“My son is having pain in his hand after his surgery. What painkillers would you recommend?”
My son is having a lot of pain in his hand after his surgery, following a bone fracture. What painkillers would you recommend for him to get over this pain?
6 Answers
Most hand fractures do not require long term pain medicine. Typically several days at most and often just tylenol plus or minus an anti inflammatory like motrin or alleve or advil. If has just been done, make sure his dressing or splint is not too tight and always communicate to your surgeon if there is a problem or increasing pain, as every day should get better not worse.
The most common medications I use after fracture surgery are Tylenol and ibuprofen. Stronger medicines including narcotics can be used judiciously but that would be at the discretion of your surgeon.
If no allergies, 800 mg Ibuprofen.
Tylenol and Ibuprofen are safe and effective pain killers. I don’t know how old your son is, but opioids in general are not safe and should be avoided when possible. Ice and elevation of the hand can help as well.
Significant pain more than 1 to 2 days after hand surgery is unusual. Instead of trying to cover up the pain with stronger medications an attempt needs to be made to determine the cause of the increased pain. I usually only prescribed 10 to 15 pain pills after hand surgery. Significant swelling or an infection could be causes of increased pain that do not respond well to medications.
I would suggest you call your surgeon to see what they would recommend.
