Across Canada, thousands of patients are living with chronic hip or knee pain and waiting an exorbitant amount of time for orthopedic surgery. Unfortunately, mobility and quality of life can worsen during their wait, rendering conservative treatments ineffective.
For many Canadians facing long wait times for joint replacement, traveling to the United States for orthopedic surgery offers a faster, more personalized path to relief. Even though it is worth it, crossing the border for surgery requires more preparation than a typical local medical visit.
The smoothness of recovery after joint replacement surgery depends on multiple factors, including surgical precision and the environment in which healing will take place. Climate plays a significant role, considering temperature, humidity, and air quality can all impact an individual’s pain levels, mobility, and overall healing speed.
The long wait times for surgery in Canada often prompt patients to travel to countries with private healthcare, such as the United States. Even though the patient’s primary focus should be quick, high-quality medical care, these trips do not have to be purely clinical.
For many Canadians, the path to surgical care can be unnecessarily long and filled with uncertainty, especially for knee and hip procedures, as joint replacement wait times in Canada can stretch well beyond the advised 182-day waiting period. Unfortunately, as patients are forced to wait for their medical care, their quality of life may suffer due to an increase in pain and a decrease in mobility.
Canadians traveling to the United States for medical procedures can experience a wide range of benefits, such as skipping the line and accessing surgery sooner. Nevertheless, the process requires diligent planning. Canadian patients should be ready to play an active role in their recovery process through careful medication management.
