Do you have a major surgery scheduled soon? If you answered yes, you’re probably concerned about how long it will take you to heal and return to your typical routine: work, caring for your family, seeing friends, and traveling on vacation. You’re not alone, most people are worried about how long it will take them to get back to normal life after surgery!
Occasionally, operations are unavoidable. When this is the case, we must consider different ways to help our bodies heal as quickly as possible! If you’re seeking for a solution to reduce the amount of time you’re in bed while also reducing the amount of pain and discomfort you’re in, physical aquatic therapy at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy is a great option to consider.
If you or a loved one has surgery scheduled on the calendar, it’s a good idea to get your first physical therapy session scheduled for after your operation! Call our clinic today to learn more about how physical aquatic, and occupational therapy can help you get back up on your feet.
The benefits of aquatic therapy after surgery
There are dozens of benefits to receiving aquatic therapy after major surgery. Individualized post-surgical rehab with an aquatic therapist not only minimizes your pain and accelerates your rate of healing, but it can also reduce the chances of postoperative complications, including:
- Infections
- Bleeding
- Blood clots
- Muscle weakness
- Scar tissue
- Decreased function
Another critical reason for electing post-surgical aquatic therapy is its ability to help you reduce or completely avoid prescription painkillers, including opioids!
An opioid epidemic is currently gripping the country and impacting every socioeconomic class. According to the CDC, an estimated 115 people every day die from an opioid overdose, and upwards of 29% of people, prescribed opioids will end up misusing these dangerous drugs.
Choosing therapy over medication could change not only your surgical outcomes, but your entire life as well. It’s a safe, effective method of relieving pain and improving mobility that won’t break your bank or pose potential threats to your health.
Three ways post-surgical therapy can help you recover faster
Below are three different ways that receiving treatment at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy, can prove beneficial in your journey towards getting back living your life!
1. Post-surgical physical therapy can reduce the risk of complications.
Infections, range of motion limits, hardware malfunction, and postoperative bleeding are all possible problems with any operation.
If your surgeon asks you to follow particular precautions or activity limits after your surgery, your therapist can teach you how to do so and how to progress or modify them as needed.
You see, therapists are skilled movement specialists who know how to teach you safe ways to move and function in your daily life. Physical therapists can also prescribe and fit adaptive equipment such as walkers and braces to further protect your healing tissues and help you mobilize more safely.
Your therapist here can also act as a supportive liaison between you and your surgeon and keep him or her updated on your treatment plan. This way, if any concerns arise there can be faster communication between everyone involved in your medical progress.
Working with an aquatic therapist after undergoing an intense surgery may help reduce the likelihood of experiencing a complication, which reduces stress, saves money, and protects your short-term and long-term health!
2. Post-surgical physical therapy can accelerate your recovery.
Our bodies are incredibly powerful and capable of healing themselves, but a little extra help never hurt anyone,
The type of non-invasive and drug-free services and techniques an aquatic physical therapist can offer can enhance self-healing power and work with the body—instead of just covering up symptoms.
Your therapy team of experts at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy can help you stay on track during your recovery period. The goal of therapy is to help you regain and maximize your strength, balance, range of motion, endurance, and overall function as quickly as possible! Our therapists do this by minimizing pain and reducing the risk of complications through targeted aquatic therapy exercises.
3. Post-surgical physical therapy can minimize or eliminate your pain.
Many of the interventions and therapeutic approaches used in physical therapy act directly on the central nervous system to assist modify pain signals to the brain, while others help reduce edema, inflammation, and stiffness.
An aquatic physical therapist at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy can teach you exercises to perform in the water, provide manual therapies such as massage, and use non-invasive methods to help you manage your pain and possibly lessen your reliance on painkillers such as opioids.
Of course, after having a procedure done, it’s normal to experience pain. In surgery cases such as hip and knee replacements, taking your pain medication as prescribed can help you participate in your therapy program more fully. Make sure you talk to your doctor about your pain medication options first, and do not stop or start taking anything without his or her input.
Aquatic therapy is a safe alternative or beneficial component to effective pain management after an operation takes place. So be sure to talk to your doctor about setting up a referral to see a physical therapist, too!
Request your first appointment today!
It’s never too early to start seeing a therapist at Exercise Sport Physical Therapy. If you have surgery coming up or are in the throes of recovering from one currently, contact Exercise Sport Physical Therapy today to schedule an appointment to begin rehabilitation! Our aquatic therapy treatments have proven success with hundreds of other patients just like yourself, and we can’t wait to show you how much easier recovery can be after surgery.
