You've crossed the two-week mark. This is Phase 2 of your recovery — and while the hardest part of the early post-op period is behind you, this phase is where consistency matters most.
Your Wound
Don't worry if your wound hasn't fully healed by two weeks — some patients take up to three weeks, and that's normal. Keep your dressings dry and diligent. If you notice persistent fluid output or the dressing keeps getting soaked, let your care team know so you can be monitored closely.
Your Brace
A few things may change in this phase. Depending on what was done during surgery, your brace range of motion may be increased, while some of you will still be kept at a 0–90 degree range.
Sleeping: Ideally, keep wearing the brace at night — it stops you from bending your knee excessively, especially if you tend to move a lot in your sleep. But if the brace is disrupting your rest and you know you don't turn much, you can remove it for sleep.
At home: You can start removing the brace when sitting at a table. But keep to the range limitations as prescribed.
Outdoors: This depends on where your recovery stands:
- If you've been cleared for full range of motion, you can go brace-free at home in a safe environment. Outdoors, though, it's still worth keeping the brace on — it signals to people around you that you're recovering, so they're more mindful around you.
- If you're still kept at 0–90 degrees — for example, to protect a meniscus repair — wearing the brace outdoors protects you from accidentally flexing past 90 degrees in a moment you're not paying close attention.
The underlying principle stays the same throughout: the brace exists to prevent excessive bending in the knees that still need protecting.
Weight-Bearing
Continue exactly as prescribed. Some of you may now be allowed to fully weight-bear as tolerated; many others will still need partial weight-bearing with crutches. Follow your specific instructions — the purpose is to protect a meniscus repair while it heals.
Don't Slack Off Now
This is the phase where it gets tempting to ease up. Many of you are walking again, the pain has dropped significantly, and the exercises may start to feel like they're doing little. But this is exactly when consistency counts most.
Keep up your physiotherapy three times a day, including your neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). One diligent day here can buy you a full week of faster return to running and sport later — so don't let up.
Range of Motion Goals
By now, you should have achieved full extension. If you haven't, keep working at it — this remains a priority.
This phase is where the focus shifts to flexion. If you've been cleared for full range of motion, work on flexing your knee as much as you can. If your brace is still limiting you to 0–90 degrees, work towards that prescribed limit consistently.
Looking Ahead
The body God gave us is remarkably capable of healing when given the right conditions — and this phase is where that healing accelerates. Pain drops noticeably over these four weeks, and if you stay disciplined now, you'll walk into Phase 3 with the freedom of moving without aids again.
Ready for what comes next? See your recovery hub →