Posted on June 14, 2017
Ah. Driving after surgery varies by surgery type and your pain level.
Simple rules?
- If you are on pain medication or muscle relaxants, you cannot drive. I saw signs this weekend “DUI doesn’t just mean booze. Meds can impair.”
- This does not mean you can stop meds and be in a lot of pain and drive. If you are in pain, you will have a delay in your reaction time. If someone cuts you off, you will hesitate to slam on the brakes because you know “this will hurt.” This can cause accidents.
So what is the usual timeline? Depends on the type of surgery, part of the body, and how quickly you heal. After any surgery, recovery time varies from patient to patient. In general, the more surgery you do, the more parts of the body you operate on, the more swelling and bruising you have —> more pain, and longer time until you are back to driving and normal activities.
Typically one week of no driving / on pain medication:
One to two weeks on pain medication:
- mommy makeover, tummy tucks, full body liposuction.
For your immediate post operative visits, get a friend or family member to drive. Take lyft or uber. There are so many options available now. But the most important thing is to be safe.