All articlesLife After Surgery
When You Can Resume Normal Activities
Dr CR Oosthuizen 3 min read
Daily life: 2–4 weeks. Sport and travel: 6–12 weeks. Heavy manual work: 8–12 weeks.
Daily activities — cooking, showering, dressing, shopping, walking the dog — return progressively over weeks 2–4. Driving comes back at 2–4 weeks. Desk work at 2–3 weeks.
Sport and exercise: stationary bike at 2 weeks, gym at 6 weeks, golf at 8–10 weeks, tennis and skiing at 3–4 months. Build up gradually rather than testing the limit.
Long-haul flights, hiking trips and heavy manual work are reasonable at 8–12 weeks. The knee continues to improve up to a year — what feels OK at 12 weeks usually feels better at 6 months.
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