subject: Recovering From Joint Surgery - What To Expect [print this page] In the US, as people successfully live longer and more active lives, the joints in our bodies literally wear out and need replacing. No matter if it is a shoulder, hip, knee or some other joint that needs replacing, a more common and successful surgical procedure is joint surgery. As technology has improved and techniques have been refined, recovery time has dropped significantly, however there are still some things you will want to know about recovering from surgery.
Because joint replacement surgery is very invasive no matter the type of joint being replaced, you will have to spend a few days in the hospital. This means you will need to expect to have a hospital stay which may last as much as a week or more depending on the surgery. Your hospital stay will be longer for a hip replacement than it would be for replacing a knee or ankle. Fortunately, with the advances medical science has made with equipment and techniques, extended hospital stays are usually not required.
Once home, you will spend a few weeks going back and forth to physical therapy to carefully build up the muscles around the joint to bring back the strength. You will be required to do exercises at home as well, but physical therapy with a professional is where you will get most of your work done. Unless your job is physically demanding, you should be able to return to work after a couple of weeks. If it is, you may need to consider a change in career or you may need a longer recovery time. However, if you have knee joint replacement surgery instead of a total knee replacement, you may be able to return to even a physically demanding job in just a few short weeks.
Depending on the type of surgery you have, you may experience a full recovery or there may be some things you won't be able to do the same way you did them before. Even though the recovery and therapy process does involve a certain amount of pain, after the process is complete, the pain should diminish significantly and after a few months should be virtually gone. Unfortunately, joint surgery isn't an instant nor a magic process and effort will be required to bring yourself up to where you have as much mobility as possible. However, after recovery, you should be able to get a lot more quality out of your life than before.
