Dr. Vaishali Suri (P.T.)
What Is Prehabilitation?
Prehabilitation (prehab) means starting physiotherapy before your planned surgery to optimise your physical condition, strength, and function. Strong evidence shows that patients who complete prehab programmes recover faster, experience fewer post-surgical complications, and achieve better long-term outcomes than those who wait until after surgery.
Why Prehab Works
Surgery places significant physical stress on the body. Entering surgery with stronger muscles, better cardiovascular fitness, and improved joint mobility means your body has greater reserves to draw on during recovery. Prehab also ensures you know exactly what your post-surgical exercises will be, reducing early rehabilitation anxiety.
Evidence for Prehab
- Knee replacement prehab reduces post-surgical length of stay by 1-2 days
- Hip replacement prehab improves walking ability at 6 weeks post-surgery
- Spinal surgery prehab reduces postoperative pain medication use
- Cardiac surgery prehab reduces pulmonary complication rates
Prehab Programme Components
- Specific strengthening targeting muscles most affected by surgery
- Range of motion optimisation pre-operatively
- Education about post-surgical exercises
- Respiratory preparation (especially for thoracic and abdominal surgery)
- Psychological preparation and expectation setting
Start Prehab at Realign Clinic Faridabad
If you have upcoming surgery, contact us as early as possible. Even 4-6 weeks of prehab makes a measurable difference. Book your prehab assessment today.