Whats New About Your Knee Replacement?

There are a few physical differences between your new knee and your old knee. For one thing, you may feel a little numbness and stiffness around your new knee. Excessive bending may tend to increase the stiffness. Your new knee may not have quite the ROM (range of motion) your old knee had. Nonetheless, you are sure to find your new knee is an improvement over your old knee.

Another difference is that you may find it a little difficult to kneel. However, you should not worry about kneeling. It will not hurt your new knee. Sometimes you will hear a little clicking from your new knee. This is the metal moving against the plastic as you move. This should diminish after a while. Most patients have no trouble getting used to it. It is surely much less troublesome than the painful knee they had before.

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, knee anatomy and full knee replacement.