Pre & Post-Operative Physical Therapy
Surgery is often just the first step. What happens in the weeks after — the exercises, the mobility work, the small daily wins — determines whether you fully bounce back or end up limited for months. Stride Home Therapy provides pre-op (prehab) and post-op (rehab) physical therapy right in your home, so you're recovering in the space you actually live in, not driving to a clinic while still swollen, sore, or on crutches.
Prehab is physical therapy "before" your surgery date. Research consistently shows that patients who go into joint replacement surgery stronger and more mobile tend to recover faster and more fully afterward. In the weeks before your procedure, we focus on:
- Building strength in the muscles that support the joint being replaced
- Improving your range of motion where surgery hasn't yet limited it
- Practicing the exact movements you'll need immediately after surgery — getting in and out of a chair, using a walker, navigating stairs
- Setting up your home before you need it: removing fall hazards, positioning furniture, arranging assistive equipment
Prehab
Post Operative Rehabilitation
Walking into surgery prepared makes the first two weeks afterward significantly easier. Every surgery — and every person — recovers on a different timeline, but here's a general sense of what in-home rehab addresses at each stage:
Total Knee Replacement
The first few weeks are about regaining the range of motion in the knee, and quad strength to support safe walking. We track your degrees of flexion week to week and adjust exercises as swelling decreases and your comfort with weight-bearing increases. Most clients progress to unassisted walking within 12 weeks. After the out-patient clinical experience, you may feel you have not yet reached your potential. That is where I fit in. Take that next step to achieve your potential!
Total Hip Replacement
Early recovery centers on relearning safe movement patterns — how to bend, sit, and turn without stressing the new joint — alongside strengthening the hip and surrounding muscles that support your gait. We also work on the specific precautions your surgeon gave you (which vary depending on the surgical approach used), so you're moving confidently rather than fearfully. Most clients transition off assistive devices within 4-8 weeks. Stride can be helpful if you are unsure how to bridge the gap between your out-patient care and the activities you love.
Total Shoulder Replacement
Shoulder recovery tends to be slower and more protective early on, since the joint needs time to heal before it can bear load. We work through a careful progression from passive range of motion (where I move the arm for you) to active-assisted movement to independent strengthening — always within the limits your surgeon sets. Return of functional use for daily tasks like dressing and reaching typically develops over 3-4 months. If there are insurance complications or difficulties reaching the out-patient clinic, I can step in to provide the needed rehabilitation appropriate for your phase of recovery.