How Post-Operative Rehabilitation Supports Your Complete Recovery

The road to recovery after a surgery may be filled with ups and downs. You might feel revitalised and ready to take on the world on some days, but on other days, your patience may run thin. Whatever you’re feeling, post-operative rehabilitation is an important aspect of recovery that you should leverage to restore your well-being. Not only does it aid in physical healing, it’s also helpful in strengthening your mental and emotional health. Keep reading to learn more about post-operative rehabilitation and how it can support your complete recovery. 

What is Post-Operative Rehabilitation?

Post-operative rehabilitation is a process of restoring function and mobility in individuals who have undergone surgical procedures. The goal is to help them recover and regain optimal physical health so that they can get back to their normal lives. It involves a number of therapies and interventions, including physical therapy (physiotherapy), occupational therapy, and speech therapy, all of which will be tailored based on the patient’s condition, surgery type, and recovery progress. 

Learn More: How Physiotherapy Can Help You Return to Sports After an Injury

How Post-Operative Rehabilitation Works To Facilitate Recovery?

1. Manual Therapy for Pain Management

Manual therapy, a physiotherapy technique, is a hands-on approach that applies pressure on specific muscles and joints in the body through skilled hand movements. What it does is it mobilises soft tissues and manipulates the joints to improve range of motion and relieve pain. Individuals experiencing pain and discomfort post-surgery can find relief through this method.

2. Restore Mobility and Range of Motion

Stiffness and limited range of motion after a surgical procedure is common. To help you regain joint flexibility and function, physiotherapy techniques, like exercises and stretching, are used in post-operative rehabilitation. They help to gradually restore mobility, facilitating your recovery and speedy return to normal activities.

3. Rebuild Muscle Strength and Endurance

Reduced physical activity during your recovery period may lead to muscle atrophy, which can cause weakness, poor balance, and frailty. If you’re an athlete, future performance may also be affected, preventing you from getting back onto the field quickly. 

Post-operative rehabilitation incorporates progressive resistance training and targeted exercises to help you rebuild muscle strength and endurance so that you can perform daily activities and return to pre-surgery fitness levels effectively. 

4. Scar Massage and Stretching for Tissue Pliability

As your body repairs and heals, it may trigger the formation of scar tissue adhesions, which are bands of scar tissue that bond two separate surfaces of the body together. These may result in stiffness and discomfort.

Scar massage and stretching exercises designed to minimise their adhesions may be employed, working to improve tissue pliability to prevent muscle fatigue and injuries. This technique not only enhances your physical appearance, but also increases mobility and reduces pain. 

5. Improve Joint Stability

After certain surgical procedures, such as joint replacement or ligament reconstruction, the stability of your joint may be affected. As it is crucial for controlled movement and the prevention of injuries and degenerative changes, it is important to strengthen your joints again post-operation. During rehabilitation, therapists will implement exercises like resistance band training and proprioception exercises to help your joints regain strength and support.

6. Gait Training

Recovering from injuries in your lower limbs or spine? Your gait, which is the movement of your limbs and how you walk, can be affected. In such cases, you’ll want to turn to gait training to relearn proper walking mechanics. It involves a series of exercises that work to improve your posture, balance, and walking pattern, which can help with reducing your risk of complications while promoting a smoother recovery. 

Rehabilitation, such as musculoskeletal physiotherapy, should not be overlooked if you wish to speed up your recovery and return to a normal lifestyle. 

SG ProRehab is a rehab centre in Singapore that offers a variety of sports massage and physiotherapy solutions to boost your recovery post injury or surgery. Get in touch with us today to find relief and see improvements.