Sarah Wong Physiotherapy

Rehabilitation

What is Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitate (from the Latin “habilitas”) means “to make able again”.  Simply put, rehabilitation is the process of helping an individual restore their physical, emotional and spiritual being to optimal health, function and independence after illness, injury or surgery.  

What does rehabilitation consist of here?

Typically, an assessment begins with a Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) in which whole body movement patterns are examined and are broken down so as to identify the region of pain and dysfunction. Historically, people have been led to believe that the area of their body where their pain exists, is actually where the source of the problem is. This way of thinking is not entirely correct as areas of dysfunction (whether it be stiffness or instability), can be non-painful but can be leading other parts of our body to compensate and therefore become overworked and develop pain.  

Manual therapy treatments such as Myofascial Release are used to address local areas of pain and restriction after which corrective exercises can then be prescribed that specifically target more global dysfunctional patterns that can be contributing to the pain. Treat the pain, look elsewhere for the cause.  

Reinforcement of non-painful patterns rather than painful patterns is crucial in re-setting the nervous system and body in order to restore optimal functional movement and health.  Further testing using the evidence-based Functional Movement Screen and Upper and Lower Y Balance tests can help objectively determine whether patients are ready to return to leisure activities or sports (rather than just opinion) as well as their ability to resist injury and minimizing their risk of re-injury.