There is a range of accepted weight ranges, but the current standard is that anyone obese (greater than 100 pounds over ideal weight or a BMI of roughly 40-45) should not consider joint replacement.
You may place as much weight onto the operated leg as your pain, comfort, common sense and balance will allow. You will not damage your knee replacement by placing your weight on the leg.
Check your BMI at this link. In one survey of joint replacement patients under age 60, some 77% were obese compared to only 26% of the general population. The chances of a knee replacement are 8 times higher for patients a BMI greater than 30 and 28 times higher for patients with a BMI over 35.
In younger patients it's critical to manage weight because not only is there a risk of operative complications, there's also a substantially increased risk of the implant failing prematurely. That then requires the partial knee to be converted to a total replacement, or the total to be revised or even re-revised.
There is a range of accepted weight ranges, but the current standard is that anyone obese (greater than 100 pounds over ideal weight or a BMI of roughly 40-45) should not consider joint replacement.
A BMI over 25 is termed as being overweight and over 30 is termed as being obese. There can be a higher risk of surgical and anaesthetic complications if you have a BMI over 30. If you lose even 5 to 10% of your weight, this could reduce some of the risks associated with anaesthesia.
Try intermittent fasting for 12 hours instead of 16. Try just giving up sugar or just giving up soda. Many patients lose a tremendous amount of weight from just giving up sugar laden sodas that they drink all day. Increase the amount of leafy greens you take in one day from none to 3 or 4 cups.
The average recovery time from knee replacement surgery is approximately six months, but it can take roughly 12 months to fully return to physically demanding activities.
The new knee joint is on average 0.6 lbs heavier than the natural joint. This may be a reason that people feel that their new knee is heavier, and this may contribute to perceptions of an unnatural knee joint.
4 – 6 weeks after surgery
You would be able to walk for 10 minutes without any assisted devices within 4 – 6 weeks of the procedure.
You shouldn't downhill ski or play contact sports such as football and soccer. In general, avoid sports that require jerking, twisting, pulling, or running. You should be able to do lower-impact activities, such as hiking, gardening, swimming, playing tennis, and golfing.
The majority of patients expect to be able to kneel after TKR,2,4,5 however, these expectations are frequently not met,1,6 with between 50% and 80% of patients reporting that they have difficulty kneeling or do not kneel in the months and years after TKR.
Your mobility and recovery may be affected by putting knee surgery off too long. If you are not active due to knee pain, the muscles in your legs will lose strength, slowing your recovery and making physical therapy even more challenging due to loss of muscle mass and mobility.
Your second day can begin with more pain than you experienced on post-op, day one. You probably didn't sleep great, getting to the bathroom with your walker is a fiddle, but you take your medications, ice and elevate, and work on walking.
You can expect some pain and swell for a few months after surgery. Improved surgical techniques and new technology, such as robotic arm-assisted technology, makes the knee replacement recovery process quicker and less painful.
Recovery is slow
While it's different for everyone and depends on the type of knee surgery you've had, many people are surprised by how long it takes to recover. The time it takes to start doing simple tasks around the home, get back to work and importantly bending your new and improved knee may catch you by surprise.
A key study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism of overweight and obese adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA) found that losing one pound of weight resulted in four pounds of pressure being removed from the knees. In other words, losing just 10 pounds would relieve 40 pounds of pressure from your knees. Ease pain.
There is no weight limit for surgery, per se. If one needs life-saving surgery, surgery will be done independently of a patient's weight. However, being obese or morbidly obese increases the risk for complications from anesthesia and surgery alike, especially in an emergent situation.
Learn your body mass index
A BMI range of 18-24.9 is considered optimal. Morbid obesity is defined as a BMI score of 40 or more. You typically qualify for bariatric surgery if you have a BMI of 35 or greater, with specific significant health problems like Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea or high blood pressure.
Twenty pounds “is the magic number based on our evidence,” Keeney said. “This is even after accounting for age, gender, and other diagnoses besides obesity, as well as baseline physical and mental function.”
As knee arthritis progresses, the knee becomes much looser and more unstable. In some cases, this is mild. In other cases, it is substantial enough that cause the patient to fall. Patients who have bone-on-bone arthritis and are starting to fall because of it should strongly consider surgery.