Pre and Post Surgery Physical Therapy

Heal safer, faster, and healthier.

How can pre-operative physical therapy help me?

Pre-operative physiucal therapy, also known as “prehabilitation” is designed to help you prepare for and recover better from surgical procedures. The stronger you are and the less inflammation you have before surgery, the faster you will recover afterwards.

Pre-surgery physical therapy usually consists of a few PT visits to teach you how to reduce your inflammation and “train up” the muscle around the affected area or joint. Strengthening ensures there is less atrophy (loss of muscle mass) and better neuromuscular function prior to the procedure. Essentially, prehabilitation is like preseason training—getting your body prepared for the big event.

Prehab = cost savings

Physical therapy before joint replacement surgery, or ‘prehabilitation’, can reduce the need for post-operative care by nearly 30 percent, saving patients and average of $1,215 after surgery.

- Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, October 2014 Edition

Recovering from surgery

Physical therapy is standard after most major surgeries. Recovery time is dependent on several factors, including the how long you’ve had the injury and if you participated in pre-surgery physical therapy. Other factors include how invasive was the surgical procedure, what structures were repaired, as well as your general health and (to some degree) your own genetics.

Regardless of the above factors, our goal in all physical therapy is to move you through the 3 phases of healing as quickly as possible; from the initial post-surgical inflammatory state and protection of the surgical site to restoration of normal strength, mobility and function thus getting you back to your previous lifestyle as efficiently as possible.

Commonly surgeries

  • Total & partial joint replacements
  • Knee surgeries (ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL reconstruction)
  • Ligament or tendon reconstruction
  • Low back and cervical surgeries
  • Hip surgeries

Make an appointment

Ideal Motion Physical Therapy
12551 Old Glenn Highway,Suite E
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 694-5515

Did you know?

Exercise—most any type of exercise—can reduce your risk of recurring low-back pain by between 25 to 40 percent.

Meet your physical therapist

Chris Wilson, PT, OCS, FAAOMPT is an orthopedic clinical specialist with 20 years of experience.