Maritime Physical Therapy

Pre and Post Surgery Rehab in Plymouth

A date on the calendar has a way of making everything else feel like waiting. It does not have to be. The stronger and more mobile you go in, the better the first six weeks after tend to go.

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Doctor of Physical Therapy working one on one with a patient

01What It Is

What is pre and post surgery rehab?

It is two halves of one plan. The first half, prehab, runs in the weeks before your operation. The second half starts once your surgeon clears you to begin. Prehab does three specific things. It builds strength and range in the limb before it is taken away from you, because the tissue you go in with is the tissue you start recovery from. It teaches you the movements you will be asked to do afterward, at a time when you can learn them without pain and without a fresh incision. And it sorts the practical side out in advance: how you will manage stairs, how you will get in and out of a car, what the first week at home actually looks like. After surgery the work becomes staged. Early on the job is swelling, gentle motion and protecting the repair inside the limits your surgeon set. Then strength, in the order the tissue can accept it. Then function, which means walking, stairs, lifting, driving, and whatever else your life requires.

Massachusetts has direct access to physical therapy, so prehab does not have to wait for a referral to be written. Some insurance plans still require a referral for coverage, and post-operative care in particular is often authorised through your surgeon, so we verify your benefits before your first visit and tell you exactly where you stand.

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02Who It's For

Who is pre and post surgery rehab in Plymouth for?

Anyone with an operation on the calendar, and anyone who has just had one. The earlier we see you on either side of that date, the more of the recovery is in your hands.

Surgery booked, weeks to wait

You have a date for a shoulder repair, an ACL reconstruction or a knee replacement, and the plan until then is to be careful. Careful costs you strength. We use those weeks to build range and force in the limb, teach you the post-op exercises before they hurt, and rehearse the practical things like crutches and stairs. You go in prepared rather than braced for it.

Just cleared to start after the operation

You are home, sore, swollen, and holding a protocol sheet you are not sure you are reading correctly. We work inside your surgeon's stated precautions and timelines, take the guesswork out of what is safe this week, and get motion and gentle activation moving before stiffness settles in. Knowing exactly what you are allowed to do is most of what makes the first month bearable.

Past the protocol but not back to normal

Twelve weeks out, technically discharged from the surgeon, and the leg still will not do what the other one does. This is the stage most people get left at. We test the side to side difference honestly, then load the gap until it closes, so you can return to the ladder, the boat or the field with something better than hope behind it.

03What To Expect

What to expect in a session.

Whether you are eight weeks out from surgery or eight days past it, the visit is one on one and it is built around where you actually are.

Baseline, or the protocol on the table

Sessions run 30 to 60 minutes, one on one with your doctor of physical therapy. Before surgery, visit one measures the limb you are going in with: range, strength, how you walk, what you can already do. After surgery, visit one starts with your operative report and your surgeon's protocol, so the precautions, the weight bearing status and the range limits are agreed before anything is touched.

Hands-on work inside the limits

Prehab visits load the joint hard enough to build something, because there is no reason to be gentle before the incision exists. Post-op visits do the opposite job first: swelling management, scar and soft tissue work, and carefully graded motion that stays inside what your surgeon has cleared. Everything progresses on the tissue's timeline, not on how motivated you feel that morning.

Progression and honest checkpoints

Each visit ends with the short home program that carries the work between appointments. Most patients notice improvement within about six visits, and a typical plan of care runs 2 to 3 visits a week for 4 to 6 weeks, though post-surgical recovery usually runs in stages beyond that. We retest at each stage and tell you plainly whether you are on schedule.

Coordinating with your surgeon

Post-operative care follows your surgeon's protocol, not ours. Bring the protocol sheet, the operative report and any restrictions you were given, including weight bearing status, range of motion limits, brace settings and lifting precautions. We work inside them and we do not advance a stage early. If your surgeon has not issued a written protocol, or if the two of us read it differently, we contact the referring physician's office and confirm before your next visit rather than guess. Report new or worsening swelling, redness, fever, calf pain or wound drainage to your surgeon immediately. Some plans require a physician referral for post-surgical coverage, and we verify that with your insurance before you start.

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