What Are the Benefits of Functional Rehabilitation?

You begin functional rehab as soon as your injury recovery allows. With this type of physical therapy, your rehabilitation usually follows a multi-phase program of progressive steps, beginning with controlling inflammation and pain, to restoring motion, finally to developing muscle strength, power and endurance. The benefits of functional rehabilitation include:

• Better muscle memory because it engages your muscles with repetitive, functional exercises
• Higher endurance because it helps build cardiovascular stamina while improving endurance during high-intensity activities like weightlifting or running
• Improved posture and balance by engaging the core to help keep your spine in proper alignment
• Less joint pain because it strengthens the joints and prevents overuse to alleviate pain and restore joint mobility
• Improved flexibility by retraining your muscles to become more flexible, significantly reducing the chances of reinjury while alleviating pain and discomfort

In functional rehabilitation, you use three-dimensional movements to strengthen isolated, previously injured muscles. The process prepares your whole body to return to daily activities or sports. You come away from functional rehab stronger and more flexible.

How Does Functional Rehab Work?

In this physical therapy process, the physical therapist assesses your current level of function by examining your posture, balance, reflexes, muscle control, gait and body stabilization during both rest and motion. You go through tests to check the range of motion of your joints and any problems or deficiencies that may have contributed to the original injury.

Then your physical therapist takes a medical history to learn about your previous injuries, treatments and recoveries. Occasionally, imaging tests are ordered to confirm a diagnosis, but if you’re at the Southeastern Spine Institute, your doctors already know the diagnosis. After checking which positions or movements reduce or increase pain, a functional rehabilitation program can be developed especially for you.

If you’ve had a back injury or a spinal procedure, you want to improve your strength, coordination and flexibility, back to where it was before. Begin a functional rehabilitation program at the Southeastern Spine Institute. The physical therapy department has the experience and equipment to get you on the right track.