Pre & post surgery

All surgery is by definition, invasive, and so causes tissue inflammation and myofascial contraction. The role of an osteopath at Central Sydney Osteopathy is to reduce that contraction and help the inflammation subside to help you recover well and get a great result from your surgery.

Any surgery is a trauma to the body, and the way the musculoskeletal system responds to trauma is to contract. So while you may be advised to recover using exercise and and activity, we like our patients post operatively to take the time to have those tissues relaxed, joints realigned, and tensions normalised so you can get out and do some gentle exercise.

Imagine the strain put on the whole lower limb by a hip replacement, or the strain on the ribs and chest by a shoulder reconstruction. This pales in comparison to the strain imposed on each and every rib and the thoracic spine following open heart surgery, where the chest is opened like a sardine can. Even a thyroid operation changes the tension throughout the cervical spine and the fascia of the head.

It is recommended to wait at least 10 days before coming to see an Osteopath post surgery, unless the pain is so great that you need us NOW. The physical integrity of your body has been breached by the scalpel and it needs to regain that integrity with rest, rest and more rest … and a full protein laden diet. We do love a beef pho for that purpose. And this is the Inner West! Pho city!

Once you’ve allowed your body this time to recover, osteopathy will be on hand to assist your recovery. It will help your body adjust to its newly improved area and undo the damage caused by lengthy positioning of the operating theatre.

So we suggest that after surgery, about 10 days post op, you can attend for a gentle resolution of those strains. Then you can get going again.

Book

Additional Resources