Postoperative Physical Therapy in New York City, NY

What is Postoperative Physical Therapy Program?

In an ideal world, your best postoperative physical therapy program would have been formed and structured prior to your surgical operation in what is recognized as  “preoperative physical therapy”.   This is because preoperative physical therapy allows us to acquire “benchmarks” before your surgery, such as measuring your range of motion and learning of your goals for recovery after your surgery.  

Nonetheless we can certainly still help you with postoperative physical therapy even if we were not able to serve you prior to your surgery. Depending on the type of surgery that you have undergone, postoperative physical therapy can begin as early as the same day. The recovery process from invasive surgery need not be frustrating, or produce moments of mental and physical duress and stress.   An effective way to minimize the ordeal of “post surgical rehabilitation” is to have the required physical therapy component come to you at your home.  We pride ourselves on delivering a more relaxed, comfortable, and  patient-focused experience by coming to you with all the needed instruments, devices, and tools,  to deliver “best in class” postoperative physical therapy services, whether we treat you at your home or workplace.  

In traditional postoperative physical therapy  the patient commutes to a clinical office where you may see a physical therapist but then are quickly passed off to an assistant and spend the bulk of your time with the physical therapist’ assistant.  With our concierge (in-home) postoperative physical therapy services, the physician-patient relationship is always one-to-one and instead of being passed off to a physical therapy assistant, your appointment in its entirety is spent with your postoperative physical therapist.  Click here to learn How It (Concierge Physical Therapy) Works!

Could Postoperative Physical Therapy At Home Benefit You?

Postoperative physical therapy is essential for various surgeries and can significantly aid in recovery. Here are some common surgeries that benefit from postoperative physical therapy:

• Joint replacement surgery: For shoulder, hip, foot, hand, elbow, & knee, replacement surgeries, and helps restore strength, mobility, range of motion, endurance, flexibility, self-care skills, and regain ability to perform previous activities (walking and climbing stairs, getting in and out of a chair or car, tying shoes, etc).

• Meniscus & ACL repair: Postoperative physical therapy is essential following any kind of repair of the knee. Studies show building hamstring and quadricep strength can accelerate healing, focus is on restoring your muscle strength, balance, and agility,  so you can return to your regular activities.

• Back surgery: Postoperative physical therapy can help proper muscle and postural training, pain and inflammation relief while aiming to minimize muscle spasms and strengthening muscles that control and stabilize the back.

• Heart attack/bypass surgery:  Postoperative physical therapy commonly consisting of a very short walking period to improve the fitness of your muscles, lungs, &  heart.   With completed sessions, gained confidence and endurance,  there might be gradual  progress by increasing the intensity and/or duration of your exercise, checking your heart rate and blood pressure regularly to make sure you’re safe while exercising.

Postoperative physical therapy often begins quickly after surgery with easy exercises covering stretching and flexing, progressing in intensity with recovery.  One of our roles is to safely guide and inspire you to make progress, pushing you through the difficult and challenging moments, which all patients face from time to time.  If you have a scheduled surgery approaching and would like to know more about how receiving physical therapy from the comfort of your home can help with your preparations and recovery – don’t hesitate to call us if we can in any way be helpful. 

Benefits of Postoperative Physical Therapy

Rebuilding strength and improving the body’s range of motion is a top line objective in most cases of postoperative physical therapy. Click here to learn in detail about how we treat and improve your range of motion.   Of course we’ll also make sure you’re healing properly from the surgery itself but the primary goal of post-operative physical therapy is to ensure your short term recovery is complete and long term recovery on track, while eliminating any potential complications at any stage.   

Following an operation, it’s normal to feel vulnerable and even have some fear of complicating or setting back your own body’s healing process.  Know that the benefits of postoperative physical therapy extend into boosting your confidence, mental, and emotional wellness – as you learn how to best care for your body in an informed, safe and supported way.  This is why many people feel empowered realizing they are an active participant in their own health after an in-home postoperative physical therapy session, “Despite a number of methodological constraints, current evidence indicates that physiotherapy (Physical Therapy) could play a role in the management of persistent post-surgical  pain.” –  National Library of Medicine

Many people have the flawed perception that physical therapy will cause them to experience more pain when in actuality, it’s the very opposite!  Research has  determined postoperative physical therapy exercises are effective tools for mitigating long term pain.  While it’s common for muscles to tense and lock up near affected regions after surgery and producing pain, by rebuilding muscle, stretching and expanding your range of motion, postoperative physical therapy can reduce swelling and inflammation, alleviate muscle pain, and enable you to cut back on any reliance on pain medications. Rather than masking pain through medications, postoperative physical therapy curbs pain at its source.