Whether you're young or on the older side, going through a long hospital stay can be extremely taxing. While the hospital is there to make you healthy again, sometimes it can have its downsides, like making you feel weak and wobbly when you're trying to walk around afterward. If you're going through this problem, you might want to consider signing up for help from a physical therapist. Here's why.
Muscle Mass
When you're in the hospital, most of the time you're restricted to the bed that you're assigned. This is usually done because you're connected to expensive medical equipment that's regularly taking measurements of your condition, like heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. But it's also done to ensure your safety so that you don't trip and fall outside of the bed.
Unfortunately, this can do a number on your muscle mass. Every day that you're not using your muscles to their full capability, you lose some muscle mass. In other words, the muscle you've developed is absorbed by the body and is no longer there. This can make you feel weak and uncertain on your feet when you get out of the hospital, even if you were only in there for a few days.
Bone Mass
Another problem is that you lose bone mass while you're hospitalized. Bones rely upon regular pressure to maintain their cells and to build healthy new ones. This is why weight lifting and other weight-bearing exercises are typically recommended for people who need to gain bone mass, like older folks.
Unfortunately, if you lose enough bone mass, it can put you at risk for a couple of things. The first is pain; until your bones are restored to their full density, walking around and doing normal exercises may be uncomfortable. Secondly, it means that your bones are more brittle, and if you were to fall due to your combined loss of muscle and bone, it could mean breaking a bone that wouldn't have otherwise broken under normal circumstances.
The best way to counter these problems is to hire a physical therapist. Physical therapy gradually strengthens your body back to where it was and provides you with a trained, strong physical therapist who can ensure that you won't fall or hurt yourself during the exercises. They'll move at your pace so that you are able to regain your strength without pushing yourself too hard, which is also a common problem when trying to get back on your feet after being in the hospital without a physical therapist.
