Strategies for a Faster Recovery From Hip and Knee Surgery

Knee and hip replacement operations can result in a lot of pain, but surgical techniques have improved significantly in the past 20 years. Risks such as infection, blood clots, and extreme postsurgical pain have been reduced, refinements in technique and anesthesia have cut recovery time, and implants work better.

Still, recovery can be a long, difficult road for which patients should be mentally and physically prepared.

Pick your pain relief option
New pain relief techniques mean patients can have painkillers delivered efficiently and with greater success. When Judy Street, 67, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., opted for knee replacement because she couldn't do anything with her grandchildren, she was nervous. A friend had told her the post-operative pain would be excruciating. But her anesthesiologist gave her two pain control options: a patient-controlled infusion pump delivering pain relief medicine or a two-day epidural implant which automatically delivers pain relief. She opted for the implant and was pleased that her leg felt pretty much numb in the days after surgery.

Glenn, 54, of Chappaqua, N.Y., who had a double hip replacement remembers the importance of post-op narcotics: "Everybody including my macho football-playing friend who had a knee replacement said, 'Don't be a brave guy. Take as much painkiller as you need. Don't be macho, don't let the pain get in front of you. Just keep taking it.'"