If you’ve sustained an orthopedic injury, you’re living with chronic pain, you’re waiting for orthopedic surgery, or you’re recovering from an orthopedic procedure, you may expect that the last thing your doctor wants you to do is exercise. The truth is, when you stop using your muscles, your ultimate recovery can become more difficult, possibly even limiting your overall rehabilitative outcome.
Dr. Trevor Turner is proud to offer his patients cutting-edge rehabilitative solutions that are designed to improve outcomes and accelerate recovery, including personalized blood flow restriction therapy (PBFR)(opens in a new tab). Here’s why blood flow restriction works:
Blood Flow Restriction Strengthens Your Muscles
Personalized blood flow restriction is an exciting piece of technology being used by rehabilitation specialists like Dr. Turner, and its use is supported by hundreds of scientific publications. During personalized BFR therapy, Dr. Turner and his team will apply a specially-designed tourniquet in short intervals to whichever limb requires treatment. Once the device has been applied, the tourniquet will induce strength, hypertrophy, and endurance -- all while lifting only 10-20% of the usual load and minimizing any additional trauma to your affected area.
PBFR Tricks Your Brain Into Working Harder
This process may seem like a bit much to you at first glance. Why restrict blood flow to make your muscles work harder when you could just lift heavier weights? The reason is that when you’re preparing for surgery or recovering from an injury, although your body needs exercise to recover effectively, it remains somewhat fragile. Exercising using traditional methods such as heavy weight lifting can increase your risk of reinjury, especially when your affected area is vulnerable. When Dr. Turner applies a tourniquet during personalized blood flow restriction, benefits include the ability to make your muscles work harder without applying excess strain or trauma. By applying the tourniquet and carefully restricting blood flow from the veins but not the arteries, you’re inducing “metabolic overload,” during which your body perceives itself to be operating with a smaller amount of oxygen. The body then produces a wealth of signals that increase blood flow to the area as well as growth hormone, all while protecting the limb from reinjury.
Blood Flow Restriction Enhances Rehabilitation
Physiologically, your body benefits from more high-intensity exercise than moderate or light-intensity exercise, even when your muscles are compromised by a condition, injury, or surgery. If you stop using your muscles entirely while resting your body during rehabilitation, they can become prone to atrophy(opens in a new tab), making your recovery slower and potentially affecting your ability to return to full function. With blood flow restriction, you can keep your muscles strong and conditioned without reinjuring the area. This can improve your surgical outcomes, speed up your recovery period, and offer you significantly more likelihood of returning to your peak performance level following your rehabilitation. Just ask our patients recovering from ACL surgery!
If you’re ready to try blood flow restriction therapy, or you have more questions about this technique, Dr. Trevor Turner can help. He is experienced in providing PBFR therapy and other cutting-edge therapies that help his patients achieve faster, more effective recovery, and his practice has access to the data-capturing technology necessary to track your results and identify areas of improvement during your rehabilitation period.
If you’re ready to get back to the life you love, don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Turner and get started on your road to recovery!
