Post op exercises are an important part of your recovery.
You may get up the same day as your operation, or perhaps the day after. Either way you will be encouraged to start exercising and leave your bed for a short walk using a Zimmer frame or walker.
A physiotherapist will show you have to use your Zimmer frame or walker and you can rely on this for as long as you need. However staff will encourage you to move onto a pair of crutches as soon as you are able but in all probability you will be discharged before you make the transition to a single crutch. How far and fast you progress is as dependent on the work you put in at this stage as on the type of surgery you have had and your pre-op levels of fitness.
These post op exercises are an essential part of your recovery process - do not neglect them!
Immediately after surgery you are at your most vulnerable. It is the time that the muscles holding your new joint in place are at their weakest and that you are at the highest risk of a blood clot or DVT (deep vein thrombosis) Exercising now will help keep you safe and increase the speed of your recovery. But before I start listing the most important exercises - a word of caution.
Before you start: Absolutely nothing I say should take the place of instruction from your physiotherapist or any other member of your clinical team.
The information here is to support the work of your clinical team - not replace it.
The aims of these exercises are to: -
Of course you're not going to be feeling up to much so the exercises are designed to be simple and all of them can be done lying in your bed flat on your back. Follow the links for detailed information about each exercise
Thes post op exercises will see you through the first few days after your operation. Soon you will be able to start adding more exercises to your routine - work hard at these and you'll recover quickly.
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Must have Equipment to keep you safe