Archive · 6 Jun 2025
Onco-Physiotherapy: Embedding Exercise in Cancer Care
Imagine having a special helper called an "Onco-Physiotherapist" when you're fighting cancer.
They use exercise and movement to help you feel better and stronger.
Before your treatment, they help you get ready.
During and after treatment, they help with things like pain, tiredness, and stiffness.
They also help you regain your strength, so you can get back to your normal life.
This can even include breathing exercises and focus on the parts of your body affected by the cancer or its treatment.
Onco-Physiotherapy is a specialized branch of physiotherapy assisting cancer patients during all cancer care stages.
Physiotherapy plays a vital role before, during, and after cancer treatment to manage symptoms and improve outcomes.
Prehabilitation strengthens patients physically and mentally before treatment, potentially minimizing complications.
Physiotherapy helps manage side effects, improve functional independence, and enhance overall well-being.
Early integration of physiotherapy is critical in treating blood cancers and other cancer types for better patient outcomes.
- Who
- Cancer patients and physiotherapists.
- What
- Onco-Physiotherapy is a specialized form of physiotherapy.
- When
- Before, during, and after cancer treatment.
- Where
- At hospitals and during cancer care.
- Why
- To improve cancer patients' quality of life, manage side effects, and aid recovery.
- Prehabilitation benefit
- Enhances physical resilience, preparing patients for cancer treatment.
- During/After Treatment focus
- Manage symptoms, reduce side effects, increase stamina.
- Palliative care support
- Supports comfort, mobility, and dignity.
- Post-breast cancer surgery aid
- Helps restore shoulder mobility and upper limb function.
- Physiotherapy driven approach
- Reduce length of hospital stay, readmissions, and improves surgical outcomes.
- Limb-salvage surgeries
- Improves strength training, prevents falls, and improves stability.