Over the last month or so we’ve had a few people in following surgery or fracture clinic. One common theme is they come in with a generic exercise sheet and say “this was all I got…”

On the whole the exercise sheets are there to make sure people are doing ‘something’ following their hospital ‘intervention’ and these are at a level that anyone could manage. A bit like, the most amount of good with the least amount of risk. To be fair the risk with doing any exercise that is thought through, controlled and measured is very low risk.

The down side to these sheets is that by their very nature they are generic. What a 75yr old hip replacement might be capable of doing could be very different to a 65yr old hip replacement and pre-exisitng fitness levels and recovery expectations can vary so much that these could be far too easy or actually quite challenging.

The physio profession has been pushing to get individual patient tailored exercise integral to treatment so given that most of these patients are seeing a physio before discharge or in clinic it is sometimes baffling that this still goes on but I guess we have to take time and resources constraints into consideration when it comes to the NHS.

Sooo, what we’re saying is, the exercises you have been given could well be a good start but it is extrememly likely that is all they are. A start on your rehabilitation process. What people are doing at week 1 post surgery should be very different to what they’re doing 2,4,6 weeks later.

In a lot of cases pain management needs to be considered. It’s a real struggle to get anything done, or even be motivated to do when you’re in a lot of pain and not knowing whether that’s normal or not. How hard can you push yourself, will I damage to cause harm to what has been ‘fixed’? Lots of questions that need answers. If this sounds like you and you want some answers and something more tailored to you then book in here or call 656340 to have a quick chat with one of our physios.