Three Things You Should Know About Pain After Your Foot Or Ankle Surgery
If you have a foot or ankle surgery planned in the near future, you may be thinking about the pain you may experience after the surgery and during your recovery. Often a patient has a certain amount of pain after surgery, but those who have foot and angle surgery often report more discomfort than those recovering from other surgeries. The following are a few things you should know.
Opioids after surgery should be avoided
In the past, it was common to prescribe various opioids after surgery. They are very effective at reducing pain, if not completely eliminating it. The problem is that they are addictive. This is not something that the medical community was unaware of, it is simply that it was thought when using them for a short amount of time after surgery, there was little chance of addiction. However, this is not always true. One strategy that doctors tried was to prescribe them in small doses during recovery, but for some people, they can still become habit forming. Today, a pain management approach has become increasingly popular.
You should embrace pain management
There are many ways to control pain without resorting to using opioids. All of these ideas taken together are known as pain management. Pain management may begin with a local anesthetic after surgery that is designed to last a long time. The idea behind this is to address any immediate pain that is felt after the anesthesia wears off. At this point, there are various ways to control pain. There are over-the-counter remedies, but doctors also have various anti-inflammatory prescription drugs that are strong enough to relieve pain, yet they are non-addictive.
You can participate in clinical trials
Something else you might consider is to participate in clinical trials related to pain relief after surgery on the feet and ankles. If you are going to have such a surgery, you will likely be a good candidate for a clinical trial. After surgery, there will be certain requirements that you will need to follow in order to help clinical trial researchers learn more about post-surgery pain relief. You will be helping yourself, and more importantly, helping many people in the future with their foot and ankle surgical recovery.
If your podiatrist has recommended surgery on your foot or ankle, you may be worried about the amount of pain you will have after the surgery and during the period of rehabilitation. You should know that although opioids have been routinely prescribed in the past, they are being used less by doctors today because they are addictive. You should avoid them. There are ways to manage pain without using opioids. In fact, there are ongoing clinical trials you can participate in after your surgery to learn and understand pain management, as well as help clinical researchers provide better non-addictive, pain relief solutions.