Undergoing surgery can be a daunting experience for anyone. However, an often-overlooked aspect of having surgery is the prehabilitation or prehab physical therapy that can benefit you before your procedure. Prehabilitation is a proactive approach that involves exercises and interventions to help optimize your physical condition before your surgery for a better outcome.Â
Prehabilitation Benefits
Enhanced Surgical Recovery: By improving your body’s strength, flexibility and overall physical conditioning, you are better equipped to withstand the physiological stress of surgery and bounce back more quickly afterward. Prehabilitation can also help minimize muscle atrophy, reduce the risk of complications, and speed up your recovery process, leading to shorter hospital stays and an earlier return to your normal activities.
Increased Functional Capacity: Prehab physical therapy focuses on improving functional capacity, which is your ability to perform daily tasks and activities independently. By targeting specific muscle groups and addressing any existing physical limitations, prehabilitation helps you regain or maintain your functional abilities. This is especially useful for surgeries that may temporarily restrict your movement or impact mobility, like joint replacements or spinal procedures. By maximizing functional capacity beforehand, you can transition more smoothly into your rehabilitation phase after surgery.
Psychological Preparation: Having surgery can create anxiety and stress in patients. Prehabilitation physical therapy can serve as an opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with the exercises and routines you may experience during your recovery period. This familiarity and sense of control can help alleviate anxiety and improve your overall mental well-being. Â
Individualized Treatment Plans: Prehabilitation physical therapy is tailored to your specific needs and surgical requirements. By conducting a comprehensive assessment, our physical therapist can identify areas of weakness or limitations that may affect the surgical outcome and then develop a treatment plan focusing on targeted exercises and interventions to assist your recovery. Â
Reduced Healthcare Costs: Investing in prehabilitation physical therapy can lead to cost savings in the long run. By improving surgical outcomes, prehab can help minimize your risk of complications and the need for prolonged hospital stays or additional post-operative care. Not only that but optimizing physical function through prehabilitation may lower the length and intensity of rehabilitation required post-surgery.
Minimize Post-Surgical Pain: If you wait until after your surgery to find ways to lessen and cope with your pain, recovery can be a struggle and may even feel like skipping sessions or end therapy altogether. By engaging in pre-surgery PT, you can develop coping skills early and that allows our therapists to adjust your physical therapy based on your pain tolerance. Less pain also helps lessen your need for NSAIDs, opioids and other pain relievers while recovering.
Call To Learn More
By engaging in targeted exercises and interventions before having surgery, you can optimize your physical condition, reduce your risk of complications and expedite your post-operative recovery. If you (or a loved one) are scheduled for surgery, consider seeking prehabilitation to maximize your recovery and experience a smoother surgical journey overall. Our Qore Physical Therapist, Russ Gatenby, is more than happy to speak with you about prehabilitation in American Fork, Utah. Simply call 801-701-6699 to speak with our team!