The constant evolution of orthopaedic medicine has led to more than 35.000 hip prostheses and more than 60.000 knee prosthesis being placed in Spain every year. These numbers reveal the dimensions of the need and frequency at which people turn to surgical interventions to improve life quality.
In this context, it becomes important to explore the postoperative recovery process and how Capenergy’s innovative technology can play a crucial role in the patient’s functional restoration and wellbeing, thus making a difference in recovery.
Knee and hip prostheses: what are we talking about?
The increasingly more common knee prostheses offer a solution to cartilage wear caused by traumatisms, ageing, sedentary lifestyle or metabolic diseases. This wear leads to localized arthrosis in the articulation which causes friction between the bones and in the long run, deformity, stiffness or pain and the consequent loss of functionality.
Be it with or without inflammation of the articulation, the cartilage wear will impede the articulation from sliding freely and this will cause a gradual loss of mobility.
The patient will start feeling pain, stiffness and crackling sounds in the knee, due to the mismatching, the lack of sliding or liquid spill. Furthermore, in order to compensate for the lack of cushioning from the cartilage, the bone becomes harder and bone spurs are generated (osteophytes).
On the other hand, the most common reasons behind hip replacement surgery are arthrosis, dysplasia, osteoporosis or fractures. This type of surgery is generally less complicated than knee replacements and recovery time as well as the pain levels experienced during this period tend to be of a lesser importance.
Recovery after knee replacement surgery
The recovery period after this surgical intervention varies according to the type of prosthesis, the patient ‘s age and his condition prior to the intervention. Generally, a recovery time of 3 to 6 months is estimated for knee surgery and 2 months for hip replacement surgery.
Even though many patients recover the ability to walk autonomously after 4-5 weeks, in many cases pain and inflammation persists, especially in the case of knee prostheses.
In general, rehabilitation after prosthesis placement consist of different phases:
- Treatment aimed at the reduction of pain and inflammation.
- Increase of the motion.
- Strengthen and re-educate walking.
It is important to point out that, if possible, a pre-operative treatment should be initiated to assure the patient will be in optimal conditions at the time of the surgery and to prepare the articulation for the intervention. To this effect, we will treat the already present pain, maintaining functionality and improving strength of both the intervened and the other leg, as the latter will bear more load after surgery.
Capenergy: innovative technology for an efficient recovery after prosthetic implant surgery
In the immediate postoperative period, physiotherapists and rehabilitation doctors’ main goal is to reduce inflammation and pain. This is where Capenergy’s radiofrequency devices come into play as technological allies, as they allow working both aspects at the same time (inflammation and pain).
When we work with these devices in automatic mode, we are relying on the magnetohydrodynamics law, which means we’re stimulating the mobilization of inflammatory substances, facilitating and boosting lymphatic drainage.
When we reduce inflammation, we reduce the substances that are increasing our pain levels in the area and the big advantage of this treatment is that we can combine it with a manual treatment to keep on boosting the drainage effect.
Furthermore, Capenergy’s technology does not only provide pain relief to the patient, it also calms the nervous system, on alert after the intervention.
After this first stage of reducing pain and inflammation, we can start working on the increase of the articular mobility and improvement of muscle strength. Often, this type of exercises can increase inflammation and localized pain, so it is always a good idea to have the draining effect of TECAR EVOLUTION CAPENERGY devices and to establish combined treatment sessions or even applying the technology dynamically in automatic mode while performing exercises.
Once the patient’s acute pain has been reduced, we can combine active treatment (exercise) with the application of CAPENERGY radiofrequency. we can combine a more active treatment from the patient’s side with the application of CAPENERGY radiofrequency. It is important to correctly adjust the plates to the patient’s body to be able to perform exercise whiñe receiving treatment: this allows gaining time and achieving a bigger therapeutic effect on the patient.
Furthermore, Capenergy improves the quality of both muscle and scar tissue, which is another of the problems presented by this type of surgeries and an area in which Capenergy obtains very good results.
In short, prosthetic surgery is a vital steps toward a better life quality. With detailed information about the types of prostheses and rehabilitation backed up by Capenergy technology, the recovery process will become far more encouraging and effective.
Would you like to know more about Capenergy radiofrequency and how it can help you treat different ailments at your clinic? Request a free demo.
