Flying after knee replacement

What are your concerns about the knee? For me, it was about starting to trust my new knee. Bottom line may be.....do you need more time post surgery?

I would worry about having to sit with the knee bent for 7-8 hours of flight time. Even with a few standings or walks up and down the aisle during the trip, your knee will not have much positional relief and I would guess be very stiff to walk on by the end of the flight. Maybe you could get an aisle seat on the side where you can straighten your leg into the aisle during quiet times when the aisle is not in use.

If you are now having a normal recovery and your knee is healing at the expected rate by your surgeon, I would accept his opinion as to whether it is medically feasible.

Hi Paige,

I would take ddsack's advice and get this cleared by your surgeon. And if he said it's ok to fly at six weeks..... well I'm no surgeon but I question that.

I had both knees replaced during 2022 and I had excellent recoveries from both. Even so, I would think hard about flying 3 months later. It's a cross-Atlantic trip and you'll be sitting with a bent knee for a long time, as another commenter noted.

So please do call your surgeon and get a clearance, or not. And if you do go, wear compression socks, sit in an aisle seat so you can stretch out your leg, as someone else noted, and get up and walk frequently, as allowed by the flight conditions.

All the best.

Joe

I just recently noticed at a Broadway show, 10 months after my replacement, that my knee handled the 2.5 hour event without issues finally! It takes a very long time to get over that stiff feeling, uncomfortable sitting-in-one place for too long (over an hour). Aisle seat, stretch, exercise in place, tighten the quads often. NSAIDS and Extra strength Tylenol.
I just can't imagine a transatlantic flight!

I think the 6 weeks just means the risk of blood clots is diminished after that time but you still have to take precautions - as above wear compression socks and move around. Just because it is "safe" doesn't mean it is something most would advise you to do.

Please don't choose an aisle seat so you can put your leg out in the aisle. The last thing you would want is someone to hit that leg while they're walking in the dark plane. Would be better to just buy a seat with more leg room.

I agree. Our favorite saying in this family..."Just because you can doesn't mean you should".