The 5 Phases of Rehabilitation
From sports injury rehabilitation, the new functional recovery for everyone
Over the last 30 years Isokinetic has managed more than 5,000,000 treatment sessions. More than 12,000 patients every year rediscover the pleasure of movement thanks in part to the high-profile experience we have gained in the professional sport.
The exclusive Isokinetic method originated from the need to bring professional sportspeople back to the playing field after injury in the shortest time possible and in optimal psycho-physical conditions avoiding the risk of re-injury. A quite demanding goal.
But we were not satisfied with reaching it just with this patient population. We wanted the excellence of sports rehabilitation available to every patient.
Getting back to an active life without pain in the shortest but safe time: a goal possible for everyone
Timing in functional recovery is the most relevant factor in the rehabilitation path for sportsmen and women. A long period of inactivity can compromise the results of a months and years of work. Moreover, coming back to the pre-injury level is more difficult if it takes too long – deeply weakening the psychological conditions of the patient.
For this reason, in Isokinetic, the maximum possible functional recovery increasingly means not only the return to optimal performance in the shortest possible time but, above all, a return to high-level sport and movement and confidence in a state of perfect psycho-physical health, leaving behind the fear of new injuries.
Isokinetic’s holistic approach always considers the return to sport not only a goal to be pursued, from a physical perspective, as quickly as possible, safely, but also from a psycho-social condition of “complete psychological, physical and social well-being and not just the absence of disease" (as the World Health Organisation defines Health itself). This approach is applied to both professional and amateur sportsmen and women, and for the non-sportive person who is just as motivated to live actively without pain and solve their physical problem with a long-term perspective.
Over the years we’ve welcomed different kind of patients. Amateur sportspeople, surgical patients recovering after orthopaedic surgery, patients with a work injury, children, adolescents, active elderly who still wants to play tennis once a week, patients affected by chronic pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.
Isokinetic offers everyone the competence and professional excellence of the rehabilitation gained in the competitive sports, together with latest technological innovations and the most advanced treatments used in the rehabilitation of great sportsmen and women.
Much more than physiotherapy: the bio-psycho-social rehabilitation approach
When a sportsperson is forced to stay away from the field of play, training and from the team because of an injury, the psychological and emotional aspects are also involved.
The same happens to any other person who sees their normal daily activities, working and social activities, compromised. The lack of independence, when even performing simple actions needs a support by other people: the feeling of being weak and limited is common to all those who experience trauma or musculoskeletal injury.
Gradually regaining the confidence with your own body is the first step. But the goal, whether is return to sport or to daily activities cannot be tackled only with treatments and therapies aimed to restore function. Everything must come with a team of multidisciplinary skills able to take care of the patient’s well-being with a 360 degree perspective.
In Isokinetic a sports medicine staff of rehabilitation professionals develops for each patient a personalised protocol that sets its clinical objective. Usually we want to score both: maximum functional recovery in shortest safe time and a correct movement strategy retained through conscious exercise and neuromuscular training. Basically, you can educate your body and brain to correct poor posture. Last but not least the prevention of injury and re-injury.
The rehabilitation environments, in Isokinetic, also have been designed to encourage socialisation and the exchange of experiences, and positive energies, creating an atmosphere of sharing and mutual support, with the common goal of completing the rehabilitation process at best.
This takes place under the constant supervision of sports and rehabiliation doctors within our excellent rehabilitation facilities both in the Italian and London clinics.
How long does rehabilitation last? Time is a factor, not a goal
When can I go back to train and compete?
When can I go back to work and move without pain, as I used to do before?
Frequently asked questions from our patients, whether they are sporty or not, transform into objectives to be achieved through the progressive achievement of functional objectives. The anxiety to return painless and effectively is always great, but time is not the most important factor to evaluate or forecast.
In the field of competitive sport, the seriousness of the injuries is assessed on the basis of the days necessary for recovery and return to the field: for us at Isokinetic, this perspective is not only partial and reductive, but risks sacrificing some crucial steps that guarantee total rehabilitation and lasting over time and which can also lead to an improvement of previous standards.
Isokinetic innovation in rehabilitation: the 5-step journey
Isokinetic has developed a unique and exclusive method that is based on 5 phases: the total customisation of treatments and the constant supervision of a doctor dedicated to the patient and called the “case manager“. This offers not only the possibility of determining and monitoring the achievement of functional objectives, but also the necessary time to obtain optimal results without health risks and “improvisation".
The 5-step Isokinetic rehabilitation method helps the doctor and the patient to more easily monitor the progress made and to gradually define the objectives that lead to the maximum functional recovery possible.
Book a specialist consultation in the Isokinetic clinic closest to you and start your personalised rehabilitation path: immediate availability, no waiting list!
1
Resolution of pain, inflammation and acute symptoms
It is the phase dedicated to the resolution of pain, swelling and in general to the problems of the acute phase such as a recent injury, or in the post-operative phase.
The physiotherapist or hydrotherapist will be able to make use of physical and manual therapies. In this, the use of ice will be a useful ally. The different rehabilitation techniques adopted represent a valid aid and an alternative to drugs, playing.
2
Recovery of range of motion and flexibility
The goal of this second phase is to recover the full range of motion of a joint (joint range) or to restore a specific movement in the absence of pain.
The physiotherapist or hydrotherapist will be able to use various techniques from joint mobiliation to muscle stretching or stretching. Joint work should be started as early as possible in order to achieve complete recovery. The experience and skill of the physiotherapist is fundamental: an excessively aggressive approach could in fact lead to the aggravation of the inflammatory picture, while an excessively mild one would risk causing rigidity in the joints left inactive.
3
Recovery of maximum strength and muscle endurance
The objectives of the third phase are the restoration of strength, muscle tone and the recovery of endurance.
The physiotherapist will work on muscle strengthening according to the principle of load progression to avoid over-fatigue. From the early stages, much work will also be done on resistance to fatigue and effort (aerobic capacity), compatibly with the physical conditions and potential of the individual patient and always under strict medical supervision.
Immediately stimulating the muscles and parts of the musculoskeletal system to be rehabilitated to “give the maximum" facilitates the process of recovering strength and returning to pre-injury standards.
The ability to quantitatively measure the work produced through tests is fundamental: the isokinetic test and the functional evaluation test
4
Recovery of proprioception and coordination
The goal of this phase is to recover coordination.
Each injury of the musculoskeletal system changes the proprioceptive mechanisms, that is, of the sensory and neuro-motor processes that allow us to perceive the perception of the body in space and of its own movements.
The proprioception must be restored as soon as possible in order to obtain a complete recovery, a more conscious motor skills and to prevent recurrences.
The proprioceptive re-education must not have predefined qualitative, quantitative and temporal schemes but is entrusted to the ability and experience of the rehabilitation specialist who will proceed with completely personalised approaches and exercises.
5
Recovery of daily activities or sports specific skills
The objective of the last phase of the rehabilitation process is the recovery of the normal physical skills of active life and for the athlete, the recovery of the technical-specific sport skills, which must be restored in a fluid and precise way, without uncertainties or smudges.
This phase takes place on the field and is aimed at all types of patients: the footballer who wants to return to play and the normal person who wants to return to work and carry out daily activities without limitations, pain or fear of relapses.
The field rehabilitation program is not predefined but can be changed from day to day by the rehabilitation specialist in consultation with the doctor and in relation to the individual patient’s responses.
Prevention and education to correct lifestyles: “exercise is medicine", the secret to maintaining psycho-physical well-being
Prevention of re-injury and education in correct movements and posture are pillars of the Isokinetic recovery path: in the last stages of the recovery protocol particular attention is paid to the analysis and correction of incorrect movements or compensation mechanisms, promoted by our body to protect the wounded or painful parts of our body.
Thanks to the support of state-of-the-art equipment useful for carrying out a qualitative movement analysis test, MAT test (movement analysis test). Based on the results of the Isokinetic test, it is able to set up a personalised neuro-motor training program in the Green Room with the aim of learning and maintaining correct motor patterns over time that do not put the patient at risk of joint injuries.
