How Does Physical Therapy Help Seniors Recover After Surgery?

By Julie McCormick, Co-Owner | April 25, 2024 | Comments Off on How Does Physical Therapy Help Seniors Recover After Surgery?
Physical Therapy in Warren County VA

Physical Therapy in Warren County VA

Recovery after surgery gets much more difficult for aging adults, especially if the surgery is a complicated one. Physical therapy is often recommended for seniors who are healing after a surgical procedure. Working with a physical therapist is one of the easiest ways for seniors to rebuild their strength, improve their mobility, and regain their independence while achieving other goals.

Restoring Mobility and Function

After surgery, it’s common for seniors in particular to experience challenges with mobility and function. This happens because of a variety of reasons, including pain, muscle weakness, and stiffness. Physical therapy helps to address these difficulties through exercises and techniques that target mobility. As seniors improve their mobility, it’s easier for them to do the exercises that will help them to do things like improve their strength and rebuild muscle tone.

Enhancing Stability and Strength

Immobility before and after surgery can lead to weakness and even muscle atrophy. Physical therapists help their patients to focus on strengthening their muscles. This helps to improve stability and endurance while also building muscle tone. Physical therapists focus on encouraging movements that help patients to reduce fall risk and additional injuries.

Managing Discomfort and Pain

Pain is a huge problem for aging adults after surgery. Seniors are often more susceptible to discomfort and to complications from pain. Physical therapy makes use of a variety of different modalities that can help to manage pain. These include things like manual therapy, hot and cold therapy, and specific exercises that target inflammation and pain. These techniques used together can also help to promote healing. When seniors are more comfortable, it’s easier for them to heal.

Preventing Complications

Complications are something that every surgical patient wants to avoid, especially seniors. By taking advantage of physical therapy, seniors use techniques and tools that help them reduce stiffness, reduce muscle weakness, and rebuild their functional capacity. Very often this also helps seniors to avoid complications like making injuries worse, opening wounds, or losing mobility. Physical therapists are also aware of what to watch for in their patients who have had surgery. They understand the signs of infections and other issues, and they can help to make sure that their patients address any problems before they become much bigger and seriously hinder recovery.

Promoting Independence

One of the biggest reasons for seniors to embrace physical therapy involves regaining independence. As seniors improve their physical function, mobility, and even confidence in their abilities, they are better able to live life to the fullest. Seniors can get back to their normal daily activities, which further helps them to age in place, walk without assistance, and perform household tasks that they want to handle on their own.

Seniors can benefit from physical therapy at different points in their lives. After a surgery, physical therapists can greatly enhance recovery for their senior patients. Focusing on aspects like managing pain, improving strength, and promoting independence gives seniors easy wins that help them to have better confidence in their abilities. From there, it’s a matter of doing the exercises and reducing complications as much as possible.

If you or an aging loved one are considering physical therapy in Warren County, VA, please contact the caring staff at LivinRite Home Care. Serving Northern Virginia, The Valley, and Surrounding Communities – call us today at (703) 369-6677.

Julie McCormick, Co-Owner
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