After surgery - Injury Rehabilitation

Professional athletes who undergo surgery for sports injury would undergo a compulsory duration of a systematic and guided recovery process called injury rehabilitation. The process is initiated as soon as possible to ensure that the site of surgery is allowed to heal swiftly.
Initially, various modalities (e.g. cold therapy, electrotherapy) are used to reduce tissue oedema and pain. Soon afterwards, simple exercises are initiated to strengthen the affected limb while allowing a gradual increase in the range of motion. Over a series of carefully monitored evaluation of function, the physiotherapist and physician adjusts the design of the recovery program to suit the individual. Complications like reinjury, ligament or tendon laxity, instability may occur,if the athlete proceeds too quickly whereas the opposite may occur if the limb is kept immobilised for too long. The later phase of rehabilitation involves more vigourous physical exercises and more difficult skills.

Always check with your surgeon, physiotherapist or physician if you are unsure of what you are doing. Do not proceed if your exercises cause you too much pain. Plan your surgery with the injury rehabilitation in mind and you will have a more successful recovery.

Chronic knee pain

Serious recreational athletes are often advised to stop sporting activities (e.g. jogging, fultsal and badminton) without diagnosing the condition of their knee pain. A proportion of these people do not remember even having a fall or injury while playing sports but have eventually started having knee pain lasting from weeks to months.

Many of such patients would benefit from a visit to their Sports Physician or Orthopaedic doctors for a detailed examination. Even elderly folks have returned to an active lifestyle when they started doing regular simple rehabilitation exercises. Within weeks to months, some recreational athletes would be able to return to sports if they do not require surgery.

Read up more on knee injuries here.

Exercise therapy back to sports

Many athletes and patients suffer from recurring pain and injury due to inadequate exercise therapy. Most athletes would have been prescribed an exercise programme which takes a specified period of time by the sports physician or physiotherapist. However, some drop out of the programme once they are pain-free or more mobile before they are fully functional.

Various components of rehabilitation (e.g. strength, power, flexibility, endurance, sense of balance and position) have to be incorporated to the exercise therapy to ensure that the athlete does not re-injure himself or worsen the injury.

Talk to your sports physician and physiotherapist periodically to ensure that you are progressing well in your exercise therapy. Note that there is no short cut to full recovery as damaged tissue will take time to heal.