Cardiac rehabilitation is an effective program for preventing heart attacks and establishing heart-healthy habits. Given that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, about 800,000 people have a heart attack each year, and a quarter of those people have had a previous heart attack, it’s important to do whatever possible to prevent heart problems.

Helpful as cardiac rehabilitation is, it is more suitable for some cases than others. Here is what you need to know about when this medically-supervised treatment program is necessary.

Who Is Eligible For Cardiac Rehabilitation?

If you are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation, your doctor will provide you with a referral to a program. A doctor’s referral is necessary in order to take part in this program. 

You may be a good candidate for cardiac rehab if you have suffered from any of the following conditions or had any of the following procedures done: 

• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Heart transplant
• Angina
• Cardiomyopathy
• Heart valve repair or replacement
• Angioplasty and stents
• Peripheral artery disease
• Coronary artery disease
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Certain heart diseases 
• Mechanical heart pump
• Lung transplant
• And more

Unfortunately, doctors only refer about 1 in 5 eligible patients to cardiac rehabilitation. If you believe that you could benefit from this program, discuss it with your doctor. 

Who Isn’t Eligible For Cardiac Rehabilitation?

Wonderful as cardiac rehab is, it is not suitable for everyone with heart issues. This is because, while rare, some people can suffer injuries in the program. While you are carefully monitored throughout your treatment in order to minimize risk, there is a small risk of cardiovascular complications. 

You also may be eligible for cardiac rehabilitation in the future, but not yet. Your medical team will carefully evaluate your condition in order to determine the best course of action for you. If you have had a heart surgery, you may not start cardiac rehab until a month after your surgery. If you have had a stent placement or heart attack, you may not start it until 2 weeks later.

Your medical team is on your side. Their goal is to help you recover and to prevent future heart problems for you. If you are not eligible for cardiac rehab, they will recommend other courses of action to help you recover and keep you healthier.

Who Does Cardiac Rehab Help?

Cardiac rehabilitation can help anyone with an eligible heart condition, be it mild, moderate, or severe. This includes people of all ages and genders.  

However, cardiac rehab is an underutilized treatment program. Women and older adults are less likely to enroll in or complete a treatment program. This could be because doctors are less likely to recommend cardiac rehabilitation to women. Older adults are more likely to believe that they are not physically able to participate in this program, and would rather take a pill. 

Many who could benefit from this treatment program simply aren’t aware of its value or are not referred to a program. This results in lowered enrollments than there should be. It is not as widely and systematically implemented as it should be. 

Additionally, while most insurances cover cardiac rehabilitation programs, this can depend on the condition. The financial barrier can prevent people from getting the help that they need. Even those for whom this treatment program is covered may struggle to afford it, due to the co-pays per session. 

Thus, while cardiac rehabilitation can help many people across age groups and with various conditions, people may not obtain the help that they need, for a variety of different reasons. 

Does Cardiac Rehab Work?

In a word? Yes.

This treatment program is personalized to you and your specific needs. You will be carefully monitored in order to prevent risk of injury. You will receive counseling on how to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and can enjoy benefits such as decreased stress, improved mood, and weight loss. Most importantly, cardiac rehab lowers your risk of future heart problems.

If you would like to learn more about how this program works, our previous blog, How Does Cardiac Rehab Work? goes into depth on the subject. Our previous blog, 4 Benefits Of Cardiac And Pulmonary Rehab, goes more into depth on the benefits of this program.

Cardiac And Pulmonary Rehabilitation In Northern Utah

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy provides cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services in Northern Utah. We’re here to help you recover and to lower your risk of future heart problems. Contact us today to learn more. 

If you’ve recently suffered a heart attack or another type of heart condition, cardiac rehabilitation, also known as cardiac rehab, can help you enjoy a healthier, fuller life. When your doctor recommends cardiac rehab to you, you may be surprised to learn that exercise is part of it and worry that the exercise can make your heart condition worse. There’s no need for this fear, as it is designed to improve your cardiovascular health and you are supervised by a team of medical professionals who assist you in order to ensure that the program helps you, rather than hurts you.

Here is what you need to know about cardiac rehabilitation and how it works to help you recover.

What Is Cardiac Rehabilitation?

Cardiac rehabilitation is a comprehensive therapy program that includes education on heart health, nutritional counseling, prescribed exercise training, and support in order to help you recover after receiving medical treatment for a heart issue. It usually lasts about 3 months, with about 3 sessions a week. 

How Does Cardiac Rehab Work?

There are three main phases: inpatient, outpatient, and ongoing. 

Inpatient Rehabilitation

You start rehabilitation as soon as possible after experiencing your heart event. Your physical therapist will work with you in the hospital along with your medical team. Patient education is a big part of cardiac rehab, especially in the first phase. Your physical therapist will ask you questions about your heart health and risk factors in order to formulate a plan specific to you.

You will complete some bedside exercises as your therapist monitors your heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen level. Your physical therapist will adjust the exercises they give you accordingly in order to ensure that they both push you but are also safe for you to complete.

The inpatient part of cardiac rehab includes:

• EKG monitoring
• Heart rate tests
• Blood pressure tests
• Functional mobility tests
• Oxygen saturation tests
• Measurements of your range of motion and strength levels

Outpatient Rehabilitation

After you’ve been discharged from the hospital, you’ll then move on to the next phase: outpatient rehabilitation. Here, you will go to your cardiac rehab appointments and then return home afterward. Your physical therapist will educate you on how to exercise properly and monitor your progress. Exercise can improve your cardiovascular health. 

As you improve, the exercise will gradually become more intensive. Your physical therapist will help you learn how to monitor your own heart rate and how to work with any problems that arise. You learn about healthy lifestyle changes and how to implement them in your life.

Your physical therapist will conduct a physical therapy evaluation in order to test your progress since you started rehab. This includes tests such as getting up from a chair, walking, and then sitting back down, as well as biking, rowing, and other exercises.

Ongoing Maintenance

Once you’re independent enough to safely exercise on your own, you can then move on to independent ongoing maintenance. Here, you evaluate your own risk factors and use the knowledge you gained to implement rehabilitation techniques in your daily life. A physical therapist can always help you if you have any concerns.

Once you have reached this part, you should be able to understand how to put together a heart-healthy eating plan, how to choose heart-healthy foods, how you can exercise safely and make it a priority, and how to manage your emotions. The goal of cardiac rehab is to strengthen your heart, and all of these things can help with that.

Do You Need To Be Hospitalized To Start Cardiac Rehab?

Cardiac rehab can benefit anyone suffering from a heart condition, such as:

• Heart failure
• Heart valve surgery
• Heart transplant
• Chronic stable angina
• Stent placement
• Coronary artery bypass
• And more.

You need a referral from your doctor in order to start cardiac rehab. Thus, while you do not need to be hospitalized, that is why most programs start while you are a patient in a hospital after experiencing a cardiac event. 

If you think cardiac rehab could help you, talk to your doctor.

How Can Cardiac Rehab Help You?

Since cardiac rehab works to improve your cardiovascular health, it can help you to avoid future heart problems.

Some of its many benefits include:

• Lowered risk of future heart attacks
• Improved cardiovascular health
• Improved lung capacity
• Improved energy
• Improved mental health
• Reduced stress
• Improved healthy habits
• Improved blood pressure
• And more 

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy provides inpatient and outpatient physical therapy services. Contact us today to learn more about our cardiac rehabilitation program.