Rehab Select Blog

If you are in the planning phases of an upcoming joint replacement surgery, you should know that what happens during your recovery period is crucial to getting the highest level of benefit from your procedure. For that reason, being well-prepared for the recovery process is just as important as preparing for the surgery itself. So what should you be doing to ensure that you emerge from surgery well-prepared to make your best recovery? Here are 4 ways to prepare for recovery:

If an injured or diseased joint is causing chronic pain and/or disability, joint replacement surgery is often the best means of treatment. These procedures have proven very effective in reducing pain, increasing function and mobility, and improving quality of life. However, if your medical team has recommended surgery for you, it is important to know that this procedure is not a quick fix. Realizing the potential benefits of joint replacement will mean spending quite a bit of time on recovery and rehabilitation after surgery—anywhere from 3 months to a year.

Knee replacement, or arthroplasty, is a very common surgery. More than 600,000 of these procedures are performed every year in the United States, and it is considered one of the most successful and life-enhancing surgical procedures today. However, these results are not seen instantly. Rather, they develop gradually during the weeks and months following joint replacement surgery. If you will be having this procedure, learning what to expect during this time can help make the recovery process easier and less stressful.

One of the most common questions people ask as they work with their healthcare team to plan joint replacement surgery is just how long it will take to get back to normal daily activities after the procedure. While the answer to that question will vary to some extent from one patient to another, here we'll get into the general details of what the average patient can expect as they work towards getting back to a healthy, active lifestyle after hip or knee replacement surgery.

Rehabilitative therapy is essential to successfully returning to a healthy, active lifestyle after joint replacement surgery, a very important fact to keep in mind if you'll be having one of these procedures. Exercise is the chief component of that therapy, and you'll be advised to perform a number of exercises daily—especially during the early stages of recovery from hip or knee replacement—to gradually improve balance, flexibility, muscle strength and joint function. Among the most frequently prescribed are the following 6 exercises for after joint replacement surgery.

If joint replacement surgery has been recommended for you as a means of relieving the pain and debility caused by a diseased or damaged knee joint, there are a few things you should know in order to be well-prepared for your procedure. Among the more important of these is that knee replacement has very high success rates, resulting in better mobility and less pain for the vast majority of patients. However, those benefits are not instant—they will emerge gradually over several months of recovery and rehabilitation. Here, we'll go over 3 common issues that you can expect to face as you work to recover and rehabilitate after your knee replacement surgery.

Joint replacement surgery is an option considered for patients for whom joint degeneration has caused significant quality of life issues, including chronic pain, poor joint function, and limited mobility. It is, as a rule, recommended only when non-surgical options fail to provide adequate relief for these issues. If you have been living with this sort of joint dysfunction and your medical team has recommended joint replacement, chances are you're wondering just how your mobility will be impacted by this procedure.

Hip replacement procedures have improved the mobility, pain relief, and quality of life for millions of people over the past few decades. In fact, joint replacement surgery is considered one of the most successful orthopedic procedures done today. However, if you will be having this surgery, you should know that proper care and therapy after hip replacement is as critical to the short- and long-term success of these surgeries as the procedures themselves are, helping patients maximize the benefits of joint replacement and minimize risk of post-surgery complications.

Hip replacement surgery can offer many benefits to patients who have suffered damage to a hip joint due to arthritis or injury, including increased mobility, less joint pain, and better quality of life. However, if you will be having this type of joint replacement surgery, you should know that when it comes to reaping those benefits, the rehabilitative therapy you receive after surgery is nearly as important as the procedure itself.

If you will be having joint replacement surgery in the near future, chances are that you may have heard about the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, commonly abbreviated as CCJR or CJR. This initiative, which was rolled out by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as of April 1, 2016, mandates the participation of acute care hospitals in 67 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in a bundled payment program for hip and knee replacement procedures.