Is It Time for Joint Surgery?

If your doctor says you are a candidate for joint surgery, the decision is yours. These 10 questions can guide you. Your doctor can answer some, but others are more personal. Gather all the information and talk it through with a surgeon or the nursing staff. Keep in mind that this may help to relieve pain, improve function and restore mobility. Ask yourself the following:

Consider whether the pain is affecting your daily life, mood or relationships. Think about whether you’re having more bad days than good days, and whether the pain interrupts your sleep or if side effects from pain medicines are putting your health at risk.

You feel pain with movement and at rest. It’s getting harder to climb stairs, get into cars, or around the house. On a scale of one to 10, your pain level has steadily moved pass six, and has stayed at the higher levels for months. X-rays show that you have severe joint damage.

You’ve stopped playing tennis or shopping with friends. Social plans get cancelled at the last minute due to pain. You haven’t been to church for many Sundays. Most weekends you are at home.

Before you decide to have surgery, make sure you have exhausted other therapies. You should talk to your doctor about which ones may be most helpful for you. These include topical and oral medicines, injections, natural or complementary remedies, exercise, physical or occupational therapy and assistive devices.

Talk with your doctor to find out what level of improvement you may expect from joint surgery. This will depend on the state of your arthritis, your overall health, and your ability to closely follow post-surgery instructions. You may need to lose weight, stop smoking and make other changes to your lifestyle to achieve the full benefits of surgery.

Your knees may be ready for surgery, but is the rest of you? Any other health conditions you have will need to well controlled. Your overall health plays an important role in your healing and recovery process.

Whether you have a partial or total knee replacement, joint surgery is a major event. Recovery requires a commitment to weeks of post-surgery rehabilitation and exercise to regain muscle strength, range of motion and good mobility. There will be good days and bad days as your body heals. You will need to be committed to following your post-surgery regimen even when it hurts.

Make sure you understand what your insurance plan will cover, including things you may or may not need like at-home nursing care. Know your out-of-pocket costs and make sure you are able to comfortably afford to cover those expenses.

Recovery from joint surgery can take up to six weeks, or even longer. You should expect to be homebound for the first two to three weeks after surgery. Check with your employer to ensure you can take the time off or make arrangements to work from home if that’s an option. You may also need to get help with family and personal responsibilities.

Post-surgery recovery is not something you can do alone. You will need help when you return home after surgery. If you live alone and don’t have someone to help, you may want to seek home-care assistance from an agency. For at least a few weeks, you'll likely need some assistance getting dressed, preparing food, changing your bandages, and moving around.

It’s important that you talk to an orthopaedic surgeon and the nursing staff so you understand what to expect before, during and after joint surgery. You may want to talk with other people in similar situations who have had joint surgery so you have a broad range of perspectives. Common advice is not to wait until you are barely able to function. Surgery takes planning so make sure you have the time and energy to prepare.