Post Cancer Treatment for Women in Jacksonville, FL
Cancer is a disease that impacts every aspect of a woman’s life and there’s a chance it will affect you or someone you know. For every 100 women, 39 will develop cancer at some point in their lives.
Many types of cancer can be treated successfully. As more people beat the odds, more people are living with cancer-related problems.
Physical Therapy & Cancer Recovery
Physical therapy can manage the side effects of cancer and cancer treatments by addressing physical problems such as pain, swelling, weakness, loss of balance, or loss of range of motion. Physical rehabilitation can help individuals improve their quality of life by treating the adverse effects caused by surgical, chemical, or radiative cancer treatments.
Physical therapy is one of several professions that make up your group of healthcare professionals walking beside you during your cancer recovery. Specifically, our physical therapists can assess physical limitations and create goals to help you return to the activities you care about.
Some goals are designed to target and improve:
- Range of motion
- Pain
- Fatigue
- Wound care
- Swelling
- Lymphedema
- Scarring
Exercise is good for cancer recovery. Specifically, moderate intensity exercises improve your aerobic capacity, decrease fatigue, and help your body heal. Our physical therapists can evaluate you before beginning cancer treatment and design a specific exercise program to recover faster than if you were on your own.
Physical Therapy After A Mastectomy
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and a leading cause of death and suffering in women worldwide. After breast surgery, reconstruction, or radiation therapy, women may have difficulty reaching overhead due to swelling and scar tissue.
Our physical therapists can design an exercise program to help restore your motion and reduce your pain. They can also help address and prevent scarring and skin tightness as your skin heals.
Your care plan can include manual therapy and stretching to keep your skin as soft and flexible as possible. Manual therapy can also help reduce pain, burning, numbness, or tingling symptoms. Specific hands-on treatment and exercises can help control lymphedema and swelling.
Physical Therapy After Lung Cancer
Lung cancer can affect your lung capacity or your ability to breathe well. Physical activity and a well-laid-out exercise plan designed by our physical therapists can help you improve your quality of life by lowering fatigue and depression.
We will work to help you improve:
- Cardiovascular health
- Blood circulation
- Lung capacity
- Oxygen levels
Physical Therapy For The Pelvic Floor After Cancer
Certain cancers, like rectal cancer and cervical cancer, can cause damage to your pelvic floor. These cancers and their treatments can directly affect your pelvic floor and lead to the following:
- Chronic pelvic pain
- Pelvic floor deconditioning
- Bowel and bladder dysfunction
- Painful intercourse
- Swelling
- Loss of balance
- Difficulty moving or walking
Our physical therapists specialize in pelvic floor dysfunction and can address impairments of your pelvic floor in preparation for surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatments. They can help you to identify and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles to help eliminate or reduce the effects of bowel and bladder issues after cancer treatment.
Physical therapy treatment can include biofeedback therapy and electrical stimulation to address fecal incontinence, frequent bowel movements, urgency, and difficulty evacuating.