INTEGRATING PHYSIOTHERAPY IN ORTHOPAEDIC CARE: BUILDING HOLISTIC RECOVERY PATHWAYS FOR IMPROVED PATIENT OUTCOMES

Holistic orthopaedic rehabilitation is not the future-it is the present best practice, and its widespread adoption could redefine musculoskeletal healthcare worldwide.

- By Mohammed Benign V, Physiotherapist, KimsHealth Trivandrum

In today's healthcare landscape, the best outcomes for people recovering from orthopaedic surgery come from more than surgical expertise alone.

What patients value most is not the X-ray - it's the return to walking with a grandchild, climbing stairs without fear, sleeping through the night, or getting back to work with confidence. That is the promise of integrating physiotherapy into orthopaedic care:

Physiotherapy is an underutilized aspect of modern orthopaedic management. When woven into treatment plans from the earliest stages and in a truly holistic manner, patients recover faster, complications drop, and the gains last.

The Holistic Approach in Orthopaedics

An integrative model of healthcare takes into account everything beyond just the affected body part. Rather than focusing only on presenting physical symptoms, this way of thinking considers every area of a patient's life that may influence healing - physical health, mental health, emotional health, social environment, nutritional health, and even more lifestyle health factors.

Physiotherapists are an integral part of the rehabilitation process. While physiotherapists are largely responsible for helping patients with mobility, strength and flexibility exercises and other rehabilitation treatment, physiotherapists Early intervention by experts helps minimize stiffness and reduce the risk of developing long-term limitations provide valuable input into the physiotherapy pathway that is developed in partnership with the patient including the physiotherapy plan that is associated with each patient's surgery, general health status and recovery goals from surgery, and the physiotherapy plan helps guide the patient. Physiotherapists typically work alongside the patients’ orthopaedic surgeons to make sure the rehabilitation process is safe and effective.