced 7 years ago and I continue to have pain that radiates up my thigh. I was compliant with icing and actually did 2 types of physio because it was available at my hospital. I started regular knee physio and after 2 week I started water physio too. By this point I actually could bend my knee almost fully. Really I enjoyed physio . But once all healed I still have the initial pain . I went 2 years ago to a different orthopaedic guy who did a MRI . He says there is nothing abnormal about my replacement and I am part of the 25% who the surgery didn’t work.

On top of this 10 days after my surgery, i developed left side sciatica. It is now chronic. They say it’s just a coincidence but I find that hard to believe.

Yes I need to have my right knee done 2 but I am too nervous . I am only 68 ( just turned) and what if I end up with the same issue.

I go every 2 to 3 weeks for injections with Zylocaine for my sciatica but it never completely gets rid of the pain.

Talk to your ortho about pre habilitation exercises. Exercises designed to strengthen the muscles around the knee that are done prior to surgery make a big difference in recovery time.

I’m hoping that the surgery will be much easier than you think. It’s no picnic but I had no issues getting dressed, putting on socks and shoes right from the start. You have to adjust the way you do things initially but it was doable. My DH works from home so he was around and helpful but I would have been fine on my own after a week of recovery.

Our house is three stories with the bedroom and baths all on the top floor. The first two nights I was home, I slept in a recliner but after that I went upstairs to sleep and shower. My husband did the stairs with me for the first week but I was fine on my own after that using a cane. I can’t imagine not doing stairs for a whole month. I think you need to start doing them right away. PT at the hospital had me doing two flights of stairs the morning after my surgery.


I was cleared to drive two weeks after surgery with both knees as long as I wasn’t taking the opiates for pain. After the first week, all I needed was Tylenol. I also want to mention that I was not a particularly active person so my experience was not due to being someone in great shape.

Everyone has a a different experience but I wanted to give you some positive experiences. The first two weeks have some rough times but after that it gets easier.

I am facing this in the future, so I don’t have any real advice, but I would say don’t chase the pain in regards to the medicine. Set an alarm for when your next dose is allowed to be taken and take it. Even if your aren’t in pain the first few days.
Also, like others have said, do your pre surgery exercises. Everyone I know that has had one that did the exercises beforehand had a lot less trouble than those that blew them off.

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