It’s true. My OS says walking is the best rehab, and he provides all his patients with a walking program. The goals are appropriate to stage of recovery.
Though I did a few weeks of PT mostly to get out of the house, I focused on the walking. Just circuits around the house at first. At a month I started walking outside by walking down my driveway and back. Three times a day.
A few days later I walked the driveway and the sidewalk to my neighbor’s driveway and back. Every second day I walked farther. The next driveway, then the next. And back. It’s always twice what it sounds like. Twice a day.
After a few more months I was walking two miles a day. Once a day. And I went for longer walks from there.
The main thing is the program was gradual. I was very deliberate about adding distance in small increments at first. Later I would add longer distances to test my limits. But not at first. The first months were a little at a time.
At no time were my knees in pain from this walking. Other things, yes, like the time I made a reflex leap to escape a dog. And also from PT a couple times early on. It’s all on my thread. But never hurt just from the walking.
My rehab was fun and easy. My knees are almost two years post-op, pain-free, strong, and have great ROM. Walking works.