Rehab includes many specialties that help you relearn life skills to improve how your body functions. You may need rehab before or after disease, surgery, injury, or cancer treatments that cause lasting side effects.

The goal of rehab and prehab is to get your mind and body back into the full swing of life. Carilion’s rehab experts offer advanced treatment and fresh strategies. 

Our therapists are highly trained, enthusiastic supporters of you. We offer different types of cancer rehab. Your rehab journey may include working with many experts on different skills.

Your rehab team may include:

• A physiatrist: A doctor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. They direct your rehab care and work with other experts who perform the rehab treatments.
• A case manager or social worker: They help coordinate your rehab care. They can connect you to resources and make sure you have the support you need during recovery.
• Physical therapists (PT) and PT assistants: They use exercise and stretching to improve movement, strength, balance, and vigor. They’ll work with you regularly. They may come to your home. They’ll teach you exercises you’ll do on your own.
• Lymphedema therapists: They help manage tissue swelling and pain from lymph node damage. They use special massages, exercises, bandaging, or compression garments.
• Occupational therapists (OT) and OT assistants: They help you manage daily activities, such as showering, grooming, dressing, and eating. They’ll teach you new ways of doing these activities. 
• Speech-language pathologists: These experts help with speech or swallowing problems. They can also help with thinking, memory, and communication problems that may happen during or after cancer treatment.
• Registered dietitians: If you have trouble eating, these experts help you learn ways to get enough food and nutrients. They also create an eating plan during and after treatment.
• Massage therapists: They apply pressure to soft tissues to aid healing.  
• Exercise and wellness therapists: They work with you to design and start a tailored workout program. This can improve how your body works and moves and help manage pain.
• Prosthetic specialists: They design, create, and fit artificial body parts (prostheses), which can be functional—like a leg—or cosmetic, such as a facial prosthesis.

What is prehab?

Cancer prehabilitation is when you work with rehab experts before you get side effects from cancer or cancer treatment. As part of treatment planning, our teams of experts meet to discuss each cancer care. If you're at an increased risk of side effects, we can provide rehab services ahead of time to help you prepare for these potential changes.

Some side effects are so predictable and preventable that you may even start prehab before your surgery or radiation begins. It's especially common when your cancer treatment involves the breast and armpit or tumors of the head and neck.

Your cancer care team will check your health during and after cancer treatment to see if cancer rehab will help you.

Not everyone needs cancer rehab. We have rehab and prehab programs for breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and brain and spine cancer.

Others who might benefit include children, older or frail adults, those with serious health issues, and people with prior cancer.

What do cancer prehab and rehab treat?

Our rehab experts can treat the following physical and mental health changes during and after cancer treatment. These include:

• Pain
• Fatigue or muscle weakness
• Lymphedema, or fluid buildup and tissue swelling
• Neuropathy, or nerve pain that causes tingling in your hands or feet
• Difficulty eating, chewing, or swallowing
• Sexual health problems
• Difficulty getting out of bed or a chair 
• Problems walking or climbing the stairs
• Problems with balance or coordination
• Difficulty getting dressed, grooming, or showering
• Mental fog, including problems focusing, remembering things, or thinking clearly

Depending on the kind of cancer rehab you need, you may get rehab in the hospital, at a clinic, or at home. Your cancer care team will review your case and let you know if you’re a candidate for prehab or rehab.

Your case manager or social worker will coordinate your discharge after a hospital stay. They help set you up with outpatient rehab services, including helping you get any needed equipment. They also share community resources that may help you recover from cancer and cancer treatment.

The experts who make up your rehab team will work with you on specific exercises to rebuild your skills and quality of life. You may meet with team members many times per week.

Often, you need to continue rehab therapy at home to get the full benefits. Your experts will show you how to continue your rehab exercises at home and provide written instructions.

If you have a serious health issue, such as cancer, Carilion provides both inpatient and outpatient rehab services.

You may have inpatient rehab after cancer surgery that requires an overnight hospital stay. Our intensive inpatient rehab therapy program is available if you meet the following guidelines:

• Need 24/7 medical supervision but are medically stable
• Can handle 3 hours of therapy a day or the equal in a 7-day week
• Need many types of treatment and care from many experts working together

To manage complex side effects, our inpatient rehab team uses the latest technology, including: 

• Adaptive gaming and virtual reality to restore daily function in a life-like environment
• Bodyweight-supported treadmill and gait training to improve walking, balance, and coordination
• Electrical stimulation to improve muscle function and reduce muscle loss

You may not need to stay in the hospital, but you may still need rehab care. Outpatient rehab means you’re at home and come into one of our clinics for rehab. 

Sometimes—especially when you’re first released from the hospital or have surgery—the therapist comes to your home for a rehab session, too. That’s also outpatient care.