I am very allergic to most of the narcotics used after surgery. But I'm scheduled to have a total knee replacement. How can I manage the pain without using these drugs alone?

There are some alternative ways to control pain that don't involve any medications. Acupuncture, hypnosis, and electrical stimulation are three of the more commonly used non-drug ways to manage pain. Sometimes they are used together.

There are also other ways to control or manage your pain using medications. A new pain control method is called the periarticular cocktail injection. Periarticular refers to anything near or around the joint. Cocktail describes a mixture of medications combined together.

These drugs are injected into the joint space after the old bone is removed but before the implant is put in place. A second injection is done into the soft tissues around the joint after the implant is inserted.

The results of the first study suggest this may help improve function faster. And for those who can only tolerate a small amount of narcotic, it contains an antibiotic, antiinflammatory, and numbing agent. Results after three months of follow-up are just as good as for patients receiving the more standard drugs.

It's important that you discuss this problem with your surgeon. Reducing and controlling pain and other problems after surgery is as important as the operation itself.

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