Why Pre and Post-Surgical Rehabilitation Matters
The road to recovery begins before surgery. Physical therapy allows you to prepare for and recuperate from surgery effectively and safely under the supervision of a trained movement and recovery expert. Physical therapy can help you achieve a more successful surgery outcome and lead to a faster recovery.
The success of your surgery is influenced by your compliance with physical therapy. A patient who attends their physical therapy appointments before and after surgery will see a dramatically different and significantly improved outcome than a patient who stops physical therapy after one or two sessions. The patient who is compliant with physical therapy will achieve greater range of motion and everyday function safely and more quickly.
What does Pre-Surgical Rehabilitation involve?
Pre-surgical rehabilitation helps you as a patient be as strong and mobile as possible prior to your surgery. It is an individualized exercise conditioning program that better prepares you for surgery and speeds up your recovery post-surgery. The patient is taught balance techniques and how to compensate for limbs that can’t be used fully when recovering. Pre-surgical rehabilitation allows a patient to train their muscles in advance for the exercises they will need to do post-surgery, making the post-surgical exercises more effective.
Studies show that those that participate in pre-habilitation programs regain function and get back to their daily activities faster and more easily than those who do not do pre-surgical rehabilitation. Pre-habilitation participants also have less post-operative pain and fewer complications.
A pre-surgery rehabilitation program helps:
Reduce pain and inflammation
Increase your stamina
Improve joint mobility and range of motion
Restore strength and flexibility to joints and muscles near the injured area
Reduce surgery complications
Establish and normalize your movement patterns prior to surgery
Enhance your overall fitness
Mentally prepare you for surgery
Decrease hospital stay and recovery time
Lead to a faster recovery with better outcomes
What does Post-Surgical Rehabilitation involve?
Post-surgical rehabilitation is crucial to regaining pain-free function and returning to your daily activities more quickly. It’s essential to begin physical therapy shortly after surgery to help the body heal properly and minimize the development of scar tissue. Post-operative rehabilitation safely eases you back into daily physical tasks and prepares your body for regular exercise. A physical therapist is specifically trained to help post-operative patients restore mobility and strength and prevent re-injury during the recovery process.
The physical therapist provides a thorough evaluation, aiming to minimize adverse effects of surgery and restore normal movement, flexibility, and function in the post-operative patient. Based on the evaluation post-surgery, the physical therapist designs a customized exercise program based on the patient’s needs and abilities. Immediately post-operation, the focus of rehabilitation is to reduce pain and swelling. Next, the physical therapist gradually progresses you to more challenging exercises to build strength, range of motion, and stability to help you return to your pre-injury activity level.
Post-surgical rehabilitation program helps you:
Manage post-operative pain
Regain motion and strength
Improve blood circulation
Retrain and strengthen your muscles
Increase flexibility
Decrease pain, stiffness, and swelling
Improve quality of movement
Address issues with posture, balance, and coordination
Achieve a faster recovery
Post-surgical rehabilitation treatment involves:
Pain reduction using modalities of ice, heat, and electrical stimulation
Flexibility exercises to improve range of motion
Strengthening exercises
Stretching exercises to increase joint flexibility
Posture, balance, and coordination training
Gait analysis and training
Movement re-education
Home exercise program
Pre-surgical rehabilitation helps you prepare for surgery and leads to better surgery outcomes and a faster recovery. Post-surgical rehabilitation is essential to ensure proper healing, regain movement and strength, and return to pre-surgery and pre-injury activity levels. Mangiarelli Rehabilitation’s physical therapists can provide you with exceptional pre-and post-surgical rehabilitative care and help you return to your daily life and activity stronger and healthier!
