Preoperative and postoperative rehabilitation
(prehab and rehab)
Prehab and Rehab | Osteopath Sutton
Having an operation is not an ideal situation and we would all love to avoid this last resort. However, due to injuries or wear and tear in the body, an operation can become a much needed intervention. The question is, how much will you be able to do post operation?
This is where your osteopath can design you post-operative rehabilitation programme to help you reach your goal by:
- Creating aims and goals with the patient,
- Analysing what is realistic and achievable using our professional understanding,
- Liaising with the orthopaedic consultant where appropriate to formulate a concrete plan.
Once these are complete your osteopath will use an individualised, functional approach using a variety of hands-on techniques, corrective exercises based on your biomechanics, and by creating an empowering atmosphere guiding you through each step of the process.
Prehab
In the lead up to undergoing surgery, it is important to make sure your body is in the optimal state for recovery. There will often be a relative period of inactivity.
It is therefore important to build muscular strength around the area before undergoing surgery, to provide the best possible outcomes afterwards.
This preoperative programme will involve undergoing movement assessment and graded exercise prescription, to improve neuromuscular control and dynamic flexibility, with the intention of increasing tissue resilience and improving joint mechanics.
It may also simply involve going through some basic, low resistance movements such as supported squats, or hip movements.
This will depend entirely on your specific injury, the procedure you are awaiting to undergo, and current fitness levels.
Rehab
Your osteopath will take a detailed case history to understand clearly the nature of your injury and what procedures you have been through. This involves looking at your reports and other investigations you may have had. Your osteopath may need communicate with your consultant.
Then a clear, thorough assessment which taking into account how your body moves from a general perspective will be carried out. A more detailed specific analysis to determine the areas that need attention will also be required.
After this your osteopath will explain clearly what has been found and how best to create a programme that will enable you to reach your aim or goals, returning you to your normal activities.
This provides a realistic and achievable outlook for your recovery.
The human body will not function in synchrony unless we look at the body as a whole. This concept is one of the principles of osteopathy.
The science comes in when trying to understand how to create easy progressive steps towards your goals.
Your osteopaths experience in rehabilitation, functional movement assessment, and principles of osteopathy allows a bespoke rehab programme, that takes into account the nature of your injury, the anatomy, the biomechanics, and other factors that may prevent healing, to be created.
This could include your nutrition, sleep, or psychological well-being.
