Improving Your Chances for a Successful Back Surgery

November 12, 2009, Sylvia Ho, Principal Physiotherapist

Spine-Health.com recently listed 5 ways to improve your chances in their article, “5 ways to minimise failed back surgery and continued back pain”¹. One of the 5 ways was – “Be Ready to Rehabilitate”. We would like to add one more way to improve your chances – Pre-Habilitation.

source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Pre-habilitation is simply a form of rehabilitation that you do before your surgery. It prepares your body to start rehabilitation after surgery and to progress as quickly as possible.

The work done during rehabilitation such as improving muscular control, strength, stamina and increasing joint mobility and flexibility are all easier to improve.

Muscles were cut through during surgery recover faster if they were healthier to start with.
Muscle control is easier to regain if it has done a certain pattern of activation before. It is like riding a bicycle. Say you are covering from a knee surgery. It is easier to pick up cycling again than trying to learn to do it for the first time and having to bear with the pain of recovering from surgery. It is just that much harder.
Stiff joints loosen before surgery are simply that much less stiff after surgery to start with. The same goes for joint flexibility.
Better joint proprioception before surgery is so much easier to learn without the hassle having to bear with the pain and stiffness immediately after surgery.

This pre-habilitation also extend to almost all type of orthopedic surgery as such as knee or hip surgery².

Better preparation simply leads to better recovery.

Reference:

1. 5 Ways to Minimize Failed Back Surgery and Continued Back Pain, Spine-Health.com, Sylvia Marten

2. Effectiveness of Accelerated Perioperative Care and Rehabilitation Intervention Compared to Current Intervention After Hip and Knee Arthroplasty. A Before-After Trial of 247 Patients With 3-month F/U, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, Kristian Larsen et al

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