Pain relief after minor surgery and during home recovery

After surgery, you're given instructions for general care. This may include rest, applying ice packs, doing rehabilitative exercises and caring for your wound. Ask to have written instructions to bring home with you.

These instructions may be the main way you relieve pain after minor surgery. If you've had major surgery, the instructions help with a more comfortable transition off medicine.

You will likely switch to oral pain medicines before leaving the hospital. You might continue to take them at home to manage pain. You may take a combination of medicines in pill form, which may include:

• Opioids.
• Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others).
• NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve).

Be sure you know what active ingredient is in each pain medicine, what the appropriate dose is and how often to take it. Also ask your healthcare team about possible interactions with other medicines. These include cold medicine that you buy from the store, other prescription medicines and supplements.