Just wondering,in general, how long after surgery can you drive a car?

Hoping to have my surgery on May 10th & just noticed I have a dentist appt on May 18th. So wanted to see if I need to change that appt or not.

For most people, pretty much whenever. As long as you are NOT taking your pain meds there is no reason why you can't drive. As my doctor loves to say "if it hurts, don't do it". I was a bit uncomfortable even a week later, however I drive a manual car... so I had to use both legs (and since I'm short I have to really reach with my leg to reach the clutch) and both arms... so my stomach twinged a little bit. But honestly, it didn't last long. I would say that you should be fine to drive at that point.

Good luck!!

NJSharon, I also live in NJ and have a surgery date in May. Looks like May 30 but I hope I can get in before( depends on insurance and they are switching over to a new hospital). Let's keep in contact and take our journey together.

The only restriction to driving was to be off the pain meds. I had surgery on a Tuesday and switched to liquid Tylenol on Saturday so I could drive on Monday. By that time Tylenol was enough to take care of the pain for me. It was uncomfortable getting in and out of the car for a few weeks, but it wasn't too bad.

Great, thanks for the fast replies!

I haven't taken my pain meds since the day after surgery. I drove the fourth day out for about 3 hours! No problems!

This is good to know. I have 4 kids that will need to be driven to and from school and my hubby can only take off work for so long.

I just talked to my surgeon's office yesterday about the same thing. I am getting sleeved on April 4. I am not allowed to drive for 7 days after my surgery and have to completely be off all pain meds.

I haven't taken my pain meds since the day after surgery. I drove the fourth day out for about 3 hours! No problems!

This was me, pretty much word for word. I did get a little stiff sitting in the same position for a long time but getting up and walking/stretching seemed to help a lot.

As long as you are not on any pain medication or anything that might inhibit your drively safely, you should be fine.

Good luck!