AARP discusses how to prepare a home before undergoing a knee surgery and includes guidance from experts including Geoffrey H. Westrich, MD, hip and knee surgeon at HSS.

Dr. Westrich explained that navigating stairs is tough immediately after knee surgery, so consider converting a space downstairs into a bedroom for a few weeks if in a multistory home. Set up a temporary bed, or sleep on a couch or recliner. Ideally, “you need to be able to access your bed, a bathroom and the kitchen all on same level,” he noted.

He recommended a sturdy, stable go-to chair with arms to help with standing up or a recliner to elevate the leg and also advised strategically placing chairs in other rooms for a sitting break.

Dr. Westrich suggested renting an ice therapy machine that applies cold therapy along with compression, if it's possible. “A lot of my patients who did one knee years ago and another knee more recently have said emphatically that having an ice machine, they noticed a huge difference in their recovery,” he cited.

Read the full article at AARP.org.