Prehab & Physical Therapy
What is “prehab”?
What do you think of when you hear “physical therapy”? Probably a place The term “rehab” probably comes to mind. Well, that’s certainly part of it, but it isn’t the whole picture. A major movement in the physical therapy world right now – and a huge goal of Symmetry Physical Therapy – is to change the way we think about physical therapy. It isn’t only about rehab – it’s also about a little thing we like to call prehab.
Prehab refers to taking preventative measures to prevent injuries from occurring. It’s all about improving strength, mobility, balance, coordination, posture and stability to keep you healthy in all of your active endeavors and everyday activities. It’s creating a strong, stable base so you can stop injuries in their tracks. Prehab is also a way to improve rehab outcomes postoperatively if you have sustained an injury and need surgery. Basically, it’s going to make sure your body is ready for whatever is thrown its way.
Prehab Common Practice
It’s common practice to head to your physician and do a screening for things like blood pressure and cholesterol every year, so doesn’t it make sense to do a musculoskeletal screening to make sure we are moving correctly? The idea behind prehab is to address any vulnerable or weak areas you may have that may contribute to faulty posture or compensatory movements in everyday life. Those not-so-great movements in daily activities can translate over into improper techniques in sports, at the gym, or in any kind of exercise you engage in, and guess what? That’s a recipe for injury.
While physical therapists are certainly there to get you through recovery and treat injuries, prehab is an underutilized aspect of physical therapy that we’re focused on bringing front and center at Symmetry Physical Therapy in Downtown Miami. Our goal is to help you prep your body with mobility, stability, coordination, balance, strength, agility…you name it…before an injury even has the chance to sneak up.
Conclusion
Most importantly, are you dealing with body aches related to activity or exercise? We are here to help! At Symmetry, we will provide you with a physical therapy assessment to get to the root cause of your pain. Check out our Youtube channel for more tips and easy to follow exercises videos.