Wintertime Sports After Joint Replacement

Posted at: i/25/2018 12:00 PM

Winter Sports After Joint Replacement It'due south winter in Central New York. That means outdoor sports enthusiasts are skiing instead of golfing and skating instead swimming.  For patients who accept recently undergone a joint replacement surgery, the transition may not be as easy every bit replacing one sport with another.

The Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists' (SOS) Joint Replacement Experts caution their patients about high impact winter sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, and counsel individual patients based on their unique factors, but in general provide these guidelines for wintertime sports and activities subsequently undergoing a joint replacement.

First, age plays a large role in the power to participate in sports after a joint replacement. As you get older your torso naturally loses muscle and bone mass, explains the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (it usually starting around menopause for women). This tin subtract your speed and increase your likelihood of injury, including broken bones. Recovery fourth dimension may besides exist slower than it would exist in younger patients, and an older patient might not bounce back equally hands or speedily as you used to from an injury.

Activity level prior to surgery is another of import indication on a return to sports later on a joint replacement. According to a July 2008, study in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, more than one-half of all joint replacement patients were able to return to sports that they were very active in pre-operatively within iii years of undergoing surgery. If patients were avid skiers earlier surgery, most likely tin still continue with modifications like only skiing on clean-cut trails with no jumps, bumps or uneven slopes.

Timothy Izant However, people who weren't very active before joint replacement surgery are not likely to get more active later on. "It'southward important to have realistic expectations about do before, during and after recovery from joint replacement surgery," says Dr. Timothy Izant. "If you determine y'all experience capable of more activity afterward recovering from your joint replacement, it is crucial to talk to your doctor about what sports are right for you and to ever use extreme intendance when active."

Additionally, which joint yous had replaced can determine which winter sports in which to participate after recovery from surgery.  For instance, playing hockey after a knee replacement may not be the best thought because human knee injuries are already mutual with that sport. Consider joining a non-checking hockey league, because skating can exist a safe gliding sport.

"Even if a doctor and patient together decide active wintertime sports aren't appropriate for an private, there are ever ways to enjoy the winter wonderland we often see in our region," comments Dr. Izant.  "I encourage cross-state skiing and snowshoeing. Still on very cold days, take a walk in the mall, large box stores or grocery stores. Besides, consider water aerobics classes that are offered all twelvemonth long."

The most important affair to do is talk to your doctor earlier taking upwardly any sports after joint replacement surgery.  Consult with an SOS Joint Replacement Specialist today.