It is one thing to finish up a difficult college semester, but it is quite another thing to finish that semester after a knee surgery. Everything from navigating a dorm and classes on crutches to understanding how and when to ask for help can be a challenge when you are a college student. Whether you are a college student learning to responsibly deal with pain management after an athletic injury or you are a retired person dealing with a total joint surgery, you will likely need to rely on physical therapy treatments and other rehabilitation services available at occupational therapy clinics.
Surgery and Sports Rehabilitation Processes Help Many People Get Back to Their Normal Lives
Sports trainers and physical and occupational therapists provide many services that can help patients recover after everything from total joint surgery or an athletic injury. Finding the right doctor and the right therapists, in fact, is very important to the whole process of making sure that you are able to get rid of your pain and work your way back to living the life that they have previously enjoyed. Consider some of these facts and figures about the orthopaedic surgery industry and the impact that it has on the nation’s economy:
- 4.7 million Americans are living with an artificial knee, according to 2014 research presented to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
- 2.5 million Americans are living with an artificial hip, according to 2014 research presented to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
- Medicare approved 2016 payments for 3.04 million orthotic procedures, accounting for more than $1 billion in Medicare spending.
- One in seven Americans now has an orthopedic impairment as a result of the fact that the U.S. population is aging.
- When physical therapy is used as a first management strategy, patients faced 72% fewer costs over the first year of treatment, according to a Health Services Research journal study.
Whether you are a college student or a recent retiree, finding the best way to recover from a recent sports or lifelong injury is an important part of making sure that you are able to get back to the life that you want to live.