Whether it’s your knee, shoulder, foot, or anywhere else on your body, if you’ve had orthopedic surgery, the odds are that physical therapy can play a valuable role. In fact, we might go so far as to say that your post-surgical physical therapy is as important as the surgery itself. But we’re physical therapists, and we love our work.
To better understand why post-surgical physical therapy (PT) is so important, Jason LaMendola, PT, and the team here at TLC Physical Therapy present four reasons why PT should figure prominently in your post-surgical plan.
In many cases, people undergo orthopedic surgery to move without pain, and PT after your surgery helps to support that outcome.
For example, if you’re one of the 1.24 million people who undergo a knee or hip replacement each year in the United States, you’re doing so because it was too painful to hobble around on your old joint.
Through PT, we get you up and moving around on your new joint very quickly, often on the same day as your joint replacement surgery.
This early, guided movement and exercise help you achieve your desired results more quickly and safely.
While we’ve discussed the importance of PT after joint replacement, this same concept holds true for most orthopedic surgeries, whether rotator cuff repair or bunion surgery.
Because we’re getting you up and moving through PT after your surgery, we’re encouraging healing resources to flow more freely. This means that you can heal more quickly after your surgery.
Through PT, we can also discourage the formation of scar tissue, which can limit movement in the area where you had the surgery.
The exercises you engage in during your PT are customized to your unique challenges and goals. First, we consult with your surgeon to develop the best PT plan for re-strengthening the area.
This collaboration with your surgeon is ongoing as we report your progress to determine the next steps. As we work through your PT and you regain strength, mobility, and flexibility, we can tweak your PT according to your progress and needs so that you’re always moving two steps forward.
Your post-surgical PT not only helps you heal quickly, but we also focus on healing strongly. For example, if we’re rehabbing you after knee surgery for a sports injury, such as an ACL tear, we will spend some time focusing on preventing re-injury.
Or, if you’re engaging in PT for a new joint, we want you to get the most out of your new hardware, and our exercises promote long-term strength.
The bottom line is that taking full advantage of your PT after surgery can help you put the whole surgical experience firmly in your rearview window as you look forward to a bright future of pain-free movement.
If you have more questions about post-surgical PT, please contact one of our offices on the North and South Shores of Staten Island, in Englishtown, New Jersey, or Midtown, Manhattan, in New York City, to schedule a consultation.
