Knee injuries are the most common reason people book physical therapy at Salus, and the first six weeks decide most of the outcome. This is roughly what those weeks look like for a sprain, a meniscus tear managed without surgery, or the period after an arthroscopy.
Session one: 45 minutes, mostly questions
We measure how far the knee bends and straightens, how it swells over the day, what you can and cannot do, and what you need to get back to — a marathon and a subway commute are different plans. You leave with three exercises, not fifteen, and a walking guideline for the week. Bring shorts.
Weeks one to three: load it earlier than you think
The old advice was rest. The evidence now is that a knee starts losing strength within days of being rested, and it recovers faster when it is loaded early, carefully and often. Expect gentle range-of-motion work, quad activation you can do in bed, and short, boring, frequent walks. Ice and elevation for swelling; the swelling, not the pain, tells us how hard to push.
Weeks four to six: strength and trust
Single-leg work, step-downs, balance, then the first jog or cut if your sport needs it. This is where most people either get impatient or get scared, and both cost time.
The two mistakes we see most: stopping the exercises the week the pain stops, and going back to the full sport in one weekend. Both add roughly a month. Six sessions over six weeks, with the plan in your portal after each one, is the normal course — and a $140 session is often covered as in-network physical therapy after a referral.
