Does Your Mental Attitude Affect Your Total Knee Replacement Recovery?
Common sense says, “Of course it does!” Here is an update on the research in this area.
In the past, studies have shown that anxiety and depression preoperatively influence the outcomes of knee replacement recovery. A recent study looked at ‘catastrophizing,’ perceived injustice, fear of movement, and recovery expectancies and total knee replacement outcomes.
Dr. Victoria Brander, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Northwestern Orthopaedic Institute in Chicago, summarized the results of the recent study as follows:
All of these psychological factors point to the fact that patients who perceive themselves as helpless, those who are afraid, those who feel loss of control, have a more difficult time. The contrary is also true – patients who exhibit high levels of ‘self-efficacy’ (that is, patients who have a high degree of confidence in their own ability to achieve a goal) appear to do best after knee replacement.
See the original study here: The role of perceived injustice in the prediction of pain and function after total knee arthroplasty
See Reuters Report Here
After years of treating patients in the field, I stumbled upon the fact that patients did better when they had control of the outcomes. I started teaching them a system where they could track daily progress by converting degrees to inches. I started leaving tools in the home. These tools allowed the patient to leverage their stretch without a physical therapist being present. This tool, called a FLEX Bar is now available on Amazon. In short I was created a system where the patient was central and only needed me as a coach. It gave my patients an overwhelming sense of confidence and control.
It might take someone a few visits to grasp the concepts but once they did, I could see the change in confidence instantly. Instead of being stowaways on a ship headed into the unknown, they become captains of the ship. It was no longer about me the therapist and what I could or could not do for them.
If you want to have a plan going into surgery instead of hoping and trusting an increasingly corrupt corporate medical establishment …grab my book. You will get all the insider knowledge you need and a proven system to help you confidently achieve a speedy and successful knee replacement recovery .
Remember, start with a great surgeon. If you don’t no amount of total knee replacement recovery will fix poor alignment. But on the other hand a patient can have a great surgeon and still have a very hard time with recovery because they are doing things all wrong.
It is not brain surgery, if you know the basic principles. Anyone can succeed.
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