When you get injured, a million thoughts are likely running around your brain and demanding your attention. Once you go to the doctor and they assess the damage, you may have a choice to make. If your injury is musculoskeletal, they will likely recommend you begin with conservative treatment, and if that doesn’t produce results, then a surgical repair. But what is conservative treatment? And do you really need surgery?
While conservative treatment might not be possible for some injuries, like a fully torn ACL for some conditions, it can mean the difference between healing on your own time and going under the knife. Your doctor and physical therapist will help you decide, as contributing factors can vary widely between individuals and the nature of the injury. We help many of our clients at EW Motion Therapy rehabilitate from injuries and prevent or postpone surgery to get back to their favorite activities. Even if you decide our services do not fit your needs, you can still read on for our discussion of:
- Pros and cons of conservative treatment
- Pros and cons of surgical repair
- How to decide when you have the option
Conservative treatment: pros and cons
Before we discuss the pros and cons, let’s review what conservative treatment is. Treatment is conservative when it is non-invasive or non-surgical. This can include ice or heat, rest, medications like anti-inflammatories, or physical therapy. A conservative treatment option often prevents or postpones more invasive treatments like surgery. For example, someone with knee problems could try physical therapy to rehab the joint before getting it replaced entirely.
In general, a conservative approach to treatment for any condition will be less risky for the patient and have fewer side effects than a surgical approach, recovery time is often shorter, and conservative treatment options can cost less. However, there are some diagnoses and injuries where a surgical approach might be better. With more severe injuries and diagnoses, surgery might provide faster pain relief but does come with more risks. For example, if you had a complete rotator cuff tear and had it surgically repaired, you would likely experience relief faster than if you went to physical therapy for that injury.
Surgical treatment: pros and cons
If a conservative treatment approach does not produce desired results, or you have a structural injury that conservative treatment cannot fix, your doctor or physical therapist might recommend surgery. It can be nerve-wracking to undergo surgery, especially for an extensive repair or joint replacement. Still, some patients may have pain relief faster than if they continued conservative treatment. In some cases, especially for athletes, a surgical repair may allow a faster return to sport or higher activity levels. However, surgeries can have many more risks than conservative treatment, including decreased function, a lack of pain relief, or other complications like infections.
How do you choose when you have the option?
While some injuries do not allow the choice between conservative or surgical treatment, there are some injuries where you have the decision to make for your rehab. For mild meniscus or rotator cuff tears and disc herniations, you can pursue a conservative option like physical therapy or surgically repair the condition. The good thing is that you do not have to make that decision alone. Your primary care physician has a good insight into your overall health and how you might respond to an invasive procedure, so they are a great resource. If they feel you need surgery or conservative treatment has not worked, you can talk to a surgeon or a specialist in the area you need to be repaired. If your primary physician thinks physical therapy or another conservative approach would be the best option, they can refer you to the right specialist.
It can feel overwhelming to think through such a significant decision for your health, but with the proper care team, you can make the best decision and return to your sport or favorite activities as soon as possible. We consider it a privilege to be a part of our clients’ care team at EW Motion Therapy, as our team of expert therapists creates individualized treatment plans for each client and encourages them along the way. If you are curious how physical therapy can help you as a conservative treatment option, click the button below to download our answers to 20 frequently-asked physical therapy questions.
