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Whether you have a surgery approaching or you’re somebody who would like to stay as far away as possible from suffering an injury and all of the baggage they carry, then Prehabilitation might be for you.
What is Prehabilitation?
The term ‘prehab’ is one you’ve probably heard in the past and mistaken for a typo. Interestingly, it actually refers to a proactive approach to avoid pain and injury, or a term used to get people into shape prior to surgery. Prehab can also address deficits in strength, flexibility, agility and overall joint function (just to name a few).
Like the phrase ‘prevention is better than cure’, Prehabilitation is used as a preventative mechanism to decrease the likelihood of injury while simultaneously optimizing your functional ability. It can also take on many forms including exercise, nutrition, medical approached or psychological therapy.
Prehabilitation to Prevent Injury
Injuries are predominantly caused by overuse, direct impact or the application of force that is greater than the body can structurally withstand. So, how can you use Prehabilitation to prevent this from happening?
Prehab aims to increase overall strength, flexibility and motor control in the body and to protect those more vulnerable areas through a range of different exercises and techniques. The benefits include:
- Correcting muscle length imbalance, joint alignment and flexibility
- Improve core stability
- Increase muscular endurance, strength and power
The exercises and techniques that your physiotherapist prescribes to you are dependent upon the sports you play, the muscles you regularly engage, your previous injury history and your current situation.
Swimmer’s shoulder, runner’s knee, golfer’s elbow…some sports are strongly linked to certain types of injury. At The Brisbane Spine Clinic, we understand that not everybody plays golf or football, so your Prehabilitation program would target your predominant muscle movement patterns.
What Happens at a Prehab Appointment?
Because Prehabilitation techniques vary depending on the likely stress your body will experience, the first step would be to have a conversation about your lifestyle, activity levels and which sports and positions you play (if any).
From here, we assess your biomechanics, posture, joint alignment, stability, muscle control and other factors. This will enable us to develop a prehab program tailored specifically to you and your situation.
If the damage has already been done, we will look at developing a prehab program aimed at engaging, strengthening and conditioning the muscles relating to your injury. But let’s hope that you are injury free!
Who benefits from Prehab?
Prehab isn’t reserved for only all-star athletes. It can be used for general strength and conditioning or simply the overall prevention of injury. Injuries can occur in our day-to-day lives without participating in sport or rigorous exercise. Prehab is likely to help if you:
- Play a contact sport
- Enjoy sports or physical activity that rely on certain parts of your body, such as running or swimming
- Are prone to injuries (and we all know somebody!)
- Have had a previous injury that’s introduced a weakness in that area
- Are awaiting surgery and want to accelerate post-operative recovery
How can The Brisbane Spine Clinic Help?
There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to prehab, and our team of dedicated physiotherapists can help you to decrease the likelihood of injury by creating a prehab program tailored especially for you. If you think you would benefit from Prehabilitation or would like more information, book an appointment with us today.
