Moving your body instead of lying in bed or sitting on the couch all day lowers the chance that you’ll experience a complication after surgery, such as a blood clot or infection. Movement keeps your blood flowing and also reduces lung or heart-related issues.

After you have surgery, you’ll likely experience a reduction in strength, mobility and flexibility. This not only occurs in the area affected by the surgery but throughout your entire body due to inactivity.

Physical movement helps reduce the swelling, inflammation, stiffness and pain that often occurs following surgery. Although some people are concerned that physical therapy will cause more pain, typically the opposite is true. By reducing inflammation and restoring joint and muscle function, pain is often reduced. In fact, doing physical therapy may even make it less likely you’ll need to take pain medication.

By increasing blood flow to the surgical area, physical therapy helps promote healing. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients through the body, so improving circulation helps reduce inflammation and aids recovery.

After surgery, you may develop a scar on your skin where any incision is made. But it’s the scar tissue that forms internally that can reduce mobility and function and become painful. Physical Therapy helps prevent the formation of scar tissue and softens scar tissue that forms, improving flexibility and reducing pain.