Getting lost are indicators it may be time to give up your driver's license. Today, one in six American drivers is 65 and older, according to the. Before that point, one or more of the following driving restrictions may be. For Postmenopausal Women, More Physical Activity May Mean Fewer Hip Fractures. Surgery and driving You must tell DVLA if you’ve had an operation and you’re still unable to drive 3 months later. You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don’t tell DVLA about a medical.
For many adults, driving a vehicle and feeling independent go hand-in-hand. After joint replacement surgery, driving represents freedom, progress, and a return to your new normal. In short, getting back into the driver's seat is a major and meaningful milestone. So, when is it safe to drive after a hip replacement or knee replacement?
A journal in Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research shares that, 'Patients are often eager to return to driving, which allows them to resume their social and recreational activities or even to return to work'.
'When can I drive after my joint replacement?' is one of the most frequently asked questions after joint surgery and a recurring, popular thread in our support group. To get to the bottom of driving safely after a replacement, we interviewed Dr. John Tiberi, MD OS (orthopedic surgeon) at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.
When is it Safe to Start Drive After my Joint Replacement?
Dr. Tiberi starts off by saying that 'I would encourage patients to discuss this question with their doctor'. Every patient is different and there isn't one set, proven length of time before someone can drive after their replacement. Numerous factors go into determining when a patient can safely get behind the wheel again, so it's not a 'one size fits all'.
Dr. Tiberi illustrates, 'Somebody who's younger, in good physical shape, has their left hip done and drives a automatic car is very different from another patient who is unfit and is recovering from their right knee replacement.' In saying this, there are certainly indicators of which joint replacement patients may drive earliest.
Note: Before driving, consult your orthopedic surgeon and care team. They should sign-off on you operating a car after surgery.
What helps to determine when you'll drive after surgery:
Your overall physical fitness and health before surgery
If you've done physical therapy before and after surgery
Your vehicle's transmission (automatic or standard)
Surgical side (right, left, both)
Joint replacement type (THR, TKR, PKR, PKA, THA, TKA, BTKR, BTHR etc. Click here to learn the different acronyms associated with hip and knee replacement surgery.)
Whether you've had a traditional or minimally invasive procedure
The type of pain medication/ dose you are taking
If you've suffered from any post-op complications
Your car insurance! A lot of insurance companies require your physician/ surgeon to sign-off after surgery before your insurance is valid again.
Despite the belief that age and gender play a role in how quickly you return to driving, this is largely unproven. However, lifestyle factors, your surgery PreHab & ReHab, your surgery type, and surgical side (driving leg or not) all play a role. For example, if you're in good overall shape before surgery, had a left minimally-invasive hip replacement done, and are working through a ReHab program, you're likely to drive before someone who had a right traditional knee replacement, who is less physically healthy, and did not PreHab before surgery.
Dr. Tiberi zeroes in on two 'make or break' criteria for when it's safe to drive again. Firstly, Dr. Tiberi states that patients under no circumstance should 'drive on any narcotic pain medication'. With many types of narcotic/ opioid pain medication, you should not be driving or operating heavy machinery. These medications will make you impaired, drowsy, and unable to operate a vehicle safely. Learn more about opioid pain medication after hip and knee replacement surgery.
According to Dr. Tiberi, the second critical criteria is being able to break quickly. If you don't think you're able to slam on your breaks or can't practice reacting quickly, you simply aren't ready to drive. Dr. Tiberi explains that knowing when you can react quickly enough is 'largely based on how the patient feels but also with what the medical team has to say.' Read on as we look more into breaking times and finally, when exactly you can expect to drive again.
When Can I Expect to Drive Again? How Many Weeks?
A benchmark estimate you've probably seen online or read in your hospital's pamphlet is that you're likely to drive again between 6-8 weeks (especially if you've had a right-sided knee replacement). Although it can be helpful to have a number in mind, not all patients will drive at the 6-8 week mark, and some patients will drive before. Older studies, like the 2003 study 'Brake Response Time After Total Knee Arthroplasty', suggested that 6 weeks was the minimum before operating a vehicle for most knee replacements.
Newer studies have found that due to 'recent advances in surgical technique, pain management, and rehabilitation' right-sided total knee replacement (RTKR) patients may be ready to safely drive as early as 4 weeks post-op. This study looked at 29 patients having right TKA (total knee arthroplasty or total knee replacements) and measured the groups preoperative breaking and reaction times compared to post-op reaction times. The study found that 'all 29 patients passed the brake response test by 4 weeks after surgery.' In addition, the study found that by 4 weeks after surgery, reaction times for breaking had surpassed the patient's preoperative reaction times.
According to the study, 'Patients who had a contemporary TKA with less tissue disruption, a multimodal pain management protocol, and aggressive rehabilitation returned to their preoperative braking reaction time by 4 weeks after surgery.'
Could this mean that patients facing contemporary a right-sided total knee replacement (who historically would have the longest recovery before driving again) may actually have improved or comparable pre-op breaking times as early as 4 weeks? Well, again, a lot of factors go into determining who will drive earliest but this study does speak to how far joint replacement surgery has progressed and how much recovery times have sped up.
In sum, patients that tend to drive the fastest:
1. Had minimally-invasive surgery. The less muscle and tissue damage, the faster healing can be. Therefore having a minimally-invasive (contemporary) replacement with a shorter incision may lead to a quicker recovery. With this, a knee replacement tends to take longer to heal than a hip replacement (especially in the context of driving).
2. Had a left-sided replacement. If you've had a hip or knee replacement on your left side, your breaking times are less affected. Since you break and accelerate with your right side, having a right knee or hip replacement can mean slower reaction times in an emergency situation.
3. Practice multimodal pain management. It isn't safe to drive while you're on narcotic pain medication after surgery. By employing drug-free pain management techniques like mindfulness meditation, natural medication (like CBD) or over-the-counter medication like acetaminophen, you may require a lower dose of narcotic pain medication for less time.
What is multimodal pain management? Find out what exactly it is and how it can reduce your opioid use for pain management.
4. You Did PreHab and ReHab. PreHab makes your muscles and supporting ligaments stronger before surgery. This means that you're working towards your physical recovery before you've even had surgery. An at-home ReHab program paired with physical therapy means you're actively improving range of motion, flexibility, strength, response times etc. in those important weeks after surgery.
Are you facing a hip or knee replacement surgery? Perhaps another orthopedic surgery? We happen to specialize in getting folks ready for their orthopedic procedures to lower surgery day risk, speed up recovery, and offer unconditional support. Learn more about PeerWell's PreHab and ReHab.
Now that you have your driving permit, enjoying a newfound cool-factor normally only reserved for high school seniors sporting barbed wire tattoos, don't lose it by playing dumb to your driving restrictions.
Every state imposes driver permit restrictions. Not because it can, but because it needs to protect you. Statistics prove that teen drivers have the highest accident rates out of all driver groups. Consequently, until you gain more confidence behind the wheel and prove you're a safe and responsible driver, you need to strictly adhere to your state's learners permit restrictions.
Common Learners Permit Restrictions
The restrictions you'll have to stick to depend on your state, but in most cases you can except some or all of the following driver permit restrictions:
Be accompanied in the front seat by another licensed driver. All states require this; the difference lies in the age. Some states require the driver to be at least 19; others bump it up to 21. Note that some states require the driver to have a certain number of years of experience, too.
Possible nighttime driving requirements. Driver permit holders in New York, for example, require a licensed parent or guardian to accompany them in the front seat between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., which contrasts from daytime driving when the accompanying driver can be anyone 21 or older with a valid drivers license.
No texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. Check out our state's specific's safety laws.
You must wear a seatbelt.
You must carry your learners permit when driving.
Violating a Driving Permit Restriction
If caught violating a restriction, you could face:
The suspension of your instruction permit. Reinstatement might then entail starting over, requiring you to reapply for a new learners permit and take at least one practice permit test in preparation for the official permit test.
Ticket fines and penalties.
Possible points added to your driving record, if applicable to your state.
An extension to the length of time you must hold your driver permit before applying for a drivers license.
What about you? Have you been caught violating any of your state's learner's permit driving restrictions? What happened?