After Arthroscopy, your surgeon would like you to know what precautions you should take, as well as what you should not  worry about. This information sheet has been written to be broad enough to cover many joints, however, details to each may  be slightly different and also depend on what has been specifically performed to help you.  In general, arthroscopy is relatively non-invasive.  This means that the discomfort you have after surgery will tend to be far less than if the same surgery was  performed with an open incision.  In addition, the time to full recovery is generally much more rapid when surgery is performed  with Arthroscopic techniques.  This does not mean that the procedure will be totally painless.  To aid in pain relief, the joint is generally infiltrated with analgesic (marcaine) and narcotic which lasts roughly 6 hours.  With larger procedures such as  Ligament Reconstruction, a nerve block is also used to maximize comfort.  Pain is minimized when there is little or none immediately after anesthesia.  After surgery, patients usually take mild narcotics for the first week or two.  After the first few  days these should be used sparingly.  This improves the medicine effectiveness, and ensures that you will not become physically dependent on the medicine.  Usually, after the first week, no pain medicine is required except perhaps at night to aid with sleep.  Your physician will give you enough pain medicine to last until your first post-op visit, 7 to10 days after surgery, at which time  you will usually require little if any.  When simple arthroscopy has been performed, only small puncture sites are present, and  your dressing may be removed after one or two days, and only band-aids reapplied. Showering may occur on the fourth day after surgery.  Prior to this, wash around the wound site. When you shower, do not scrub the sites, let the water run off, blot the skin  dry, and reapply band-aids. Do not soak in a bath or pool or enter sea water until one week after your stitches are removed.  
When you come to the office, your sutures will be removed, steri-strips applied as reinforcement, and then you can treat the  area without special consideration. Soaking the incision site should still be avoided for another week.  This is especially true  for salt or brackish water.  If you have a longer incision such as that used in a ligament reconstruction of the knee,  or rotator cuff repair of the shoulder, then the small incision should be kept dry and clean until your sutures are removed. Only then should the incision site be washed or showered. This is a precaution against wound contamination from skin bacteria (the most common cause of peri-operative infection).  A long compressive hose (TED hose) should be left on until the swelling has ceased to be a problem in the lower extremity.  The hose is not required at night because the leg is elevated to chest level.  The more you walk or stand, however, the more you will find it helpful for comfort. The hose will also allow for longer periods of ambulation, sitting and standing.  Motion and positioning of the extremity are important to early return to normal function.  In the knee, it is important to place a rolled towel beneath your ankle to maintain extension. Do not place a pillow behind your knee while you sleep.  This will encourage the knee to become stuck in a flexed position, which may be difficult to overcome later. Rapid return of motion is generally the best choice when joint surgery has been performed.  This should be supervised by a Physical Therapist when ligament or tendon reconstruction has been performed.  For simple arthroscopy, this is generally not necessary.  The shoulder also needs to be moved rapidly after arthroscopy.  Even after a large open rotator cuff repair, motion should be restored rapidly.  This should be done passively (no active power assisting elevation from the affected arm itself).   Few restrictions are present after arthroscopy without ligament reconstruction of the knee or rotator cuff or capsular repair of the shoulder.  If you have any specific questions or concerns, please contact your doctor.