At Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy we work closely with highly skilled orthopedic surgeons from various practices including OrthoBethesda and Shady Grove Orthopaedics. While undergoing physical therapy at one of our locations, we offer the following benefits that are especially vital when you are recovering from surgery:
*Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy can access medical records for patients who are seen by one of our affiliated physician groups. We are unable to access the medical records of outside referral sources.
Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy clinics are all associated with teams of highly skilled orthopedic surgeons from various practices. Because of this association, all therapists at Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy have extensive history treating patients that are recovering from, or preparing, for surgery. If you are preparing for surgery, this is a significant advantage for you. Your therapist can utilize their extensive experience to best prepare you for your recovery.
After surgery, going to a PT who is knowledgeable in post-operative rehab is helpful as they have an extensive knowledge and understanding of protocols that are used by surgeons. Surgeons will typically have a protocol, which is an evidence-based prescription for how they want rehab to be advanced week to week. In fact, many of our therapist developed the post operative protocol as a team with the referring surgeon. This means that our therapists spent an extensive amount of time researching current evidence on each surgery to determine current best practices. These PTs have worked with the surgeons to determine what precautions, restrictions, criteria for advancement, and exercises to do during each phase. This is an asset for our protocols because this means that the protocols that our physicians use look at both the medical and physical therapy side of rehabilitation after surgery. It also means in our clinics we have PT experts we can turn to if we ever have questions about the protocols, rather than trying to contact the physician.
Our physical therapists all undergo training on how to understand and progress patients through these protocols. Due to the high volume of surgical procedures in our practice our therapists receive a lot of exposure to using and understanding protocols. The therapists at Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy are all trained on how to assess if you are on schedule, ahead of schedule, or behind schedule after a surgical procedure and what to do based on your current speed of recovery. Post-operative rehabilitation is different than traditional rehabilitation after an injury since a repair was done to injured tissue that you now must protect, while also working on regaining strength and range of motion. Working with a therapist that understands these principles is key to your recovery.
Communication is a key part in rehabilitation after surgery, whether it is between the patient and therapist or other members of the medical team. A key advantage of going to therapy at Aligned Orthopedic & Sports Therapy is that if at any point there is a question or concern, your therapist can expedite communication with your surgeon since we are communicating within our own network. We are also able to collaborate with the referring physicians to approach your recovery as a team, rather than as separate units. This will aid in your recovery and is especially helpful as you are recovering post-operatively.
Just like our physician partners specialize in what procedures they perform, we have therapists who have advanced interests and specializations in different techniques and areas of the body. Some of our therapists focus on working with athletes, while others are trained in Blood Flow Restriction Training which can be especially beneficial for post-operative periods where weight bearing is limited. Our therapists have developed interests while practicing that are also beneficial to you as your recover from surgery. Many of these techniques can be used as adjunct to treatment, and our therapists work as a team. If it is decided that you may benefit from a treatment that your primary therapist doesn’t perform, they will refer you to another therapist within our network who does. Together, they will work to make sure that as you are recovering you are getting the exact treatment that you need.
