PTRehab_Physical Therapy Can Help You Avoid Surgery

NOVEMBER 2019 The Therapy Bulletin The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

Does the thought of undergoing surgery make you feel queasy? If so, you’re not alone. Many people have a “fear of the knife,” so to speak. No one wants to get surgery, but sometimes it is a necessary part of physical treatment. However, it doesn’t always have to be. If you feel as if you may be on the path to needing surgery, but you’d like to discuss alternative options, don’t hesitate to give our team at Physical Therapy & Rehab Specialists a call. How Can I Avoid Surgery? There are numerous benefits to foregoing surgery and sticking with physical therapy – for one, you’ll save an incredible amount of money. Surgeries are pricy and physical therapy is far cheaper! Secondly, you’ll avoid the extensive recovery time that follows surgery. Many times, patients will need post-surgical rehabilitation (and sometimes pre-surgical rehabilitation) anyway. Why go through both if one can do the trick? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, physical therapy isn’t invasive. Physical therapy doesn’t involve any risks of complications or need for harmful painkillers. It’s not painful, it’s not dangerous, and it’s a natural remedy for your pain! It has been proven that physical therapy can be just as effective, if not more so, than surgery. For some specific conditions, patients who received physical therapy alone were seen to have achieved the same results as those who received surgery in tandem with physical therapy. These conditions were: CAN PHYSICAL THERAPY HELP YOU AVOID SURGERY?

How Do I Know Physical Therapy Will Work for Me? It is true that surgery is unavoidable in some patients, if the condition is severe enough. However, there are several studies and testimonials that prove physical therapy is successful in the treatment of pain to the point where, in many cases, surgery is unnecessary. According to a study done by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), physical therapy is just as effective as surgery in patients with meniscal tears and arthritis of the knee. In this study, 351 patients aged 45 or older who fell under the categories of those conditions were randomly split into two groups, being “those who received surgery and post-operative physical therapy treatments,” and “those who received physical therapy alone.” Those given the sole standard physical therapy treatment plans were also given the option of “crossing over” to surgical treatment if they did not notice any significant improvements to their condition. After six months, 30% of patients opted to receive surgery; however, 70% stayed with their standardized physical therapy regimen, reporting improvement. Within the 6-12 month time frame of the study, those patients who received physical therapy treatment alone showed similar signs of improvement to those that received both surgery and physical therapy. You can avoid the path to surgery! Give us a call today to see how our services at Physical Therapy & Rehab Specialists can help you.

• Meniscal tears • Rotator cuff tears • Osteoarthritis

• Spinal stenosis • Degenerative disc disease

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