The most common joint replacement operations involve the hip, knee and shoulder. If you have recently undergone joint replacement surgery (or an upcoming surgery is planned), it is important to understand how to properly recover so you can maximize the function of your new joint and minimize complications.
Start your first recovery at the hospital. [1] When general anesthesia subsides after joint replacement surgery, you find yourself in a place known as the "recovery room," also known as the post-anesthesia ward or PACU. Here, patients stay awake and even a few hours later, to make sure that the initial recovery after surgery works well. There is oversight of nurses in the recovery room, and your surgeon may come to check you to make sure you are doing well after the procedure.
After a few hours in the recovery room, you will be taken to a hospital bed where you can spend one to five nights.
This will depend on the type of joint replacement you have operated on (which joint has been operated on) and the severity and extent of the required repairs.
Your doctor will tell you how many nights you need to spend at the hospital and he or she will check you in daily, in addition to the rest of your health team (nurses, physiotherapists, etc.).
Have you overcome your pain with medication. [2] After the numbing effect of anesthesia (used during surgery) has subsided, you must take painkillers to relieve the pain after surgery. Your doctor will prescribe it and the nurses will administer it. You will most likely be given oral pain medications (in pill form), and the dose will continue to decrease as your body heals after surgery.
Let your surgeon and nurses be sure that you know how well the pain medications work for you.
If the dosage prescribed by your doctor is not sufficient to control the pain, inform the staff so they can provide you with additional pain management strategies.
Work with a physiotherapist. [3] You can expect to receive a visit from the hospital physiotherapist the day after your joint replacement surgery to begin a rehabilitation program. In the early stages after surgery, the movements proposed by your physiotherapist are small and minimal. In the initial stages, the goal is to keep the circulation to the affected joint (the operated joint) without moving too much, so as not to interfere with the alignment of the joint or in any way affect the joint healing.
The extent of physiotherapy exercises increases in the weeks following surgery after the first healing.
At the hospital, you can expect to visit a physiotherapist once or twice a day.
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