After a heart attack or other cardiac problems, rehabilitation can help prevent more health issues in the future. Building healthy habits can improve your quality of life and make your life easier, especially for those in their old age. Studies have found that cardiac rehabilitation decreases the chance of death in the following 5 years by 35%.
What Is Cardiac And Pulmonary Rehab?
Cardiac refers to the needs or issues of the heart. Pulmonary disease is a disease that affects the lungs and respiratory system. Cardiac rehab can help you recover after a heart attack, heart surgery or other cardiac procedures, pulmonary rehab can improve your lung function and improve the ability to exercise.
If you have been diagnosed with heart failure or heart disease, your physician may refer you to participate in cardiac therapy. Some aspects of rehab include a supervised program that works on physical activity, education about healthy eating and counseling on how to relieve stress.
Pulmonary therapy also focuses on exercise and can include training on how to use an inhaler or breathing retraining. Helping you to find physical exercise that you love will make the physical therapy more enjoyable.
1: Individualized
Each individual will have specific needs when it comes to cardiac and pulmonary rehab. Working with a physical therapist will give you the comfort of knowing that they have your best interest in mind. Specific guidance and education comes from your rehab, and can provide you with a plan to get your health back to where it was before, or better.
2: Improved Quality Of Life
After a heart attack or heart issue, your body can be weak and you may experience pain in your chest, or other parts of your body. With exercise and healthier habits, you can improve your quality of life. Living longer comes from keeping your body in the best possible shape.
Preventing a future attack will help you to live longer without issues. Lowering the risk of heart attack and heart failure can lower stress and other factors that can negatively affect your health.
3: Stress And Mood
Stress and anxiety can have a negative effect on your heart health. Cardiac and pulmonary rehab can help to lower your stress and anxiety levels. Exercise and a healthy diet combined with lifestyle changes can improve your heart health. Participating in rehab can help you to worry less about health issues and make you feel more comfortable about going through out your day.
After a scary situation like a heart attack, it can be easier to get depressed and lose motivation. With therapy, you can feel more like yourself and work with a therapist to decrease stress in your day to day life.
4: Weight Loss
While participating in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation you can experience more than just lower stress and lower risk of heart attack. Exercise, a healthy diet and strength training may help with weight loss. Loosing weight may help improve your breathing, movement and overall cardiac function. Without exercise it can be hard to get your body back to functioning order.
Who Qualifies Or Needs Rehabilitation?
For cardiac rehabilitation those with mild or severe heart problems are recommended to attend rehab. If you have recently experienced a heart attack or heart surgery, your doctor will recommend cardiac rehab to help prevent future attacks.
Pulmonary rehab is for anyone with chronic lung disease or other conditions such as:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which causes blockage and breathing problems
- Persistent asthma
- Cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that damages your lungs and digestive track
- Interstitial fibrosis caused by long term exposure to hazardous materials or by a autoimmune disease
- Sarcoidosis, granulomas or red swollen patches on the lungs or skin
- Those who have had a lung transplant
If you think that you can benefit from cardiac and pulmonary rehab, call our office and we can answer all of your questions. We also have a video series from our therapist on our website for more information about treatment plans.
Wasatch Peak
Our cardiac and pulmonary rehab program is an inpatient and outpatient service. Located at Davis Hospital, we provide direction and treatment three days per week and work with you on your goals. Depending on your case and coverage, you may be in a program for up to six weeks.
We can help you in the second phase to discover how this program can continue for the rest of your life. Rehab may only last in person for six weeks, but you will need to keep up the healthy habits for longer period for the best results. You can learn more about our therapists here.
We have been serving the community of Weber and Davis for over 25 years and now have locations located in Layton, Syracuse, Farmington and Roy. Our services extend beyond just cardiac therapy to include hand therapy, aquatic therapy, sports medicine, pelvic floor rehab and more.
Leave a Reply