Oncological Physiotherapy: What is it and how is it performed?

Today, both science and treatments to control various conditions have been advancing hand in hand with technology. However, physiotherapy continues to demonstrate that the human body can heal diseases with appropriate treatments such as Oncological Physiotherapy.

What is oncological physiotherapy?

It is an area of physical rehabilitation focused on cancer patients. A cancer patient needs to have an assessment by a specialized physical therapist, before – if possible – their treatment or surgery, or immediately after it to lead the patient to a better quality of life, with a better physical condition, with less pain, and as quickly as possible.

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What role does cancer physiotherapy play?

Oncological physiotherapy will accompany the patient from the beginning of the treatment to the end. Of course, it also involves follow-up after the treatments. In this way, we will avoid significant physical wear and tear and we will reactivate the patient to his normal life as soon as possible and with the least damage to her health.

Is oncological physiotherapy recommended for any phase of a patient with cancer?

Oncological physical rehabilitation is suitable for any type of cancer, with some types of tumors that need more rehabilitation than others. But definitely, the evaluation of an expert will be very necessary. Any type of tumor will make the patient weaker or, consequently, less mobile. For this reason, these people must have physical therapy throughout their treatments.

What is Oncological rehabilitation about, is it the same as physiotherapy?

This type of rehabilitation is different from the traditional one. It is different because there are physical means that must be used with an oncology patient. We can also cite the example of a patient who had lymph nodes removed, whether due to breast, cervical, ovarian, prostate cancer, etc., implies a risk of having lymphedema at some point in his life, consequently, that therapy is very specialized.

Like any oncological area, certain types of care must be taken into account. They must be closely related to the oncologist throughout the patient’s treatment. For this reason, the physiotherapist must be specialized in oncology for this type of rehabilitation.

Do you have to take special precautions?

Before starting a physical-oncological rehabilitation, it is very important:

• To have a clinical history of the patient as detailed as possible.
• Make sure to be in close contact with the treating oncologist.
• To know what type of surgeries have been applied to the patient, what type of medications he is taking and what is the future monitoring of these medications. This point is quite important since many of these drugs and cancer therapies will directly impact the quality of life of patients.

For all this, oncological physical rehabilitation is highly specialized and individualized in each of the patients.

Summarizing

Cancer is still one of the most important diseases quantitatively and since it has so many variations and mutations, unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a cure. Scientists and doctors are constantly making progress in new effective treatments, that aim to be less painful for the patients.

Still, it is predicted that there will be more and more people with oncological illnesses in the future, many of whom will overcome but will need regular therapy in their lives to treat all the sequelae.

Physiotherapy and/or physical therapy are essential parts of the rehabilitation process for any oncological patient.

By visiting, regularly, a professional physical therapist, the patient has more than enough tools to restore its quality of life. Therefore, remember to consult with a suitable professional before beginning any type of rehabilitation or physical therapy.