Hello -
This is a tricky question and it will get a tricky answer. The Vicoden will have to be used until the doctor's evaluation of the
pain without it, and this is often accomplished by stepping the patient down via tramadol for perhaps a week once it is decided there has been enough healing time to warrant a trial with something less potent. Then you may be able to use NDAIDs (ibuprofin, naprosyn) in prescription doses until the
pain has totally subsided.
It is difficult for anyone to predict the exact timetable for natural
pain cessation, which is why eventually you'll have to be weaned off the Vicoden. It can be taken for some time (assuming no prior drug dependency problems), but because of the nature of the surgery your
pain may only abate slowly, and you may need something for a while. The sooner you can stop the opiods the better, but a week is pretty early to be looking for significant
pain abatement.
I know this is (deliberately) vague, but everyone is different with regards to this. Hopefully this is helpful. Good luck to you.
