After lumbar fusion surgery, there are some things you should do in order to have a faster recovery. In this article, we will mention the general recommendations in the postoperative period:
1) Do not perform bending or twisting movements.
2) Recommended Exercises.
3) Recommendations of postures to sleep, get out of bed or car and lift weights.
4) Walking is the most important exercise after a lumbar spine intervention.
5) Avoid ramps, hills and irregular surfaces.
6) Do not sit for more than 30-45 min in a row.
7) Use chairs with armrests.
8) You can take naps, but not being in bed all day, short and frequent walks are the key to recovery.
9) Climb stairs with help, climbing the steps one by one. Use the railing if possible.
10) Regarding the beginning of the Rehabilitation, it is recommended starting with exercise programs from 4 to 6 weeks after the surgery, which seems to produce a faster decrease in pain and disability, compared to patients who did not receive such a rehabilitation program. High intensity exercises seem to have the same effects faster.
Recommended exercises
In general, low-impact aerobic exercises are recommended, since they have been shown to reduce pain.
The so-called lumbar dynamic stabilization exercises, very popular and initially developed for patients with symptomatic spondylolysis, have also been used successfully in the treatment of patients with low back pain.
There are many exercises that can be proposed and according to the patient’s abilities we can divide them into the following:
Basic program
This program is the easiest to perform for patients who do not have a good previous physical preparation and it is applicable, practically, to the vast majority of patients with low back pain.
Advanced program
This program replaces some of the simplest exercises of the basic program with some more complex ones and is aimed at patients with low back pain who are physically fit, for example, young people or athletes.
Customized program
In some patients, for various reasons (especially for poor tolerance of certain exercises or for specific clinical characteristics), neither of the two previous programs are applicable. This program allows you to choose those that best suit your circumstances. Thus, it is possible to adapt some exercises to facilitate their execution to patients who present other associated pathologies that may make it difficult or impossible for them to adopt some of the recommended positions in the basic and advanced programs.
You might also want to read: What is Lumbar Fusion?