You’ve tried everything to combat the pain and inflammation in your knee(s), and the discomfort isn’t letting up — in fact, it’s just getting worse. After weighing your options, you’ve decided that knee replacement surgery will give you the best chance for pain-free movement moving forward.
This type of joint replacement surgery is common — nearly 800,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed each year in the United States. This type of surgery is also growing thanks to an aging population with increasingly failing knees.
Here at William Schell, MD, Dr. Schell has extensive experience with knee surgeries of all kinds, including total knee replacements. While we can do our part to alleviate your knee pain with this surgery, there are some steps you can take to ease this journey.
Depending on your current health, it’s likely that we need you to get checked out before this procedure. During this preoperative visit, you can discuss any concerns about medications or anything else before you undergo the knee replacement.
We also want to note that you should have any dental work done at least six weeks before your knee replacement surgery, and you can’t have dental procedures for three months afterward, so plan accordingly.
You’re going to be moving slowly and gingerly after your knee replacement surgery, so it’s essential to prepare your apartment or house. Clear away loose rugs and cords (tripping hazards). Make sure you can get in and out of the shower safely, as well as up and down on the toilet — you may want to install some handholds, as well as a shower chair.
You should also rearrange your clothes for easy access, as well as items in the kitchen.
Granted, finding food in New York CIty is easy, and meals are just a click away. If you prefer to do the cooking though, we suggest you prepare some dishes ahead of your surgery and freeze them.
The night before or morning of your knee replacement surgery, take a nice long shower or bath to get clean. You can even use an antibacterial soap for a more thorough cleanse.
While cleaning is great, please don’t use any special lotions on your body and remove any makeup and nail polish.
On the day of your surgery, wear loose, comfortable clothes, and please leave your valuables at home. If you’re spending the night in the hospital, pack a small bag with some essentials, but less is more, as you don’t want to have to keep track of a lot of stuff after your surgery.
With a little advanced planning, there’s no reason why your knee replacement surgery can’t go smoothly — before, during, and after — so you can get on the road to moving freely again.
If you have more questions about preparing for knee replacement surgery, please contact our New York City office, which is located on Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side.
