Over recent years, as the profession of Biokinetics grows, many individuals still associate our services as one in which you seek following injury or surgery. What if we can change this notion and challenge what individuals once thought. It is no new news that exercise can have a positive effect on an individual’s quality of life. Engaging in regular exercise has been proven to decrease pain individuals experience, impact mortality rates and control chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes to name a few examples.
But what if we could say that exercise prior to surgery could have a positive outcome in the weeks to follow. According to research, engaging in pre-operative exercise therapy prior to major surgical procedures can positively affect your post-op recovery time frame, such as by decreasing the time spent in intensive care (ICU) and the length of hospital stay. Regarding the effect it has on knee operations such as an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, individuals who partook in pre-operative exercise therapy display greater improvements in outcomes such as function, strength and muscular contraction. When reviewing whether prior exercise to total joint replacements such as a knee or hip, post-operative improvements can not be solely attributed to the pre-operative exercise. Although little research is available explaining the benefits of pre-operative exercise, one can not deny the effects any form of exercise can have on ones quality of life.
