Are you pencilled in for a total knee replacement? Or have you just recently got it done? Have you had knee surgery and been told you will need a total knee replacement in the future? Are you just sitting there and waiting for your knee to get sorer and then get the op? I am not going to tell you that you might not need a total knee replacement but I am going to tell you that if anyone says you don’t need physiotherapy after, they are wrong. For some reason you might hear along your travels “I don’t believe in physio” or “you won’t need physio after your operation”. You most certainly will and lots of it. Why? Well, first off, do you know what actually happens in the operation? 

A total knee replacement is needed when the surfaces of your femur and tibia (See attached picture) are damaged and need to be replaced. This is done by: 

1. Cutting the quadricep tendon so the kneecap can be assessed. 
2. Sliding your kneecap to one...

Total Knee Replacement: Don’t skip these steps.

Tommy Conway - Chartered Physiotherapist and Director - OneHEALTH

Total knee replacements that give trouble leave clues! Over years of treating total knee replacements that seem unsuccessful or which still give clients issues I have come up with a step by step approach to make sure you have a successful surgery and recovery. By the way you won’t be out of pain in six weeks, and walking isn’t how you recover so read on!

Step 1: See a physio before you get the operation

This is the most important step. You need to have a real estimation of how long your recovery will take and your physiotherapist will guide you with this. Not all knee replacements are the same and not all people have the same day jobs and recovery time. I have two clients currently recovering from total knee replacements who are the same age, same weight, same occupation but different have recovery times. One has decided to take 3 months off to recover,...

Why the second total hip/ knee replacement more problematic than the first? 

Tommy Conway - Chartered Physiotherapist and Director - OneHEALTH

Recently I had two new clients in my clinic, the first was after getting his second knee replacement. He had the right knee replaced in 2016 and the left knee replaced in January 2021. It was my first time seeing him as the first (right) knee replacement was a huge success and “They never needed physio”. The second (Left) knee replacement was more problematic, he explained how he had followed the same plan but with not the same recovery, the knee replacement was stiffer and more painful, as he explained “ It just didn't feel right”. The second new client was 5 months post operation with a right hip replacement, she had her left hip replaced over 10 years ago. She  had a similar story, left hip replacement was a huge success,“I did one or two exercises for 3 months and the hip was perfect”,but...