The BEST Rehab looks like Fitness
The fastest, most efficient way to get you back to the thing you absolutely love to do especially if you are in pain is to move towards the very thing you want to do again - i.e. weight lifting, running, swinging a golf club, playing basketball, going for a swim, playing pickle ball. The goal of physical therapy should be to move you towards that goal in a expedited and efficient way. Your time, your energy, your efforts are extremely valuable and critical in your rehab process and in fact, a poor plan of care/plan of action in your rehab process could slow down and even inhibit your recovery process. A poor plan can slow down your progress and limit the speed in which you get back to your goal. A poor plan of care can also limit your full healing and recovery - not all plans are perfect - that means that an imperfect plan can result in an imperfect result - an imperfect result can result in continued pain with performance and also pain and limitations in your return to your goals.
With that said, if you want to get back to a physical activity, your physical therapy and physical therapist have to move you towards that goal. Often the largest limiting factor in that process is actually ‘weights’ - physical therapy often does not get you strong enough nor tolerant enough to your goal thus decreasing your ability to return to your goal. Physical therapy brings you so far and often there’s a gap between your functional goal and your body. That gap needs to close - it’ll help with efficiency, effectiveness, complete recovery, and a safe and productive return to the physical activity you enjoy most.
Thus your rehab especially as you get closer to your goal, should look a bit like fitness - maybe consider weights, resistance bands to strengthen, cardio machines that will push you, NOT simply laying on a table with modalities or a massage (although that does sound nice!)
Your time, energy, efforts, and resources are way too valuable and important - don’t waste them in your rehab and push the limits of your return!
