Canopy Cancer Care's 'Wellness Toolkit'

‘Under the Canopy’ is Canopy Cancer Care’s Wellness Toolkit, dealing with such things as diet and nutrition and oncology massage. This month we look at rehabilitation physiotherapy.

Cancer treatments can cause a variety of problems that interfere with your life in physical, emotional and practical ways, and these can include pain, fatigue, muscle weakness, restricted movement and deconditioning. If you are feeling weaker now than when you were initially diagnosed, or are experiencing pain or soreness then physiotherapy will help you. Similarly, if you are feeling more tired than usual, having muscular or joint problems or reduced mobility, or if you want to continue or return to work, this treatment will improve your condition.

Expert advice and guidance from a cancer rehabilitation physiotherapist may improve health and your ability to function as normally as possible more quickly and to a greater degree, and it could help you reduce fatigue and pain, and prevent the development of long term side effects.

Canopy Cancer Care’s certified PINC and STEEL cancer rehabilitation Physiotherapist will assess you individually for physical impairments and affects of your treatment. They then work with you to create a rehabilitation programme to suit your stage in recovery, type of cancer, and level of fitness.

Their Physiotherapists will help guide, support and encourage you through each phase of your treatment and recovery. They will teach you what you can do to get stronger again, and help you understand why your body is reacting to the treatments in certain ways, and they will provide information to help you feel more in control of your body and life again.

Cancer rehabilitation can include manual physiotherapy, musculoskeletal and functional assessments, scar management, joint mobilisation, pelvic floor retraining, strength and conditioning training, breathing techniques and education, individualised clinical Pilates, fatigue management, exercise prescriptions and integration back to work, exercise classes, gym or sport.

The Canopy team have been providing world class services in Auckland for over seven years, and during this time they have built a strong team who are all passionate about their patients and the outcomes that matter to them most. They aim to provide the highest quality of care and will co-ordinate all aspects of treatment where possible, so for more information on cancer treatment, breast cancer and melanoma please go to http://www.canopycancercare.co.nz .