Get set for a successful recovery 

If surgery is part of your care plan, preparing ahead can help you feel more confident about what to expect. From improving your health before surgery to planning for rehabilitation afterward, there are steps you can take to support your recovery.

Prepare your health for surgery

Before surgery, your care team will review your overall health and any factors that could affect your procedure or recovery.

Weight may be one of those factors. For people having joint replacement surgery, a higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk of complications. Your surgeon can explain how weight loss could help reduce your individual surgical risk or expand your treatment options.

“The success rates are higher and you’re amenable to more treatment options as your weight goes down,” says Deryk Jones, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with Sutter.

If weight loss is recommended, your care team can help you develop a plan that supports your health before surgery. 

Prehabilitation and physical therapy

Rehabilitation is an important part of recovery after many orthopedic procedures. But physical therapy may also begin before surgery — an approach sometimes called prehabilitation.

Before hip or knee replacement, for example, you may meet with a physical therapist to learn what to expect during recovery and prepare for mobility needs at home.

“Even if you’re doing pretty well, that visit helps you understand what recovery will be like after surgery,” Jones says. “You’ll talk about whether you’ll do better with a walker or crutches, whether you have stairs at home, where your bedroom and bathroom are. Those kinds of practical discussions are very important before surgery.”

After surgery, physical therapy can help you rebuild strength, improve balance and range of motion and safely increase your activity. Your therapist can also monitor your progress and communicate with your care team if recovery isn’t progressing as expected. 

Inpatient vs. outpatient surgery

Many orthopedic procedures can now be performed on an outpatient basis, meaning you return home the same day. Other procedures or health circumstances may require a hospital stay.

“We don’t want to admit people to the hospital or have patients go to a skilled nursing facility if we don’t have to,” Jones says.

Your surgeon will consider factors such as the type of procedure, your overall health, your mobility and the support you have at home when deciding what level of care is appropriate after surgery. 

Pain management after surgery

Managing pain is an important part of recovery because uncontrolled pain can make it harder to rest, move and participate in rehabilitation.

Talk with your surgeon before your procedure about what pain to expect and how it will be managed. Depending on your procedure and health needs, your pain-management plan may include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen
• Acetaminophen
• Local anesthetics, such as bupivacaine or lidocaine
• Opioid medications

Your care team may use a combination of treatments to manage pain while limiting side effects and reducing the need for opioids when possible. 

Preparing your home for recovery

Before surgery, ask your care team or physical therapist whether you’ll need to make changes at home. Depending on your procedure and mobility needs, you may want to:

• Arrange your sleeping space so you can move around safely and minimize stairs if needed
• Make sure your bed is at a safe height for getting in and out
• Move frequently used items so they’re easy to reach
• Clear walkways and remove tripping hazards
• Stock your kitchen with easy-to-prepare meals
• Arrange for someone to help you during the first days of recovery
• Ask whether you’ll need equipment such as a shower stool, raised toilet seat, reacher or long-handled shoehorn

Planning ahead can make it easier to focus on rehabilitation and recovery once you return home.