Planning for your return
Get Well Soon
Helping you to make a speedy recovery after a total knee replacement
Talk to your Occupational Health service or GP to work out when and how is best for you to return to work.
Depending on the nature of your job, you might want to ask your employer about returning to work on lighter duties at first. This means:
- Spending more time sitting rather than standing or walking
- Doing work that is mostly paperwork, using a computer or telephone
- Not carrying more than around 5kg any significant distance
- Avoiding tasks such as prolonged loading or unloading, packing or unpacking.
If you have an HR Department at work, they will be able to advise you on how your absence might affect any benefits you may be receiving during your time off.
Depending on the type of work you do, people who’ve had a knee replacement sometimes find that in the long term, they need to be redeployed into a role which is less strenuous if they do particularly heavy work. If you think this is the case, talk to your workplace Occupational Health Service in the first instance, or your GP
Confidence
It will take you a little while to regain your full confidence when you go back to work. You may be slower than normal at first, so don’t take on too much responsibility too soon. Don’t be too hard on yourself about this - it’s perfectly normal and you’ll start to get back up to speed after a few days.
3 Golden rules for a speedy recovery:
- Stay active
- Keep a normal daily routine
- Keep social contact with people