(P)rehabilitation: Getting Ahead of the Game

When you think of physical therapy what do you think of?

Rehabilitation following a surgery? Sports injury? Or maybe the person that helps keep grandma strong walking with her up and down the hall at the nursing home. The cool thing is that the field has become so much more than that.

Yes, we treat people following an injury or surgery.
Yes, we keep people moving when movement becomes difficult.
But the one thing we treat for ALL of these people is pain.

Related: Why Physical Therapy Before a Knee Replacement Speeds Up Recovery
Top Reasons for Shoulder Pain

Pain can develop with no apparent injury at all. We see this every day; a patient comes in with (insert joint here) pain saying “it just happened” or “I don’t remember doing anything to it, it just hurts”. This is how many conditions that lead to surgery start.

Total knee and total hip replacements are two of those common surgeries we treat that are the direct result of those joints becoming so painful that the patient can’t go on without surgery. This may be your case but there is now evidence suggesting you will be better off getting ahead of the game and treating that joint before you receive surgical treatment for that “bad” joint. It has been shown that rehabilitation prior to a joint replacement shortened hospital stays by 4 days. The use of other services such as home health, skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation dropped from 79% to 54% and saved those who received prehabilitaiton up to $1093 depending on the service. Strength, range of motion and function have also been found to be improved with prehabilitation.

Physical therapists are trained in movement, mechanics and treating your pain. Regardless of the need for surgery or not, the pain in that joint, muscle, nerve etc. will benefit from a holistic treatment approach that not only treats the pain but the causes of it. We are here to provide you with the care you need to make sure your treatment outcomes are the best they can be.

Related: Top 3 Core Strengthening Moves

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected] or give us a call to book your free pain consultation.

Phil Finemore
By Phil Finemore, DPT

Back in Motion™ Physical Therapy – South Portland, Maine

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