If you’ve been injured in a car accident or pursuing a sports passion, physical therapy and rehabilitation are going to be part of your recovery process. The same goes for surgery. You don’t just walk out of the hospital all shiny and new. The journey has just begun.
The importance of physical therapy and rehabilitation can be summed up as your contribution to the healing process. While professionals will guide you and apply their clinical skills to the project, you’re not a passive participant. You’re an active member of a team dedicated to ensuring your injury heals, or your surgery is as successful as possible.
It’s a process
While everyone wants to feel their best, the prospect of physical therapy or targeted injury/surgical rehabilitation is often met with an eye roll. Yes. There are people in this world who consider it a chore, even though it’s completely necessary to get patients back to normative function.
Depending on the injury or surgical intervention, it’s true that the process can be long and arduous. It can also be a little painful at times. Ultimately, though, the guidance of a professional who understands the type of trauma you’ve sustained and what’s required to heal its impact is crucial.
So, roll your eyes if you will, but if you’ve been injured or have undergone surgery, you need to throw yourself into the process with everything you have. Not doing so can result in improper healing and permanently weakened muscles.
An example
Two people in their 50s had total hip replacements. The first patient did all the exercises prescribed by the physical therapist faithfully. This patient recovered fully and because she’d followed the recommendations of her physical therapist, she’s stronger than she’s ever been and experiencing no pain. To this day, she continues to perform the exercises to maintain strength in her new hip.
The second patient wasn’t interested in physical therapy, or any form of rehabilitation, believing he would simply heal and move on. This patient continues to experience pain in the joint. In addition, the muscles near the site are weaker than they’ve ever been. To this day, the patient believes there was something wrong with the surgery.
That would be the patient’s failure to follow the prescribed exercise regime.
As I’m always saying, surgery is not a silver bullet. It corrects issues, but in the process the body experiences trauma. Physical therapy and rehabilitation are crucial post-surgery, because surgery is an injury you willingly allow to reach the goal of better physical function.
Back & Body Medical
At Back & Body Medical, our mission is to relieve pain. I’m a chiropractor working with clinicians in four medical disciplines – acupuncture, physical therapy and sports medicine. When we combine the therapies of our respective disciplines, the result is personalized care that offers a tailored response to the patient’s rehabilitation.
If you’ve been injured, or have had surgery, physical therapy and rehabilitation are required. Contact us to discover multi-disciplinarian physical therapy and rehabilitation that gets you back on your feet.
