Spinal surgery is commonly performed every day around the globe. Spinal surgery due to illness or injury is one of the most usual procedures across the world. It is the first step toward recovery. However, it is just the first step. There is work to be done to strengthen the body and to assist the patient to reach health and recovery.
When you awaken from surgery; your back is better. Better, as in things are put back to as close to normal as possible. But you were not miraculously healed the moment the surgery was over. If your back was severely damaged, you may feel some pain relief upon awakening. This is due to relieving the pain of injury pressing against nerves. However, better is not well. You have had major surgery and there will be a healing time.
After surgery the medical staff will give the patient some basic strengthening exercises and those will help mobility and fight off lung infections. Once the patient is released from hospital the real work begins. Make no mistake; this work is necessary if full recovery will become reality in the patient.
Physiotherapists are medical professionals who are highly trained and specialized in the treatment of the human body. Their training and education encompasses the skeletal and muscular parts of the body as well as the joints. The purpose of physiotherapy is to return the body to a healthy state in the most natural way possible. They are sought after by people with sports injury, disease and post- surgery.
As the back begins to heal from surgery and the swelling and shock subsides, a Physiotherapist focuses on the spine. The back needs to be strengthened while at the same time correctly aligned. It is important to begin therapy right away. Patients tend to compensate for their back by positioning themselves in a way that may feel comfortable in their current state but is not the correct position to ensure proper healing. Further, the physiotherapist can show the patients ways to rest comfortably while assisting in the long term health of the back. The human body is by design a “machine” that recovers. Pain is a symptom of back problem, but it is not the cause of the problem. Finding the cause and manipulating the bones, joints and muscles in a way to alleviate the cause of the pain is the goal of physiotherapy.
The biggest issue a patient must overcome is pain management. The traditional medical doctor has little choice but to prescribe pain pills to control the pain. The physiotherapist uses a variety of methods to assist in pain relief. This includes ice for swelling, heat for healing and exercise for strengthening. They physically maneuver the spine to remove pressure on the spine and neck. The patient is educated on what is being done and why it is being done. By understanding how a person got in the health position they were in, they can avoid returning to that position.
With physiotherapy, each patient is treated on an individual basis and cannot be copied. Every injury and every spine is different. It is important that the correct therapy be presented to heal a specific injury. This greatly reduces the chances of future injury and pain.
The Physiotherapist and the patient embark on a journey that will bring a level of healing to return the patient to and beyond the condition they were in before injury in most cases. Many patients go on to establish a long term relationship with their physiotherapist even after the initial treatments due to the successes the patient is surely to enjoy. For more information visit www.physioandmore.co.uk