I Had Knee Surgery. Here's What I Wish I'd Known Sooner. By Brad, founder of Isopress

I didn't start Isopress because I had a particularly elegant insight into the recovery product market. I started it because I had knee surgery, and the way I managed recovery at home was tough and I knew there must be a better way. 

This is what I would have done differently.

I didn't take swelling seriously enough

In the first days after surgery, I treated swelling as a symptom to monitor rather than something to actively manage. I had ice packs in the freezer. I used them inconsistently. I did not elevate as much as I should have. I was focused on pain, which the medication was handling reasonably well, and I treated the swelling as a secondary concern.

It is not. Swelling is what limits your range of motion in the early weeks, and range of motion in the early weeks is what shapes the months of rehabilitation that follow. A joint packed with fluid does not bend or straighten freely. I did not understand this until my physio explained it to me at week two, by which point I had already lost time.

Ice packs are not good enough

I know this because I used them and then used something better. Ice packs have two problems. They lose temperature quickly, typically within 15 to 20 minutes, at which point you are putting a wet, lukewarm bag on your knee and achieving nothing. And they apply no compression, which matters because compression is what actively moves fluid out of the joint rather than simply cooling the surface.

Cold compression, where controlled cold and intermittent compression work together, is what physiotherapy clinics use precisely because it works better. I was heading into the physio as often as I could, but it was tough to keep up with. I didn't have access to it at home in those first critical days. I wish I had.

The first 72 hours matter more than I thought

Swelling peaks at around 72 hours post-surgery. I didn't know this before I had my operation. If I had, I would have treated those three days differently. I would have been elevating constantly. I would have been applying cold compression from the moment I got home. I would have been far more deliberate about managing the inflammatory response in that window.

The decisions you make in the first 72 hours after knee surgery have a disproportionate effect on your early range of motion, your pain levels in the following week, and how quickly you are able to make progress in physio. They matter more than any other period of equivalent length in the recovery.

I underestimated how hard nights would be

Nobody told me how uncomfortable the nights would be in the first two weeks. The pain during the day was manageable with medication and movement and distraction. At night, lying still, it was a different situation entirely. The knee throbbed. Sleep was fragmented and poor.

What would have helped: a cold compression session before bed to reduce the swelling and inflammatory activity in the joint before trying to sleep. Leg elevation before bed. Better timing of my pain relief. I worked most of this out eventually, but by trial and error over several nights rather than going in prepared.

I didn't prepare the house properly

I came home from surgery to a house that was not set up for someone moving slowly with a walking frame. There were things on the floor I had to navigate around. My couch is comfy and low, but getting out of it was a mission. Simple things that I could have sorted in an afternoon before my admission date, and did not.

By the time you are home from surgery, you are not in a position to make good decisions about your environment. You are in pain, on medication, and tired. The prep work has to happen before you go in.

What I would do differently

Have the cold compression kit at home and set up before surgery, not ordered from hospital. Treat the first 72 hours as the most important window of the entire recovery. Elevate properly and consistently. Do the physio exercises even when they are uncomfortable. Prepare the house in advance. Take the nights more seriously.

The reason I built Isopress is because I believe home recovery should not be worse than clinic recovery simply because you do not have access to the same equipment. Most people go home from surgery within a day or two, and they go home to ice packs and frozen peas and whatever information they retained from a discharge conversation while still coming round from anaesthetic.

I still use my compression kit now even years later. Sometimes it's after a big bike ride or a big day doing physical work (i've been cutting a heap of wildling pines out lately, brutal!). If there's any swelling I can jump on it and cool it off, before it becomes painful. 

That's why I opted for a one of purchase with Isopress, rather than a hire model. The costs of hire usually get you a few weeks of support, but if you own a kit you've got that support for the long run. 

If you've read this far, you're probably prepping for an op of your own! All the best for your recovery, please reach out if you have any questions for us. 

Brad