Do‘s and don‘ts in PT?
Hi everyone,
I’m currently 10 days post op after a hip arthroscopy for FAI and a labral tear, and I’m getting a bit confused about what I should and shouldn’t be doing during physical therapy.
So far, I’ve been mostly using pain as my guide. The good news is that I’m relatively pain free during most exercises. However, I’ve recently read that pain alone isn’t always a good indicator because you might overload the healing tissues without realizing it.
For example, on my CPM machine I can comfortably go past 90 degrees of hip flexion, and I don’t have any increased pain the next day. But now I’m wondering whether that means it’s actually safe, or if I should still limit my ROM despite feeling fine.
I’m looking for advice from people who have been through a similar recovery.
A few questions:
What are the biggest dos and don’ts during the first few weeks after surgery?
Were there any exercises or movements you later realized you should have avoided?
Did you follow pain as your guide, or did you stick strictly to your surgeon’s protocol even if you felt capable of doing more?
Does anyone have a structured week by week rehab plan that worked well for them?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. I want to recover as well as possible and avoid doing something that could compromise the repair, even if it feels okay in the moment.
Thanks!