Pain after Orthopaedic Surgery

Things you can do to help with your pain management plan after injury or surgery

Understand that pain is part of the normal healing process after surgery. Pain is the worst the first few days after surgery, but it will improve day by day.
Monitor your pain levels and check with your surgical team if you experience unexpected pain.
Take as little opioid / narcotic medication as possible. These medicines have serious side effects and can quickly become addictive (meaning your body will require more to get an effect).
Some strategies that will help get comfortable:
- Add oral acetaminophen – either 2 extra strength every 6 to 8 hours or 2 regular strength every 4 hours, not taking more than 4000 milligrams a day.
- Add an anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID) if allowed to take these.
  - Examples include:
    - ibuprofen 600 or 800 mg every 6 hours for 2-3 days
    - naproxen 440 mg every 12 hours for 2-3 days
- Stagger acetaminophen and NSAIDs
- Elevate the surgical area
- Apply ice 10 minutes on, 5 minutes off
Eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water
Make sure you maintain a good social support system to help you with your recovery

More information can be found at:

https://www.aaos.org/quality/quality-programs/quality-toolkits/helping-patients-get-comfortable-after-injury-or-surgery/

Author

Creighton C. Tubb, MD Hip & Knee Replacement Surgery; New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, New Braunfels, Texas

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