Surgery fixes the problem, but recovery happens in the weeks after you get home. Physical therapy is what turns a successful operation into getting your life back, and it helps after many kinds of surgery, not just hip and knee replacements: spine surgery, shoulder repair, fracture repair, heart surgery or a long hospital stay.
1. You get your strength back faster
After surgery and time in bed, muscles weaken quickly. A therapist builds a step-by-step plan to rebuild strength safely, so you're not guessing how much is too much.
2. You move better, with less stiffness
Scar tissue and swelling can lock joints up. Guided exercise and hands-on work restore range of motion before stiffness becomes permanent.
3. It lowers your risk of falling
The first weeks home are when falls are most likely: you're weaker, maybe on new medications, and using a walker for the first time. Balance training and a home safety check make a real difference.
4. Pain is easier to manage
Movement, positioning and simple techniques help control pain and swelling, often reducing how much you rely on pain medication.
5. You recover in the place you actually live
With in-home therapy, we practice on your own stairs, bed, chair and bathroom, with no car rides while you're healing. Family members can join and learn how to help safely.
When to start
Usually as soon as your surgeon clears you, often within days of coming home. Follow your surgeon's precautions, and call their office for fever, increasing redness or drainage, new calf pain or swelling, or sudden worsening pain.
Physical therapy at home after surgery
UPT Services brings one-on-one physical therapy to your home in Northeast Philadelphia, Bucks County (including Bensalem and Newtown) and Montgomery County (including Huntingdon Valley). Medicare Part B, Aetna Medicare, Independence Blue Cross and Keystone 65 are accepted.
Call (215) 760-8229 or request an appointment. Learn more about hip and knee replacement rehab, recovery after orthopedic surgery and fall prevention.