Prehabilitation
Benefits of Prehabilitation Before Surgery
Do you have an upcoming procedure and are worried about the recovery process? Whether it’s a knee replacement, labral repair or a lumbar fusion, prehab is the first step to a quicker, safer recovery.
What is Prehab?
“Prehab is defined as physical and/ or lifestyle preparation designed to improve recovery time following surgery.” Basically, reaching out to partake in physical therapy before an orthopedic procedure. Imagine running a marathon. Would you sit around until the day of the race then take off full speed ahead expecting to make record time? No. You would change your diet, your mindset, and your activity level gradually strengthening both cardio and muscle mass.
According to multiple clinical trials, prehab allows for decreased pain and quicker recovery back to functional level after surgery. For instance, a clinically based trial following patients receiving total knee replacements showed results in favor of prehab. The group who underwent 6 weeks of prehabilitation regained function and positive subjective scores earlier on vs. those who did not. However, the group who did not participate in the prehab did regain full function by 12 months. While there is not enough sufficient evidence on which interventions are the reason for the outcome there is also no evidence showing negative effect. Therefore, it is essentially up to you on the direction you decide to take for your recovery.
Be sure to ask your doctor about prehab for your upcoming surgery OR take it upon yourself and give us a call. We can get you in with direct access for 60 days (No doctor referral needed!). See our Direct Access blog post for more information.
If you would like to do further research on prehabilitation see the links below;
https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anae.14507