Prostate cancer is the most common and sensitive type of cancer that occurs most often in older men within the age of 65 years and above. Treatments and cure depend on early detection, stage, and grade of cancer, overall health, age, and lifestyle.
In this blog, we will be discussing four incredible benefits of physical therapy for patients with prostate cancer:
1- Radiation therapy:
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles to kill cancer cells. Depending on the stage of prostate cancer and other factors.
To treat patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, radiation therapy is often considered. Professional physiotherapists are capable of developing a pelvic floor training program that can reduce the incidence and severity of urinary leakage after treatment for prostate cancer. They assist with immediate recovery after surgery to help develop strategies for managing the first few weeks at home and returning to work or sport.
Physical therapy also helps:
- General fatigue
- Urinary frequency
- Weak pelvic muscles
- Pelvic pain
2 – Exercises and Physical fitness:
Moreso, physiotherapy is important for prostate cancer patients during treatment journey because it provides various exercise programs to build up physical fitness after surgery and also helps in developing strategies for managing the first few weeks at home or returning to usual activities like work or sports.
Being physically active can reduce the risk of recurrence of prostate cancer by 70%.
Physical therapy paves way for various activities like pilates, gardening, playing with children or grandchildren, or even house chores. Therapists will educate you on the essence of building up and reaching the recent suggestions of 150 minutes of movement a week.
Physiotherapists eliminate the scary thoughts of movement and provide all the necessary assistance a prostate cancer patient might need during and after treatment.
3 – Pelvic Floor Retraining:
A Pelvic floor physio is specially trained to help strengthen or rehabilitate pelvic floor muscles, they help increase a person’s mobility and strength and reduce pain by teaching them gentle stretches and exercises.
Physiotherapists have a great advantage in helping male patients regain control of their urinary leakage.
Here are a few guidelines to begin with:
- Commence training immediately after diagnosis.
- After post-surgery, avoid being on your feet for too long as it causes fatigue of your pelvic floor muscles.
- Avoid unnecessary trips to the shower room.
- Practice in different positions.
- Develop your daily activities step by step, begin with 2 x 15 minutes of walking first, then proceed to 1 hour of brisk walking. This will encourage the muscles to cope with varieties of vibration, gradients, and change of direction.
- Discuss with your medical team and get a personalized approach to erectile\ dysfunction.
4 – Biofeedback:
Prostate cancer patient benefits from physiotherapy through the Biofeedback technique, as they educate patients on how to correctly perform pelvic floor exercises with the use of Real-time Diagnostic Ultrasound, and it makes it easy for patients to actually see their pelvic floor contraction – something which is very useful given the challenging location of the pelvic floor.
This technique provides an excellent image for patients to see, it shows the current important structure continence and allows the patient to improve understanding of how to perform the correct pelvic floor contraction.
Pelvic floor physical therapy can reduce the number of times men suffer from urinary incontinence and decrease the severity of their leakage.
Seeing a physiotherapist at Blue Tree Clinics can help to optimize the quality of life of men recovering from prostate cancer.
Also Read – Chiropractor Vs Physiotherapist – How to Choose Best Rehabilitation Professional.