4 goals you can expect to have in post-surgical physical therapy

Surgery is often necessary to treat serious injuries or normal wear and tear on our joints. Joint replacements are one of the most common muscle and joint surgeries performed in the United States, with over 1 million knee and hip replacements performed each year. These surgeries help patients to move freely again without pain. However, surgery alone is usually not enough.

Physical therapy following surgery on your muscles or joints is essential to healing. After all, the body does not automatically heal itself after surgery. Post-surgical physical therapy ensures that your muscles and joints heal properly after surgery, and helps your body to recover faster. While post-surgical physical therapy can often be a long process, it is crucial to helping you reach your recovery goals.

What are your recovery goals during post-surgical physical therapy?

The road to recovery after surgery can sometimes be a long one. Thankfully, a physical therapist can help you at every step along the way. Getting you back to your daily routine without pain is the end goal of post-surgical physical therapy. Along the way, here are four other goals that physical therapy can help you achieve:

1. Easing your pain and swelling — As your body heals from surgery, you may experience swelling. Swelling is caused by the body sending excess blood and antibodies to the wounded area in an attempt to promote healing. 

This causes inflammation, which compresses your nerves and can result in pain. Physical therapy helps to reduce pain and swelling through exercises that promote movement and circulation in the area.

2. Reducing scar tissue formation — Your body can form scar tissue around the affected area after surgery. This is a natural part of the healing process, but it causes stiffness and loss of mobility. Physical therapy techniques such as therapeutic exercise and manual therapy help to soften scar tissue.

3. Improving your mobility — Patients who have undergone surgery often experience a loss of their normal ability to move around. Physical therapy helps you to regain your normal range of motion after surgery by reducing stiffness and increasing strength in the area. This will make it easier for you to perform daily tasks without assistance.

4. Preventing complications — After surgery, sometimes secondary issues can occur while your body is in the process of healing. Blood clots, infection and contractures are all possible complications that can happen after surgery. Post-surgical physical therapy helps to mitigate the risk of these complications by keeping the body moving as it heals.

Turn to Advent PT for post-surgical physical therapy

You should be able to return to your daily routine after surgery with less pain and stronger than ever. That is what makes post-surgical physical therapy so important. If you are looking for experienced physical therapy specialists to help you recover after your surgery, then look no further than Advent Physical Therapy. 

Our team of physical therapy specialists have years of experience in treating a wide array of conditions that cause pain and loss of mobility. Getting you back on your feet and doing the things you enjoy is the end goal of any physical therapy treatment. Our specialties include:

• Pre-surgical physical therapy .

• Post-surgical rehabilitation.

• Sports injury recovery.

• Cancer rehabilitation.

• Neck pain and headache treatment.

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.