Ask your surgeon when physical therapy should start, what you can and cannot do in the first weeks, whether there is a written rehab protocol, and how your therapist should contact the office with questions. Ask for the protocol and the operative report in writing, and confirm whether you can choose where to do therapy. Bringing those documents to your first visit lets the physical therapist follow the surgeon’s plan exactly from day one.
Last reviewed By the Monon Therapy Collective editorial team
- Ask for in writing
- Rehab protocol and restrictions
- Bring to therapy
- Protocol, operative report, referral
- Ask early
- Whether prehab before surgery is useful
- Your choice
- Often where you do therapy, plan permitting
What should I ask my surgeon about physical therapy before the operation?
Ask how long rehab usually takes after this procedure, when therapy is expected to start, and whether a few sessions of physical therapy before surgery would help. These three answers shape your work schedule, transport and time off far more than the surgery date itself.
Prehabilitation, meaning therapy before the operation, is often used before joint replacement and ACL reconstruction to reduce swelling, restore motion and teach crutch or walker use while you still feel well. See prehab before joint replacement and prehab before ACL surgery. Ask too about weight-bearing in the first days, whether you will wear a brace or sling, and when driving is likely to be allowed, so you can arrange help at home.
Which questions about rehab should I bring to the surgeon, and why?
Write your questions down before the appointment, bring someone along if you can, and take notes on the answers. Surgical appointments move quickly, and the details that matter most for rehab are easy to forget in the moment.
| Question to ask | Why it matters for rehab |
|---|---|
| When should physical therapy start? | Some procedures begin within days; others wait weeks to protect a repair |
| Is there a written protocol I can share with my therapist? | The protocol sets the limits and milestones your therapist follows |
| How much weight can I put on the leg, and for how long? | Weight-bearing limits change which exercises are allowed |
| Are there motion limits, a brace setting or a sling schedule? | Moving beyond these can stress a repair that is still healing |
| Was anything else repaired during the operation? | An extra meniscus or cartilage repair adds its own restrictions |
| When should I come back to see you, and what will you check? | Follow-up visits often unlock the next rehab phase |
| How should my therapist contact your office with questions? | Quick answers avoid guessing on restrictions |
| Can I choose where I do physical therapy? | Your referral and insurance plan may affect the choice |
What paperwork should I get from my surgeon for physical therapy?
Get the referral or order for physical therapy, the written rehab protocol if the surgeon uses one, and the operative report once it is available. These three documents tell your therapist what was done, what is protected and what the goals are.
Indiana law lets a physical therapist evaluate and treat without a referral for up to 42 calendar days, but after surgery a surgeon’s order is almost always part of the process anyway, and many insurance plans require one. If you have Medicare, a physician or other qualified provider must certify the therapy plan of care. Read whether you need a referral in Indiana and insurance coverage after surgery for details.
Does the surgeon decide where I do my rehab?
In most cases yes. A surgical referral usually calls for physical therapy, not a specific practice, though some surgeons’ offices suggest an in-house or affiliated clinic and some insurance plans limit which providers they cover. Ask directly whether the referral can go to a therapist you choose.
Practical factors matter: how far you can travel while on crutches, whether early or late appointments fit around work, whether sessions are one-on-one, and whether the therapist has experience with your procedure. Read choosing your own therapist after surgery. If you want help finding someone near Carmel, the after-surgery questionnaire asks for the operation, date and surgeon, and the matching team proposes an independent therapist in the network who works one-on-one in a private suite at Carmel City Center.
What should I ask about getting back to work, driving and sport?
Ask for the typical range for each milestone after your procedure and what has to be true before you reach it, not just a date. Return to driving, desk work, physical work and sport usually depend on safety criteria such as being off opioid pain medication, reaction time, strength and motion, rather than on the calendar alone.
Driving is a common example. After right knee surgery, for instance, you need to brake hard and quickly, so many surgeons wait until you are off strong pain medication and can move and control the leg well; see driving after a knee replacement. For work, tell the surgeon what your job physically involves: a nurse lifting patients, a teacher on their feet all day and a programmer on Meridian Street have very different return dates after the same operation. For sport, ask whether the surgeon expects formal return-to-sport testing before clearance, so your therapist can plan for it.
Ask about the in-between steps too: when you may climb stairs normally, sleep on the operated side, lift a grocery bag, or travel by air. Those smaller permissions matter in everyday life and are often missing from discharge paperwork.
How do my surgeon and physical therapist stay in touch during rehab?
Your therapist usually sends a plan of care and periodic progress notes to the referring surgeon, and calls or messages the office when a question about restrictions comes up. You can make that easier by giving the therapist the right office contact and telling the surgeon’s team where you are doing therapy.
Bring your therapist’s latest notes or a short summary to each follow-up appointment with the surgeon, and bring the surgeon’s new instructions back to therapy. If the two messages ever seem to conflict, for example on when you may stop using crutches, ask the therapist to clarify with the surgeon’s office rather than choosing yourself. Your surgeon’s protocol controls the limits; your therapist applies them to the person in front of them.
What should I tell my surgeon if rehab is not going to plan?
Tell the surgeon’s office promptly about anything that worries you rather than waiting for the next scheduled visit: motion that has stopped improving, swelling that is increasing, new numbness, or pain that is getting worse instead of better. Your therapist will often flag these too, but you are the one living with the knee or shoulder every day.
Describe specific changes rather than general feelings: “I could bend to 90 degrees two weeks ago and I still cannot” is far more useful than “it feels stiff.” Some problems, such as stiffness after knee surgery, have a window in which the surgeon may change the plan, so early reporting matters. The post-surgical rehabilitation page explains how a therapist tracks these milestones.
Call your surgeon’s office or seek urgent care after surgery if you have
- Fever, chills, or redness, warmth or drainage around the incision
- Calf pain, swelling or tenderness, especially in one leg
- Chest pain or sudden shortness of breath (call 911)
- New numbness, tingling or weakness in the operated limb
- Pain that keeps getting worse despite rest and medication
If you think it is an emergency, call 911.
