Dr. Stefano Sinicropi, M.D.

The surgical procedure will lay the foundation for your journey to a healthier spine, but similar to the foundation on a house, there’s still plenty of work to be done if you want the best finished product. For the vast majority of patients, this work comes during their physical therapy sessions. But why is PT such a useful tool during the rehabilitation portion of your recovery? In today’s blog, we explore all the ways that physical therapy can aid in your recovery after spine surgery.

How PT Aids In Your Spine Surgery Recovery

Physical therapy will play a key role in helping you make the fullest recovery possible following your spinal procedure. Here’s a look at some of the functional aspects physical therapy will help improve on following your surgery.

• Strength – Restoring strength is key after a spinal procedure. Tissues will have been cut, bones may be healing and an extended period of limited movement means that your spine is weaker than normal. Strength won’t just return on its own, either. You need to challenge your spine with healthy stress to build muscle and bone strength. Physical therapy will help put healthy stress on your spine, and working with a professional ensures that this stress is placed on the right structures in a safe manner to greatly reduce the risk of overloading the recovering area and triggering a setback. Rest alone is not enough to get your spine back to a pre-injury level of fitness. You’re going to need strength training with the help of physical therapy.
• Flexibility – Another key function that will be addressed with physical therapy is spinal flexibility. Many twisting and bending motions will be limited during your recovery period, but you’ll eventually add them to your repertoire and expand your comfortable range of motion. Restoring flexibility is key to being able to perform a number of movements necessary for everyday life, and your physical therapy team will put you through some exercises aimed at expanding your comfortable range of motion.
• Stabilization – Your physical therapist will also work to stabilize spinal segments so that they can appropriately handle stress that is put on the area. This oftentimes involves targeting structures near the surgically addressed areas to ensure they are strong and can appropriately stabilize the adjacent spinal segments. Strengthening your core muscles is one of the best ways to stabilize your spine, so don’t expect your spine to always be the target of your physical therapy exercise.
• Balance – Physical therapy also plays a key role in helping restore our balance and coordination after surgery. There are a number of key spinal nerves that can be impacted as a result of the underlying condition or the corrective surgery, and this nerve irritation can affect your balance. PT will help you learn how to move comfortably and remain balanced and coordinated on your feet following a corrective procedure.
• Confidence – Your physical therapist will also work to restore confidence in your spine, which isn’t really a metric that can be tracked as easily as strength or flexibility, but it is a factor that is very important to your quality of life. Confidence is really a combination of the above measurable factors. When your spine is stronger, more flexible and stable, you have confidence in your ability to perform basic and more advanced movements. By connecting with a physical therapist after spine surgery, you’ll work to become more confident in your spine’s ability to handle the stress you put on it.

Let us help restore all these factors and more following your spine surgery. For help with all your spine care needs, connect with Dr. Sinicropi and the team at Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.

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