If you are a candidate for total knee replacement, it’s very important to understand what you can and cannot do after the surgery.
Although, more than 90% of the people who get total knee replacement experience a dramatic reduction of knee pain and a significant improvement in the ability to perform common activities of daily living, the surgery will not make you a super-athlete or allow you to do more than you could before you developed arthritis.
After your surgery, your doctor will advise you to avoid some types of activity for the rest of your life. This is because excessive activity or weight may accelerate normal wear and cause the knee replacement to loosen and become painful. With appropriate activity modification, knee replacements can last for many years.
Activities that are dangerous after a total knee replacement include jogging or running, contact sports, and high impact aerobic activities.
Activities that exceed usual recommendations after surgery are vigorous walking or hiking, skiing, tennis, repetitive lifting exceeding 50 lbs and repetitive stair climbing.
Activities most favorable after surgery are recreational walking, swimming, golf, driving, light hiking, recreational bicycling, ballroom dancing and normal stair climbing.
