Postoperative care is the care you receive after a surgical procedure. The type of postoperative care you need depends on the type of surgery you have, as well as your health history. It typically includes pain management, improving range of motion, and increasing strength.
Postoperative care involves assessment, diagnosis, planning, intervention, and outcome evaluation. Surgery can have both physical and psychological effects which may influence your recovery and cause frustration and anxiety. Our experienced team will carry out a full assessment and work with you to create short and long-term goals to help you to maximize your recovery potential and minimize any secondary problems that could arise from your surgery.
Physiotherapy after surgery may begin immediately after surgery, or a few days after surgery, however it is important that soon after you have been discharged you begin physiotherapy to achieve the best possible recovery. A patient’s ability to regain motion and strength, and ultimately return to their daily activities, will be greatly improved with physical therapy. The body will not regain normal motion without proper retraining.
Physical therapists are professionally trained to restore range of motion, increase strength, improve balance, and prevent re-injury during the recovery process. The therapist can also provide the patient with specific guidelines to allow optimal healing.
At BPC, after a thorough evaluation by a physical therapist, goals will be set to minimize the adverse effects of surgery such as pain, swelling, and numbness, as well as to restore normal movement, flexibility, and function. The therapist and patient will work together to establish functional goals related to resuming normal activities, as well as minimizing the risks of injury. The therapist will then design an exercise program tailored specifically to the patient’s needs and abilities.
Generally speaking post-operative physiotherapy proceeds in three phases. The early recovery phase, the strength and range of motion phase, and lastly the functional restoration phase.
Post-operative physiotherapy, or post-surgery rehabilitation, is essential for patients after undergoing orthopedic surgeries, and is expertly provided by BPC staff. Using a range of exercises, physiotherapists help patients regain muscle strength and movement so that they can perform routine tasks as soon as possible.
It is often helpful to see us before your surgery to ensure that you are familiar with what exercises you will be doing immediately post-surgery. We can also assess your capacity pre-surgery and establish recommendations that can help with setting the goals for your post-surgery rehabilitation.
This phase begins as soon as you are discharged from surgery and continues until your tissues have healed, the swelling from surgery has dissipated, and the pain associated with the surgery has been mostly resolved. During this period of time, we will be focused on the following;
Once you have reached the appropriate milestones for your specific surgery, and the post-op pain and swelling have reduced, our physiotherapy program designed for you will become focused on normalizing the range of motion, mechanics, and strength of your body. During this time, your post-op physiotherapy program will likely include:
When your strength has returned sufficiently to do more complex exercises safely, we will transition you into the functional restoration phase of your post-op program. Each person’s demands from their body are different, and it is important that your therapy program is tailor made for your specific needs. Some patients may be looking to return to a lifestyle of being able to play with their grandchildren, while others may be looking to get back to competitive sports. Our program will be tailor made for you to work towards that goal. In other words, the program will be designed to progress toward the specific goals of the patient. During this period of time you may be doing some of the following:
Shoulder
Elbow
Wrist & Hand
Hip
Knee
Calf
Ankle & Foot
Spine (Neck & Back)
BPC’s 4 step process was established by our team of expert physiotherapists to best guide you through a successful recovery while empowering patients to take charge of their health through our personalized exercise program.
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