In-Hospital Physical Therapy through Home Health Care PT
“Touch Base” Exercises
I refer to the following exercises as “Touch Base” exercises because they enable you to monitor where you are in the recovery process. Since you are ultimately responsible for assessing your progress in recovery, you need to be aware of when you can “move up” to more challenging exercises, when you are ready to progress from the walker to crutches and from crutches to a cane. While there are many things all patients have in common, including the importance of the first few weeks post surgery to successful healing, recovery remains an individual process. No two knees are alike, not even on the same person. Therefore, it is critical that you are aware of how your body is doing in order to best direct your recovery.
Having been through TKR once, I looked forward to beginning the rehab process on TKR #2 and making progress early on. When I awoke from my second TKR I immediately tried to “touch base” with my toes, feet, ankle, quads, hips and glutes. While some parts were MIA (blame the anesthesia) I was able to successfully do ankle pumps and to lift my operated leg off the bed. My rehab was off to a encouraging start.
My prehab exercise practice was put to good use as I began my Stage 1 rehab. My goals for the initial post-surgery period after my first TKR were: 1) to learn how to perform basic life functions with a recovering leg, and 2) to learn and practice an exercise routine that would become the basis for my recovery. I already knew the post-surgery techniques for using the toilet, getting dressed, sitting down in a chair and getting up again and entering and leaving a car. This time, I was able to immediately focus on what was necessary for better gait mechanics - turning on the quad muscles for better leg extension and bending my operated knee to improve flexion. These movements would result in greater blood flow to, faster healing of and reduced formation of adhesions and scar tissue in my operated leg.
The following five exercises were the core of my prehab exercise routine. They will also be done as rehab exercises.
