After an injury to a joint, healing can take quite a bit of time. In some situations, your surgeon may refer you to an orthopedic rehabilitation clinic for physical therapy. These centers allow you to recover from surgery or an injury at a slower pace while receiving the intensive physical therapy that you need. Regular physical therapy right after surgery can help make sure that your healing is as fast as possible. There are many additional benefits to healing in a physical therapy center, including the following: 

Reduced Pain

If you stay home or in a traditional hospital setting and try to heal, there's a tendency to rest far too much. It's common to favor an injury or surgical site that hurts, thinking that moving it too much will lead to additional pain. In fact, the opposite is usually true, and moving the area usually helps it heal much faster. Working with a physical therapist can help lower your pain levels dramatically, keeping you far more comfortable as you heal and leading to a dramatically lowered need for pain medication. 

Proper Recovery After Surgery

A physical therapy center has the resources available to make sure that you recover correctly after surgery. The staff there can help make sure that you get up and down frequently enough, hydrate well enough, and that your wound receives the care that it needs so that you heal correctly. 

Increased Mobility

Working with professionals at an orthopedic rehabilitation center will allow for increased mobility as you heal. The rehabilitation center has the equipment that you'll need to be able to move around immediately after surgery, such as wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and canes. As your mobility increases, the staff will continue to exercise with you, teaching you stretches and mobility exercises to help strengthen the parts of your body that are weak. You'll regain your mobility far faster after surgery than you would if you'd been simply discharged to your home. 

If you've been injured and are headed in for planned surgery, or if you're at the hospital and will soon be discharged, it makes sense to plan to be discharged to an orthopedic rehabilitation and physical therapy center. The trained medical professionals at these centers can help make sure that you heal correctly from your injury, that you regain mobility as quickly as possible, and that your pain is correctly managed with minimal medication. Speak to your surgeon or the emergency room doctor about this option.