A good share of the people who travel in from Markham are working through a protocol after an operation. That changes the job: the timeline is set by the surgeon and the tissue, and our part is to use every week of it properly. Visits in Markham are frequent early and spaced out as the protocol allows, so travel eases as the weeks pass.
Your surgeon sets the timeline, Markham therapy follows it
Before the first session we ask for the operation note and the rehabilitation protocol, and if you do not have them we will chase them. Protocols differ meaningfully between surgeons for the same operation, and guessing at a range of motion limit or a loading date is the one thing in this work that can actually set you back rather than simply waste time.
Inside that timeline there is usually more room than people are told, particularly in the early weeks where the risk is doing nothing at all. See post-surgical rehab.
We write back to the surgeon or their team with what has been measured and where you have reached, which also means a follow-up appointment with them is not spent reconstructing the last six weeks from memory. More in working with your doctor and how many visits.
Markham protocol-led
The stages
How a post-surgical course in Markham runs
Protect and move
Early work respects the healing tissue and the protocol while keeping everything that is allowed to move actually moving. Doing nothing has its own cost.
Restore range
Range of motion comes back on a schedule, and it is measured rather than estimated. Lost early range is harder to recover later than people expect.
Rebuild strength
Progressive loading once the protocol allows it. This is the longest phase and the one most often stopped too early, usually because it stopped hurting.
Return to function
The last stage is built backwards from what you need to do again, whether that is stairs, a job, or sport. It is tested, not assumed.
Travel and visits
Frequent early, then less often
Post-surgical rehabilitation is front-loaded. The first few weeks often want two visits a week because range of motion is time-sensitive and the protocol has dates in it. After that the interval usually stretches, and by the strength phase many people are coming fortnightly with a programme to get on with in between.
That matters if you are travelling, because the demanding part of the journey is also the shortest part of the plan. See how long a session takes.
Later sessions can often be reviewed remotely once the diagnosis and the protocol are both settled and the remaining work is progressive loading rather than anything hands-on. We will tell you when that point has been reached rather than waiting to be asked about it. More in telehealth visits and therapeutic exercise.
Often twice weeklyEarly weeks
Interval stretchesStrength phase
Later in the planRemote
Related reading
More Markham physical therapy reading
The pages that come up most in the weeks after an operation.
Protocols, timelines and how often you will need to travel in.
Yes, and we will chase it if you do not have it. Protocols differ between surgeons for the same operation, so guessing at a loading date or a range limit is the one thing here that can genuinely set you back.
That is set by your surgeon and it varies widely by operation. Where you have been cleared to start, beginning promptly matters, because early range of motion is harder to recover later than to protect now.
Often twice a week early on, because the first weeks are time-sensitive. The interval usually stretches as you move into the strength phase, and by then fortnightly is common.
Yes, with what has been measured and where you have reached. It means your follow-up appointment is not spent reconstructing six weeks of rehabilitation from memory on both sides.
Later, usually. Once the protocol and the diagnosis are settled and the work is progressive loading rather than hands-on, video review works reasonably well. We will tell you when that point arrives.
Because tendon and muscle adapt over months rather than weeks, and it is the phase most often abandoned early. Pain usually settles well before capacity returns, which misleads almost everybody.
Patient reviews
What Markham patients say about their physical therapy
Bring or send the operation note and the protocol if you have them. If you do not, tell us who operated and we will request them before the first session.
