Simply stated, rehabilitation is “teaching the patient to care for him/herself”.  Unlike the “passive care” received when your doctor works on you, “active rehabilitation” requires the patient to perform some of the work.  This helps the patient in three major ways:

1. The patient learns what he/she can do without pain or with some discomfort.  The old tenet “if you don’t use it you lose it” is very true to musculoskeletal injuries.  Placing the right amount of stress on the body promotes healing and increased function.  By continuing to use the injured area within parameters provided by your doctor, you will increase the rate of healing and increase functioning as well. 
    

2. Decreased fear of the pain.  Patients learn how they can push their activity level before the pain begins and how much they can do with some pain without causing further injury to the area.  Patients are also taught activities they can do to help reduce their discomfort should they push it too much; this helps the patient cope with the discomfort and reduce the fear of pain.
    

3. Patients are able to measure the functional gains they are making, reducing the “it’s going to be like this forever” frustration.