How to Rebuild Muscle Strength After Surgery With Physiotherapy Session
Post-surgical recovery takes a toll on your body, and your muscles are no different. Whether it is the surgery itself, the anesthesia given during surgery, or the lack of movement as you rest, it can affect your muscles. Rebuilding muscle strength after recovery is essential to overcoming these challenges and resuming your normal life. This is where physiotherapy can help you.
In this blog, we will discuss common muscle-related challenges after surgery and how physiotherapy sessions can help you regain muscle strength and return to doing things you enjoy.
Muscle-related Challenges After Surgery
Post surgical recovery involves several changes in the muscles and may cause a few muscular disorders, such as:
Muscle Wasting
After surgery, patients are usually advised to reduce their physical activity to ensure proper recovery. This lack of movement causes the muscles to shrink, known as muscle wasting or atrophy. The amount of muscle wasting increases with time, causing muscle function loss and making it difficult to carry out regular activities.
Muscle Weakness
A period of inactivity after surgery or bed rest weakens the muscles due to lack of use. Muscle weakness reduces physical endurance and the ability to perform daily functions easily.
Reduced Flexibility
Due to surgery, joint stiffness, scar tissue formation, or inflammation can restrict muscles from moving completely. As a result, muscles become less flexible, and the range of motion is limited.
Muscle Imbalance
Certain muscles remain underused after surgery, whereas others are overused to compensate for the weaker ones, causing an imbalance. This can lead to changes in movement and increase the risk of injury.
Rebuilding Muscle Strength After Surgery
Muscle-related issues must be addressed post-surgery so patients can resume their daily activities. Here is a step-by-step guide for rebuilding muscle strength after surgery:
- Professional Assessment: Before starting treatment, visit a physiotherapist to assess your condition, set a rehabilitation goal, and formulate a customized treatment plan.
- Pain Management: Use ice, heat, or electrical nerve stimulation to prevent pain from worsening during treatment.
- Range-of-motion Exercises: Start with gentle movements that don’t stress the healing joints and muscles, such as shoulder rolls, knee extensions, and ankle pumps.
- Isometric Exercises: Exercises that contract muscles without moving the joints help activate the target muscles.
- Light Strengthening Exercises: These exercises build muscle by using your body weight as resistance. Some examples include push-ups, lunges, and squats.
- Resistance Training: Once you achieve basic strength, you can slowly increase the intensity of resistance using resistance bands, dumbbells, or weights.
- Cardiovascular Exercises: Start with low-intensity exercises such as walking or cycling and slowly increase the intensity with time.
- Flexibility and Stretching: Practice exercises to improve flexibility, and prevent joint tightness and muscle stiffness.
- Injury Prevention: While exercising, make sure to practice proper form, technique, and posture to reduce the risk of injury.
Surgical procedures often cause muscular problems, such as muscle wasting, weakness, imbalance, and reduced flexibility. At Ivory Physiotherapy Clinic, you can get a complete solution to rebuild muscle strength, helping you recover faster and resume normal function.
If you are looking for Post surgical physiotherapy in seawoods, book a consultation with us today!