Cancer Rehabilitation
How can physical rehabilitation help me recover from cancer treatment?
With cancer rehabilitation, a physiatrist who is a medical doctor has specialized in physical medicine and rehabilitation, therefore can be very helpful in cancer treatment. The common treatments for cancer include surgery, often to remove the cancer, chemotherapy or radiation. All three of these treatments often come with side effects, and the side effects from that treatment may cause you pain. The side effects may also cause limitations in your physical abilities. So, while your cancer doctors will be prescribing the specific medical treatments, be it surgery or chemotherapy or radiation, you may find that the side effects of those treatments are causing you other issues that can be well addressed by a physical medicine and rehabilitation MD, or physiatrist as we are commonly known. Therefore, anything that happens during your cancer treatment that impairs your ability to walk, take care of yourself, swallow, speak or causes you a painful condition would be an excellent opportunity for you to work with a physiatrist or a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist.
