Can I exercise during rehab?

If you’re an active person you’ve likely experienced an injury or pain at some point that has impacted your ability to train hard or keep up with your workouts. Sometimes these issues resolve with time and you continue with your training, but other times they can become limiting enough in your life to cause you to seek help from a healthcare provider.

When we work with people in this situation one of the most common questions that come up is “Can I continue to exercise while I rehab this issue?”  

The answer to this question is almost always “Yes!” Continuing to train during rehab is going to help speed up the recovery process but we need to make sure the training you do does not hinder your ability to resolve what initially brought you to physical therapy. 

Many factors play a role in successfully rehabbing an injury or ridding you of your pain. Part of our goal as physical therapist is to determine where your symptoms are coming from and to positively your body as much as possible to push you toward recovery in an effective and efficient manner.

Two of these factors include managing stress and improving mood/cognitive function. Exercise is an excellent way to positively influence these variables and reduce rehab time. [1-3] This is one of the main reasons it's important to continue to exercise during physical therapy and why we highly encourage it. 

What's important to note here is that not all exercise is created equal. As stated earlier we need to make sure the type and amount of training you do is enhancing the recovery process and not inferring it. The right exercise prescription, dosage, and frequency are all major determinants of progress in your rehab process

Here at Moment PTP, we work closely with you to come up with a program that best suits you and your training/activity demands throughout the entire process. 

Experiencing pain or an injury isn’t fun but often we can work together to come up with an effective way for you to stay active and continue to train along the way. 

Citations:

1. Silverman MN, Deuster PA. Biological mechanisms underlying the role of physical fitness in health and resilience. Interface Focus. 2014 Oct 6;4(5):20140040.

2. Tan, L., Cicuttini, F.M., Fairley, J. et al. Does aerobic exercise effect pain sensitisation in individuals with musculoskeletal pain? A systematic review. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 23, 113 (2022).

3. Tang NKY, Salkovskis PM, Hodges A, Wright KJ, Hanna M, Hester J. Effects of mood on pain responses and pain tolerance: an experimental study in chronic back pain patients. Pain. 2008 Aug 31;138(2):392-401.]