How can I make my legs heal faster after surgery?

Introduction:

After a lower limb surgery it is very important to do the exercises of the part which is operated, to make the muscles stronger and once again start walking it is crucial to do Physical Therapy exercises after surgery of the leg. In this article you would come to know about the exercises of the leg after a surgery.

 These exercises are designed to increase your strength and range of motion following surgery. These exercises are meant to be done in a pain free manner as much as possible and under the supervision of a physical therapist.

There are some videos of exercises in this article which you can perform after a leg surgery. While you may experience some pain and discomfort during the exercises physical therapist try to work in a pain free range as much as possible. If you do experience excessive pain or discomfort while doing these exercises then immediately talk to your physical therapist to get some follow up advice.

Physical therapy exercises after a leg surgery:

 

Some of the exercises are described along with the video so that you can easily understand and also come to know the importance of physical therapy in our life.

1.Quadricep Muscle strengthening: for this exercise we are looking to get a good muscle contraction in the muscles on the front of your thighs. It is common after surgery to have some soreness and irritation in those muscles and so you have to do reintroduce moment to them through nice easy contractions. You can perform this exercise as shown in the video below 

2. Straight leg raising: In this exercise you have to just lie down on  bed and without bending your knee you have to just raise your knee against the gravity as shown in the video below. This exercise helps to increase your leg mobility and to keep the blood flowing while you are not walking quite as much you used to. Do this exercise about 20 times at a time throughout the day

3.Walking after surgery: when you about to walk after a surgery just make sure that the Walker is ergonomically designed according to your height and health. To find the proper height of your Walker imagine that your putting your hands in your pockets and you raise the Walker to that point. Also you have a nice band in your elbows while your using  Walker so that you have some good leverage. After your surgery you will have some pain and discomfort in your leg, in order to walk I recommend you to use the following instruction of gait pattern as shown in the video below

Move the Walker forward then step forward with your surgical like first then put your weights in your arms to support the leg before bringing your other leg to meet it. Then repeat this process with each step as shown in the video above.

4.How to use stairs: Going up the stairs you will be leading with your non surgical leg and do remember to go with one step at a time and bringing your surgical leg to meet the normal leg. So lead with the non surgical leg and bring your surgical leg to meet it, repeating this for each step that you use the stairs.

Now coming down the stairs you are going to be leading with your surgical leg first and bring your non surgical leg to meet it, this is the safest method which physical therapist uses in a lower limb injury case.

5. Static Cycling: This is a non weight bearing exercise in which your pelvis is on the seat of static cycle and legs are free to move in a particular pattern. Cycling provides movement at hips, knee and ankle joints thus enabling joint movements and recruitment of muscle fibers contraction. 

                               

Shown in the video below you can perform cycling in forward direction as well as reverse direction, which will help to gain overall strength in the thigh and leg muscles. 

6. Ankle Pumps: In this exercise you lay down on a flat surface or mat and have to move your toes up towards your shin and then down towards the floor so that you can feel maximum stretch on your ankle joint. Do this exercise about 20 times throughout a day

7. Some electrotherapy modalities were also used by physical therapist to reduce pain around the region and facilitate movement around the joint.

Conclusion: I hope this article help you regarding information of exercises after a leg surgery. If you find this article helpful then please let me know in the comment section.