Prehabilitation
Most people have heard of or been through the process of physical rehabilitation AFTER sustaining an injury (ie muscle tear) or developing a condition (ie stroke). Fewer people have heard of prehabilitation, which is gaining traction in health care. Prehabilitation is the process of training BEFORE an injury/event with the goal of preventing injury or increasing health outcomes (ie before surgery).
Injury Prevention:
When you see a rehabilitation professional for prehabilitation, typically an analysis of your movement, strength, flexibility and posture is conducted. Any weaknesses in these areas that predisposes you to injury during your daily physical demands will be addressed with exercises and stretches. Due to the varied demands of each individual, not every prehabiliation program will be the same. For example, the physical demands of a deskjob worker are vastly different than that of a professional athlete. The physical demands between sports are also different.
It is important to get an individualized program targeted to your goals and needs. For example, if you are a basketball player, you may want to undergo prehabilitation for ACL injuries as that is a common injury in basketball. For a runner, prehabilitation can reveal mechanical faults or weakness that should be corrected. For a deskjob worker, prehabiliation will identify and correct improper postures, which will prevent many overuse syndromes.
Prior to Surgery:
Surgical outcomes are typically better when you are fitter. The theory is that if you go into a surgery stronger, you come out strong. Being strong post surgery can improve your outcomes as you have already done some of the rehab before the surgery. A custom prehabiliation program designed for your surgery (ie total knee replacements) will target muscles that need to be strong for full recovery.
If you are interested in discussing the process of prehabiliation, both prior to injury or surgery, please contact one of the healthcare professionals at Form and Function. We have ongoing prehabiliation programs (ACL prevention and running analysis) that may be of interest to you. We can also answer any of your questions regarding prehabilitation.
Man Chun (Manni) Wong
Registered Physiotherapist