The procedure has changed a lot in the past 10 years. Assuming you only need repairs - no shaving and reshaping of say the meniscus or even the cartridge on the bone ends - it is highly probably that pain will be nearly non-existent. During the procedure you most likely will be asleep. You may have the option to be 'awake' with an injection in the spine however you will be very bored laying there for an hour or so as they work on you. 'Sleeping' makes it go much quicker (for you) and the benefits outweigh the risks. At the end of the procedure they will inject the knee with a long term 'numbing' medication which will last a week or so. Long enough for the major healing to take place. You most likely will be sent home on crutches with a set of leg exercises. DO those exercises - this not only prevents shrinking of ligaments (which can be very painful and tedious to stretch out again) it will also cause blood flow through the knee which will flush out such odds and ends like dead tissues, sutures (if used) and the chemicals that lead to soreness and stiffness. Most likely you will be sent home with a pain reliever. You most likely will only need it for the first 3 days - you may want to start off taking one immediately upon getting home and for two days (the day of the operation and the next) take the pills per hour (usually one per every six hours). Do this BEFORE pain sets in - you will require far less pain reliever. Day three play it as it goes. Miss a dose and see if pain does come into the game. If yes, then before it becomes throbbing pain, take a pill. Wait more than six hours and see what happens - if pain is starting, take a pill. The aim is to go as long as possible on the 3rd and following days without a pill. When I had my knee 'rebuilt' I was only on pain relievers (for the operation pain) for 3 days - They had sent me home with 100 pills - far more than I actually needed.

This depends on the injury itself. Is it the ACL?

hi there i had ACL replacement surgery ,it was done mostly laprscopic i didnt heal too quicky but i got it sorted by good massage ,important thing to do is exercize it but don't over do it and also learn some good leg muscle stretches ,eat properly and dont rely on pain killers too much ,most will dehydrate you and long periods of use can leads to colon problmes in the future in saying that the surgery isnt a problem good technoligy out there now, relax and go with the flow of it all