Rehab Select Blog

Joint Replacement? Why Inpatient Rehab May Be Your Best Recovery Bet

Posted by Chris Schmidt

Dec 29, 2014 8:00:00 AM

Joint_Replacement_Why_Inpatient_RehabTotal joint replacement is, without any doubt, one of the many wonders of modern medical science that is enabling thousands each year to rid themselves of debilitating chronic pain and resume the normal lives they thought were gone forever. Virtually any part in the body (e.g. wrists, fingers, shoulders, hips etc.) can have this type of treatment for relief of disabling joint pathologies, and help restore a patient's normal quality of life.

Yet, other than the surgery itself, the most important part of the procedure is the post-operative rehabilitation process. In fact, rehab for joint replacement is the number one factor impacting the return of pain-free joint functionality for patients of all ages. What surprises many who undergo such operations is the availability and effectiveness of skilled nursing facilities in delivering inpatient recovery methods that dramatically speed their return to normal living.

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Benefits of Inpatient Rehab for Joint Replacement

Modern healthcare is increasingly concerned with ways to reduce costs for both medical facilities and patients. And one of the ways this has been accomplished is by dramatically reducing the percentage of patients who receive inpatient care after a wide spectrum of procedures that used to result in a hospital stay of several days, or weeks. Home recovery has become the norm for almost every type of post-operative recovery process. But is that always the best option?

The fact is that while staying in the hospital may not be the best recovery option regarding rehab for joint replacement operations, treatment at a facility primarily focused on helping such patients restore normal functioning can still play a vital role in the overall process.

What has emerged from this need is a network of skilled nursing facilities that focus primarily on helping patients of any age resume normal joint movement after these extensive procedures. The advantages of such inpatient treatment centers include:

  • Ensuring safety – since many patients are unable to care for themselves during the immediate post-operative period, the professional recovery assistance in such facilities helps prevent accidental re-injury

  • Re-learning new skills – rehab professionals help patients quickly re-acquire basic skills (like standing and sitting) that are lost when faced with post-operative pain and reduction of mobility

  • Guarding your safety – being unable to care for yourself can be frightening and dangerous. Staff trained in rehab for joint replacement challenges help get you through this early recovery phase by supervising actions that would otherwise risk injury

  • Access to needed resources – inpatient recovery centers provide easy & immediate availability of equipment and training that are crucial to the recovery process

In other words, dedicated rehabilitation centers offer the essential recovery tools and environment that simply are not present in the typical home recovery setting.

Jump-starting Outpatient Recovery

What is increasingly being seen is that inpatient rehab for joint replacement surgery is often a springboard to more effective outpatient care after navigating the initial post-operative period. One reason is that patient's family members are able to participate in the rehab training at these facilities and thereby acquire the skills needed to be effective care givers and helpers once their loved ones are back home.

Additionally, many of the new generation of skilled nursing rehab centers are community based, thus facilitating the outpatient phase of recovery by making it that much easier to access the ongoing care provided in these professional healthcare centers. The bottom line is that skilled nursing inpatient rehabilitation centers may indeed be the best way to speed recovery from the serious challenges of all types of joint replacement surgery.

Post Surgical Rehabilitation

Topics: Inpatient Rehab