Pre- and Post-Surgical Rehab

Physical therapy can be an effective treatment option for not only those who’ve already had surgery, but also those who have yet to undergo a surgical procedure. Whether you’re hoping to improve your strength before a procedure to minimize recovery time or you need to regain range of motion and muscle strength after surgery, physical therapy can help.

Why Should You Seek Pre- and Post-Surgical Rehab?

There are many reasons that people should consider both pre- and post-surgery PT. Some of these reasons are that these types of PT can help you:

• Build muscle strength — One of the benefits of getting pre-surgical physical therapy is that it can build muscle strength. Building muscle strength under the supervision of an experienced professional can prevent significant muscle loss and muscle atrophy immediately after your procedure. Post-surgery physical therapy will focus on helping you build your muscle strength back up as you recover from your surgery.
• Build flexibility — Another benefit of getting pre-surgical physical therapy is that it can build flexibility and benefit your recovery after surgery. During your post-surgery resting period, you could lose a significant portion of your flexibility before you can get back to moving around. Preoperative PT  is designed to reduce the chances of any consequential loss of flexibility occurring. If you do lose some flexibility, post-surgical PT can work to help you regain it.
• Reduce pain — Physical therapists can assess your level of pain during your first pre-surgical rehab session. They can then work to reduce your pain during the rest of your pre-surgical PT sessions. Your physical therapist can also take the same steps after surgery. Their goal will be to understand how much pain you have after surgery and help you reduce it. 
• Keep joints  mobile — Pre-surgical rehab can work to help improve mobility in a joint prior to your surgery. This is important because increased joint mobility often helps ease pain related to stiffness. It can also put you on a better joint mobility footing when you’re ready to start your postoperative PT. Post-surgical rehab can also help you by keeping your joints mobile. It can be hard to get regular movement in directly after surgery, which can cause your joints to stiffen up. Fortunately, post-surgical PT can be used to gently mobilize your healing joint and help get it moving comfortably again.

What to Expect From Pre- and Post-Surgical Rehab

Physical therapy can be helpful for a number of conditions, but especially so for those who are going through or have already undergone a surgical procedure. PT can improve muscle strength, physical mobility and flexibility. Our team at REPAIR SI offers a variety of modalities to treat you, including:

• Joint mobilization.
• Dry needling.
• Therapeutic exercise.
• Neuromuscular reeducation training.

At REPAIR SI, we know that recovery is best accomplished through teamwork. That’s why we partner with each patient to achieve the best possible results.