Pre-hab: Physical Therapy Before Surgery

Being nervous before surgery is normal. While the success of your surgery is largely up to the surgeon, what you do before and after surgery can, just as equally impact the outcome. Pre-hab, or physical therapy before surgery, can speed up your recovery time and help you return to living the life you love faster.

There is also the possibility that physical therapy before surgery can help to improve your condition and keep you off the operating table. Depending on your condition, physical therapy before surgery may also help you to avoid the need for surgery altogether. If your goal is improved resiliency after surgery, physical therapy before your surgery can help to increase your strength and stamina and help you feel confident in preparation for the procedure.

The benefits of physical therapy after surgery are greatly increased when coupled with physical therapy before surgery, or pre-hab. Here are two benefits of pre-hab:

Pre-hab Benefit #1: Forego the need for surgery

Surgery can be expensive. Not only because of the costs of the procedure itself, but the downtime from work or life can add to your costs. For some conditions, physical therapy before surgery can help improve your condition and eliminate the need for surgery. Physical therapy has also been found to be equally as effective as surgery for conditions such as: spinal stenosis, rotator cuff tears, meniscus tears, osteoarthritis of the knee and degenerative disk disease.

Pre-hab Benefit #2: Can help increase the speed of recovery

When paired with physical therapy after the surgery, physical therapy before surgery can help speed up your recovery time. The goal of pre-hab is to help get you in shape before surgery, tone muscles and improve strength and flexibility to help maximize healing after the surgery. Patients who undergo pre-hab, are likely to get out of the hospital faster after surgery. Also, their need for inpatient rehab post surgery is decreased dramatically.

Physical therapy before surgery can help you get into shape, helping to make recovery easier or avoid the need for surgery altogether. While not all insurances will cover pre-hab, more and more are beginning to, so check with your insurance company on coverages. If you need assistance, contact us with additional questions. As a courtesy to our patients, we can help with checking your coverages.