No matter how big or small the procedure, it’s likely that having to undergo surgery will have a significant impact on your life. It can be tremendously stressful for both your mind and body, and prolonged recovery times can really affect you emotionally. Fortunately, physiotherapy can help both before and after the operation itself.
Before surgery
If you’ve got surgery lined up, it can be helpful to consult with your doctor about whether prior physiotherapy could benefit you during the recovery stage. This can be particularly useful for operations on joints, as working the muscles that surround the joints can build them up to provide much-needed support as you heal. Physiotherapy can also help improve posture and gait in order to ensure you’re not putting undue stress on certain parts of your frame; getting into good habits before surgery will continue to help during recovery.
After surgery
Whilst it can sometimes be tempting to avoid all forms of movement after an operation, especially a large procedure, it is important to gradually increase activity in line with your doctor’s or surgeon’s recommendations. Your physiotherapist can work with you to develop a rehabilitation program that suits you and helps your body to recover at a safe pace. Working the joint or area of your body that’s been operated on will help to restore movement to it, and conditioning the muscle will build strength.
If necessary, your physiotherapist can help you re-learn walking through a range of exercises. Physiotherapists are trained to ascertain the appropriate amount of activity based on the complexities and effects of your surgery, ensuring your body isn’t pushed too far before it’s ready. Physiotherapy can also help to reduce the risk of any negative impact on the rest of your body not affected by the operation – for example, causing undue stress to one knee after surgery on the other.
The Physiotherapy Partners are pleased to be able to offer a huge range of physiotherapy services to clients from our practices in Birmingham, Kidderminster and Halesowen. If you want to find out how we can help you minimise the disruption caused by surgery, get in touch!
If you’ve got a question for our team, just email it to us at ask@thephysiotherapypartners.co.uk.
