Rehabilitation is the restoration of optimal form (or anatomy) and function (or physiology). The word ‘rehabilitation’, comes from the Latin prefix ‘re‘, meaning “again” and ‘habitare’ meaning to “make fit.” Rehabilitation is typically required after an injury, in response to a random inexplicable pain or after an operation. From the time that you begin treatment with your physiotherapist, your rehabilitation process has started as well. We’re minimizing the loss associated with the acute injury or chronic disease, promoting recovery and maximizing your functional capacity, fitness and performance.
What would ‘rehabilitation’ actually do for me?
Let’s imagine for a moment that the human body is a car: In an attempt to remedy bad tyre-wear-patterns, you may consider trying a number of options: You could change the pressure in the tyres; you could decide to replace the tyres altogether; and when you get really desperate, decide only turn left from now on! Similarly, after an injury, your attempts at solving the problem may include pain killers, resting or even having an operation. The truth of the matter though, is that unless your wheels (biomechanics) are balanced and the alignment of your wheels (natural movement patterns) have been corrected, you’re fighting a losing battle. If you do not restore your muscle imbalances and natural movement patterns, you’ll constantly be jumping around between different coping strategies, while the problem continues or even deteriorates. Avoiding these coping strategies is what real rehabilitation is about!
To make the best of your rehabilitation program, you need to “ACT ON IT”:
A: Avoid aggravating the injury. This is important during the rehabilitation process. Even therapeutic exercises, if administered incorrectly or excessively, can make the injury worse.
C: Compliance. Your Physiotherapist will inform you of the program and the expected course of rehabilitation and as a patient it is important for you to comply with it!
T: Timing. Therapeutic exercise should begin ASAP, that is to say as soon as it can without causing aggravation. Relative rest is sometimes necessary, but too much rest will set the recovery time back.
O: One and only – We are all different and we’ll respond differently to injuries and the subsequent rehabilitation program, including the duration thereof. Allow your program to be tailormade to your individual needs rather than relying on suggestions from friends and family – even if it worked for them.
N: Natural sequence. A specific sequence is needed to make a success of therapeutic exercise programs and treatments. This is determined by the body’s physiological healing process and merely encouraged through physiotherapeutic rehabilitation programs.
I: Intensity. Through observing your individual response to the healing process, your Physiotherapist will know when to increase the intensity of your program without overtaxing the injury.
T: Total healing. The whole body, not just the injured area, needs to be a part of any rehabilitation program. The patient maintaining overall fitness and health will be physically and psychologically better prepared when the injured area is completely rehabilitated.
If you have suffered an injury, had an operation and especially if you’re looking at avoiding an operation, contact your Physiotherapist directly, to begin a holistic, comprehensive injury rehabilitation program, based on sound principles, to regain your optimum health and fitness in the least possible time.