Three questions worth asking before you agree to surgery

We treat people before surgery and after it. That vantage point makes a few patterns hard to miss.

To be clear: plenty of operations are necessary and go well. This is not an argument against surgery. It is an argument for going in having asked.

1. What happens if I do nothing for three months?

Some conditions deteriorate without intervention, and for those the answer matters enormously. Many others do not, which means you have time to try something reversible first. Knowing which one you are dealing with changes the decision.

2. What does the evidence say about conservative treatment for this?

For several common procedures, structured rehabilitation produces outcomes comparable to surgery at twelve months. For others it clearly does not. Your surgeon will know the difference and is generally happy to tell you.

3. What does recovery actually involve?

Not how long until you are discharged -- how long until you are back to the thing you actually care about, and what work is required to get there. Surgery repairs a structure. It does not, by itself, give you back a functioning knee or shoulder.

If the answer to the first question is "nothing much", it is usually worth spending some of that time getting stronger. That helps whichever way you decide.