Post-Surgical Rehab: Get Back on Your Feet Faster

Published by Dr. C.J. DeFabio, D.C. | June 12, 2019

 

Did you recently get back into the comfort of your home following surgery? Are you frustrated with the limitations placed on you by your doctor during the healing process? Want to get back to feeling like your old self again sooner? Post-surgical rehabilitation is the answer to supporting the healing process, getting back to your old routine, and feeling even better than before.

Ravenswood Chiropractic & Wellness Center offers a comprehensive program for post-surgical rehab including spinal surgery and cesarean delivery (c-section delivery) that combines a variety of proven methods for complete recovery.

Why Rehab After Surgery is Important

Are you on the fence about going to a rehabilitation center or chiropractor? We get it: No one wants to visit a doctor’s office unless they absolutely have to. This is one of those instances.

It’s risky to try to let your body heal completely on its own. The bones, connective tissue, or muscle tissue may not heal properly, creating a problem with your movement patterns, which can cause more complications down the road. Another common issue with improper healing is that too much scar tissue could form, resulting in restricted mobility and flexibility. In other words, you could wind up worse off than before the surgery.

Rehab after surgery is essential if you want to heal properly, avoid injury, and feel better than you did before the procedure. Here are more reasons to consider post-surgical rehabilitation.

Better Healing: Studies show that physical therapy and rehabilitation will make a huge difference, helping with the healing process following a surgery. Subjects in the study cited above showed an improved rate of healing by using post-surgical rehab, and even more so when they began exercise or physical therapy during the weeks leading up to the surgery. Improved blood flow to the site of the surgery is one of the main reasons that subjects experienced a faster recovery.

Avoid Muscle Atrophy: After a surgery, it’s understandable that you don’t want to move around much, but getting back on your feet is extremely important. A lack of physical activity following surgery can result in muscle atrophy or the shrinking and weakening of muscle tissue. Post-surgical rehab takes all muscle groups through a variety of safe and natural exercises to keep the tissue strong and promote better blood flow for healing.

Maintain and Improve Range of Motion: Continuing with the point above, letting yourself stay sedentary will complicate the healing process by decreasing your range of motion. This is especially true if you receive surgery on connective tissue such as your shoulder or knee. Movement and safe stretching is key to maintaining and improving the range of motion at the site of the surgery. Left untreated, joints can become stiff and movement can become limited. Post-surgical rehab can ensure the muscle and tissue heals properly while maintaining a full range of motion.

Less Scar Tissue: If you have a surgery that requires an incision, your body will jump to work in its attempt to quickly heal the site of the cut. The skin that covers a deep incision is called scar tissue. It’s thicker and tougher than surface-level skin, ensuring the site of the incision is well sealed. The problem is that scar tissue can create problems when left unchecked. Without proper rehabilitation, the body may produce too much scar tissue. Depending on where the incision took place, this can make movement very difficult because the thick scar tissue can get in the way of contracting muscle tissue. Post-surgical rehab can re-train the body to move as it should in the area where the surgery took place, reducing the amount of scar tissue that forms.

Avoid Injury: Finally, one of the best reasons to go through post-surgical rehab is to make sure you avoid injury. It’s tempting to dive back into old routines too quickly. Doing too much too soon or not receiving the proper guidance for healing can result in a tear at the site of the incision, further damage to the inside the muscle tissue, or (worst of all) a new reason to have more surgery. Post-surgical rehab can safely guide you through the healing process and help you avoid injury.

Post-Surgical Rehab: Step-by-Step

At Ravenswood Chiropractic & Wellness Center, we believe that you should know exactly what the process entails for rehabilitation before you begin. Let’s take a look at our step-by-step breakdown of what to expect when you come in for post-surgical rehab.

The Consultation

Every treatment begins with a consultation. This is when you’ll chat with our post-surgical rehabilitation experts to determine the best course of treatment. We can work independently with you without a referral, or we can follow the protocol and treatment laid out by your surgeon.

After our comprehensive consultation, our doctor will explain the types of treatment you’ll receive along with how many times per week would be ideal. While not every type of treatment may be necessary, here are a few you can expect.

Pain Management

No matter how serious your surgery, it’ll be important to learn how to manage pain so that you can continue your day-to-day routine. Unless advised by your surgeon or doctor, we believe that it’s best to follow a natural course of treatment, not involving prescription medications. To alleviate pain and promote proper healing, we may use a combination of chiropractic adjustment, massage therapy, and acupuncture, to name a few things. As mentioned above, you will discuss the best course of treatment with our team of experts. You can rest assured that each treatment program is unique to the individual.

Pain management will go hand-in-hand with improving inflammation, the body’s natural response to an injury or incision. While it’s helpful in the short term, when inflammation becomes chronic, it can cause a variety of issues. Promoting proper blood flow through massage and following a functional medicine approach such as whole food-based nutrition, we can lessen inflammation.

Restoring Proper Movement

After a surgery, it can be difficult to walk or move in the way you once did. Our experts focus on restoring proper position and movement patterns, gently mobilizing joints, engaging in passive and active range of motion exercises, and improving neuromuscular performance. Followed as prescribed, post-surgical rehabilitation exercises can completely restore proper movement patterns and an independent way of living.

Recovery Education

Our post-surgery rehab provides extensive yet easy-to-understand patient education. Your treatment program won’t be a passive way to recovery; rather, we want you involved in understanding your condition and why your treatment plan is ideal for you. The things you’ll learn during your post-surgical rehab will stay with you for a lifetime, helping you to avoid complications in the future.

Progress Examinations and Updates

Despite having the ideal course for treatment, not everyone progresses at the same rate. Based on age, sex, medical history, fitness experience, and adherence to the treatment program, the rate of healing will vary from person to person. This is why there are regular re-examinations to understand patient progress.

Think of your treatment as an ever-changing program that is based on your progress. By performing regular examinations of physical ability, we can catch faulty movement patterns and correct them immediately, avoiding a potential complication or injury.

Post-Surgical Rehab: Get Started Today

Give us a call at 773-878-7330 to schedule a consultation with our post-surgical rehabilitation experts who will be able to walk you through every step of the road to full recovery.