Getting back on track after surgery
Tauranga post-operative physiotherapy
For many injuries, surgical intervention is often needed to ensure you can get back to doing the things you love. There is a growing body of evidence which shows physiotherapy before and after surgery makes you recover better and faster. After your surgery, the quickest and safest way to return to your everyday life is to work alongside a physiotherapist experienced in post-operative rehabilitation.
Common surgeries requiring post-operative physio
There are many surgeries that benefit from post-operative rehabilitation regardless of whether the need is a result of an accident, sporting injury or progressive degeneration.
These can include:
Shoulder surgery: Rotator cuff repairs, subacromial decompression, labral tear repairs, total shoulder replacement
Spinal surgery: Spinal fusion (PLIF and ALIF), spinal arthroplasty, cervical and lumbar discectomy
Hip and knee replacements for Osteoarthritis
Hip labral repairs and arthroscopy, Knee ACL reconstruction and Knee arthroscopy
Ankle, elbow and wrist operations
What will my physio do?
Physios at The Rehab Team provide the support and guidance you need to get you back to your work, sport or day-to-day activities as soon as possible. They will guide you through the recovery process, what to expect and help you to safely rebuild your mobility, strength and endurance.
Completing your exercises is an important aspect of post-surgical rehabilitation in order to optimise and fast track your recovery. Your hospital-based physiotherapist would have hopefully provided you with a few basic exercises to complete initially after your surgery. Once you have been discharged from hospital, a physio experienced in post-surgical rehabilitation can continue to work with you to advance your initial exercises, ensure you are completing them correctly, finding the right level of intensity for the stage you are at and sometimes even surpassing your pre-operative levels.
The Rehab Team works closely with your surgeon to ensure the correct education and exercise progressions are required based on your individual circumstances and recovery.
Post-operative physio aims to:
Educate you about your own recovery, helping you to progress your recovery while understanding your limits
Reduce post-operative pain
Reduce post-operative swelling and complications from immobility or overload
Improve your strength, range of motion, physical function and mobility
Help to break down scar tissue, to assist in the post-operative healing process
Optimise the healing and recovery process by stimulating appropriate tissue loading based on your rehab stage post operation
Can a physio come to me?
The Rehab team can! Often following surgery, there is a period of time where you are unable to drive. This means relying on family or friends to help you get to a physio clinic and even enduring an uncomfortable car ride to get there. The Rehab Team offers the best of both worlds. We can see you in your own home with our in-home physiotherapy service soon after you get home from hospital as well as in our Papamoa clinic.
If you are about to have surgery or are looking for a physiotherapist in the Bay of Plenty (Tauranga, Papamoa and surrounding areas) contact The Rehab Team today. If you found this article interesting and you would like to read more, you can check out our other blogs here.
