How we work

Editorial Policy

How our recovery guides are researched, what we allow ourselves to cite, how often they are checked, and how to tell us when we have got something wrong.

What this site is, and is not. after.surgery is written and edited by a small independent editorial team based in the United Kingdom. We do not publish names or clinical credentials, so we do not ask you to take anything on our authority. Our guides cover the practical side of recovering at home: sleeping, washing, moving, eating, and the equipment that makes those things easier. Every clinical statement in a guide is taken from the published guidance listed at the end of that guide, and where your surgical team tells you something different, their advice wins.

1. Who we are

after.surgery is an independent publisher. We are not part of the NHS, any hospital, any device manufacturer or any retailer. The site is funded by affiliate commission on products readers buy through our links, which is explained in section 6. Nobody pays us to publish a guide, to mention a product, or to say anything in particular about a procedure.

We do not put a personal name on guides. They are researched and written as a team against the same source list, and because we have chosen not to publish names or credentials, nothing in a guide rests on who wrote it. The sources are listed so you can check every clinical claim yourself. If we add a named clinical reviewer in future, their name, registration and role will appear on the guides they have reviewed and nowhere else.

2. What our guides are for

Our guides answer the questions people actually type in the weeks around an operation: when can I drive, how do I sleep, is this swelling normal, what should I have at home. They are written for the patient and for the person looking after them. They are not a substitute for the discharge instructions you were given, for your surgeon, your physiotherapist or your GP, and they do not diagnose, prescribe or set doses.

3. How a guide is researched

Every guide starts from the sources, not from what we think we know. Before a guide is written we read the relevant patient pages and guidelines from the publishers in section 4, and the guide is built around what they say. Where those sources give a range, we give the range. Where they disagree or are silent, the guide says so and tells you to ask your team.

We do not use as sources:

  • Forums, social media or comment threads, however convincing an individual account is;
  • Other commercial health sites, affiliate sites or product roundups;
  • Manufacturer or retailer claims about what a product does for recovery;
  • Anything we cannot link to so that you can read it yourself.

The sources used for each guide are listed at the end of it under the heading Sources, with a link to the original page. If a guide does not list a source for a clinical claim, that is a mistake and we would like to hear about it.

4. The publishers we cite

We restrict ourselves to a short list of publishers whose guidance is written for patients or clinicians, reviewed by clinicians, and freely available. The current list is:

  • NHS (nhs.uk). Patient information on procedures, recovery and common problems. Our primary source for UK readers.
  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (nice.org.uk). Clinical guidelines that UK care follows, used where they set out what patients should expect, for example around blood clot prevention, joint replacement and caesarean birth.
  • OrthoInfo, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (orthoinfo.org). Patient information on bone and joint surgery, exercise guides and activity advice. Our primary orthopaedic source for US readers.
  • MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine (medlineplus.gov). Patient information and discharge instructions across all the procedures we cover. Our primary general source for US readers.
  • GOV.UK. Used only in our driving guides, where the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is the authority on fitness to drive.

Across the site we currently cite 103 individual pages from these publishers. Every one was opened and checked when it was added, and the date it was last accessed is shown beside it in the Sources list on each guide. We do not add a publisher to this list without changing this page first.

5. What we will not do

  • We will not tell you a medicine or dose. If a guide mentions pain relief, it tells you to follow the instructions you were given.
  • We will not tell you to ignore, shorten or extend a restriction your surgeon has set.
  • We will not tell you a symptom is safe to ignore. Where a guide describes what is normal, it also describes what is not, and tells you who to contact.
  • We will not make a medical claim about a product. A wedge pillow can make it easier to sleep propped up. It does not heal anything, and we do not say it does.
  • We will not write for a procedure we cannot source. If a topic has no coverage from the publishers above, we do not publish on it.

6. Products and affiliate links

after.surgery earns commission as an Amazon Associate. When you buy something through a link on this site, Amazon pays us a small percentage. The price you pay is the same. Every link that earns us commission is marked as an affiliate link where it appears.

Products are chosen by the editorial team because they solve a problem the guide describes: reaching your feet, getting out of a low chair, keeping a dressing dry in the shower. We choose them on that basis, on price and on reviews. No manufacturer or seller pays to be included, and no product is included because of what it pays. If a product is later found to be poor, it is removed regardless of how well it sells.

The advice in a guide is written first, from the sources. Products are added afterwards, to the advice. We do not write advice to fit a product.

7. Review and updates

Before a guide is published it is read against every source it cites. After publication, each guide is rechecked against its sources at least once every twelve months, and sooner when a cited page is updated, withdrawn or moved. Because the sources are held in one place rather than typed into each guide, a moved page is corrected once, everywhere.

When a guide is corrected for a factual error, the correction is made in the guide itself. We do not leave the wrong version up with a note; we fix it.

8. Reporting an error

If you find a mistake, a broken source link, a claim without a source, or advice that conflicts with what your surgical team has told you, please email hello@after.surgery. It helps if you include the address of the guide and the sentence you are concerned about. We aim to reply within five working days and to correct confirmed errors as soon as they are confirmed.

Clinicians who spot an error are especially welcome to write. You do not need to be polite about it.

9. Contact

Editorial enquiries, corrections and complaints: hello@after.surgery.

This policy sits alongside our medical disclaimer, privacy policy and terms of use.