What is Active Rehab?

Active rehab is an evidence-based program in which helps with recovery for someone who has suffered injuries. The person may have suffered an injury or multiple injuries from motor vehicle accident (MVA), or from sport, activities from their daily routine, or from their work.

Benefits of Active Rehab

Through different types of active rehab (exercise, stretching and active soft tissue release) benefits from an active rehab-based program includes reducing pain and inflammation, improving range of motion, and increasing muscular strength, endurance, fatigue, flexibility, and mobility. Active rehab program can begin anytime if the person who has suffered an injury is able. If the injury suffered is very severe active rehab program can begin after an assessment has been completed (this can be completed by a doctor, physiotherapist, or a Kinesiologist). Severe injuries are injuries that cause impairment to movement such as disability to a body part, or hospitalization.

Who Can Build An Active Rehab Program?

Physiotherapists and Kinesiologists can build an active rehab program. Kinesiology is the study of movement. A Kinesiologist has completed a 4-year degree program to be a practicing Kinesiologist in the province they are living in. There are different ways to approach active rehab. Factors include exercise tolerance, severity of injury, and self engagement. Some people need more coaching to help complete their programs, some don’t need much of any at all. Depending on the injury, some people may only be able to do certain exercises and need assistance (Kinesiologist) completing their program. The person may be disabled body and physically unable to set up equipment to complete an active rehab program. Lastly but most importantly it is on the person themself to put in the work and have the motivation to complete an active rehab program daily or to what your Kinesiologist recommends. Active rehab appointments can happen in home, at a clinic, gym, or community centre, or at the park with the appropriate equipment.

What does an Initial session look like?

An initial session starts off with a questionnaire asking the person which area has been affected what happened? How did the injury occur? When did the injury happen? Any history of injuries? Medical conditions? What are your goals for an active rehab program? What kinds of therapy or treatment have been you doing or have done? How did you hear about active rehab? After the questionnaire a full body assessment is completed looking at range of motion of joints (neck, spine, shoulders, elbows, hip, knees, ankles) with a goniometer for precise measurements. Next are flexibility tests are completed such as the zipper test to see shoulder flexibility, stand and reach, sit and reach are done for the spine, single leg raises for the hip.  Next is testing the person on their strength. This is to see how much weight a person can lift from floor to waist, waist to shoulder height and from waist to above head. Another strength test is to see how much weight someone can carry across the room. For all strength tests each person picks a weight they are comfortable lifting and repeating 8 to 10 times, if they are required to carry weight, they would carry the weight for about 5 to 7 meters.

After the initial testing is done usually the client is prescribed 5 to 7 exercises for the start of their exercise program to be done at a frequency given by your Physio or Kinesiologist. In subsequent appointments more exercise will be added to your program.

 What does a treatment plan involve?

Treatment plans for active rehab depend on the person’s abilities, tolerance, and goals. Depending on the population (disabled body) you are seeing some people may have less movement and need assistance helping able to do an active rehab program. For an able body person, you will start with a 5 to 10 minute warm up this can be using a stationary bicycle, pedal exerciser, walking, or dynamic stretching. After that begins the main exercise portion of the program that can include anywhere from 5 to 15 exercises of 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions, sometimes 20 repetitions that can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Depending on your goals the exercises can be more of stretching exercises or strengthening exercises or a mix. Depending on the severity of injuries it may take days or weeks to progress. At the end there can be a cool down period of static stretching to help with the recovery process.

How often will I need an appointment?

Appointments vary depending on the person’s needs. Some people may need active rehab 5x a week. More common the person needs 2 or 3 times a week. The length of an appointment can be 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes or longer.

How will I know if I’m making progress? 

Each person that has been an active rehab program or is about to enter a program should be self tracking their goals and measure results. Use objectives it could be if you need to reach a certain amount of range of motion in your joints, improving strength in where you need to lift a certain amount of weight for your job duties or daily routine. Writing objective results in a journal or notes on your phone is a great way to keep track and hold yourself and your physio or Kinesiologist accountable. Active rehab program is not an overnight fix it takes time for a person to develop and build strength and for muscle to recover. Doing too much too soon can harm the recovery process as well as not doing enough. You will need to engage in your program and complete the required amount of exercises your therapist provides you to improve on your goals. It is very important to be patient as everyone who has suffered an injury wants the recovery process to be completed as quickly as possible. You will have ups and downs during your recovery, listen to your body trust the process.

Our Registered Kinesiologists are superb when it comes to designing and executing an Active Rehab program. Clients who are recovering from surgeries, sports injuries, ICBC accidents or complex conditions are ideal candidates for this type of rehab. Click the link below to book or call our office at 604-828-2610 to learn more.