REHABILITATION TREATMENT

For successful rehabilitation treatment you need knowledge.

You need to know what your problem is (what condition needs treatment), what treatment options there are and how you can participate in your rehabilitation program to maximise benefit.

 Rehabilitation knowledge includes how to improve fitness and health and prevent further illness or injury.

Evidence-based treatment includes exercise, adaptive equipment and strategies to improve fitness, functional ability, work or study ability, recreational ability and enjoyment of life.  This treatment can improve the healthspan (the time that you remain healthy) as well as lifespan (your time on the planet).

 Pain rehabilitation

Pain rehabilitation describes a way of reducing and eliminating chronic or persistent pain by helping you to change the way you understand your pain.  What is pain? How does your pain system work? Why has it changed? And how do you change it back? And it is hard to understand.

In essence – pain persists due to (mal)adaptation of your central nervous system due to sensitisation and new learning. This leads to increased body awareness, essentially an over-detection of problems. This then leads to overprotection of your body. It is not all “in your head”, it is mind and body and treating both leads to success.

Understanding pain unlocks a number of beneficial treatments such as exercise, lifestyle management and strategies involving retraining your brain.

Post-surgical pain 

Pain lasting longer than 3-months is surprisingly common after joint replacement, after spinal surgery, after surgery to fix fractures and after surgery for cancer. Dr Nathan Johns has been studying pain after surgery as past of a PhD at Monash University and is trialling a new online pain rehabilitation program called Kneed, with results due by May, 2025.

Spinal pain

Back and neck pain are common in nearly all populations and pain rehabilitation for them focuses on understanding pain, changing movement patterns, developing strategies to treat flare-ups and using a variety of strategies.

Musculoskeletal pain

Pain due to osteoarthritis of following fracture is very common and rehabilitation involves not only treating the injured or painful joint, bone, tendon or muscle but to treat the whole person including restoring normal limb function, normalising movements, restoring balance and improving mobility. 

Pain and function in older adults

Although pain and loss of functional ability increase with age, older people also improve (sometimes better then working age adults) with pain rehabilitation. Co-morbidities (additional medical problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, falls and obesity) can make it more challenging to recover but research has shown that exercise and rehabilitation is safer than not doing them. A particular focus in older adults is preventing falls by improving balance and modifying the environment (especially the home). Loss of independence can be devastating as we age but rehabilitation aims to maintain and improve independence.

Neurological disease

Parkinson’s disease and stroke are leading causes of loss of function and independence throughout the world.  There are multiple rehabilitation exercises and strategies for the specific problems that arise such as speech and swallow dysfunction, limb weakness, loss of walking ability, bladder and bowel dysfunction, spasticity and impairments of thinking and memory loss.

Oncology rehabilitation

After cancer treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy has been completed, rehabilitation programs can help you get on with living. Rehabilitation can help with pain management, fatigue management, help you set goals for your future, improve your fitness and strength, improve your mood, return to work and improve your quality of life. 

To make an appointment to see Dr Nathan Johns

T: (03) 9596 7211
F: (03) 9596 7871
E: reception@brightonspinal.com.au

The Rehabilitation Medicine Group
441 Bay Street Brighton, Victoria, 3186

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