What Is Post Operative Rehabilitation?
Surgery fixes the structural problem — physiotherapy is what determines how well you actually recover from it. Good post-op rehab starts before surgery in many cases (building strength and range of motion ahead of time genuinely improves outcomes) and continues through a carefully staged recovery afterward.
How Does Post Operative Rehabilitation Work?
In the first 5–10 days after surgery, you'll typically be given a specific set of early exercises, often started in hospital. These aren't meant to challenge you — they're meant to protect the repair while preventing stiffness. Over the following weeks, we progress the exercises as tissue healing allows, which is a balance: move too cautiously and you lose range of motion unnecessarily; push too hard too soon and you risk the repair itself. This is exactly the judgment call a physiotherapist is trained to make, and we'll stay in contact with your surgeon's specific protocol where one exists.
Conditions we support recovery from :
- Post-Surgical Recovery
- Hip and knee replacement
- ACL repair and reconstruction
- Rotator cuff tendon repair
- Hip arthroscopy
- Ankle stabilization surgery
- Ligament repair
- Shoulder replacement
- Spinal surgery
- Achilles tendon repair
What to expect at your visit
Your first post-op visit will focus on assessing where you're at against your surgeon's expected timeline, checking your incision and swelling, and reviewing (or correcting) any exercises you've already started. We'll build out a realistic week-by-week plan from there rather than a vague “come back when it feels better.
Your rehabilitation program may combine several physiotherapy approaches to help you gradually rebuild movement, strength, and function following surgery.
Frequently Asked Questions
This depends entirely on the procedure — some patients start within days, others need a few weeks of rest first. We'll coordinate with your surgeon's specific guidance.
Yes, when needed — particularly if something isn't progressing as expected or your surgeon has specific post-op restrictions we need to follow.
Source: Mayo Clinic notes that rehabilitation plays a central role in recovery outcomes following rotator cuff repair, one of the more common procedures we support.
Take the next step.
Our Scott Road clinic welcomes patients from Guildford, Newton, Scott Road, and North Delta for personalized occupational therapy focused on their individual functional goals. Book online or call 778-590-4243.
