Enhanced Surgical Outcomes
Joint replacement surgical outcomes enhanced with proper preparation
When the time comes to make a choice of surgery as part of your joint disease journey, our clinical experts are here to help.
Joint replacement is a life changing procedure. Our OrthoVive Joint Health therapists prepare you both mentally and physically for your procedure and what will be expected of you and your new joint after surgery — setting you up for a faster, stronger recovery.
Our therapists go above-and-beyond to set you up for the greatest success.
Prehabilitation
Prehabilitation care, or prehab, strengthens patients before surgery. Studies show the stronger a patient goes into surgery, the stronger they come out, sometimes eliminating or reducing hospital stays and providing a faster recovery. Prehab is a series of appointments in the weeks leading up to surgery, focusing on muscle strengthening, flexibility and physical conditioning.
Your therapist assesses your mobility pre-surgery and creates an exercise program tailored to your specific needs. While some of these exercises will be completed during one-on-one scheduled visits with your therapist, continuing the exercises at home consistently will build strength leading up to surgery.
Though the initial prehab visit can occur any time prior to surgery, we recommend making it as soon as possible once a surgery date is scheduled. The more time you have to work on your strength, flexibility and physical conditioning prior to surgery, the greater progress you’ll experience.
Pre-operative education visit
A pre-operative educational visit is a one-time appointment that sets after surgery recovery expectations, reviews post-operative mobility safety, addresses patient questions and prepares you for surgery.
An educational visit typically occurs a few weeks prior to a joint replacement surgery with the goal of reducing the risk of mobility complications after surgery, enhancing your recovery and improving your comfort and confidence going into surgery.
Your therapist works with you to establish post-surgery recovery expectations. You’ll learn how to use a cane and walker, how to properly go up and down stairs and how to get in and out of bed and a chair. You’ll also be taught beneficial exercises you can perform immediately following your surgery, tips and tricks for managing pain and swelling and how to best prepare your home to facilitate your recovery.
Though this visit can occur any time prior to surgery, scheduling two to three weeks beforehand is recommended. This will allow you time to prepare your home, practice what you’ve learned and have the knowledge fresh in your mind for use after surgery.
Post-operative rehabilitation
After surgery guidance by a trained joint health therapy expert helps you meet your post-surgery goals through guided intervention to recover strength, motion, balance and independent function. Through a series of visits with your therapist, you’ll progressively strengthen the new joint and improve flexibility through our structured OrthoVive program.
For those opting to go through prehab before the joint replacement, some of the same exercises that built strength and mobility will be repeated after surgery. Knowing the proper way to do the exercises and being familiar with the techniques provided give you, as a post-surgical patient, a step up in beginning rehabilitative recovery of your new joint.
The frequency and total length of post-operative rehabilitation varies from patient to patient based on starting strength, progress and goals.
If you’ve scheduled a total joint replacement, make an appointment with our experts today to learn more about enhancing your surgical outcome with prehab, a pre-operative visit or rehabilitation after surgery.