Weeks 1–2
Pain
Calm it down, protect the repair.
Manual therapy, swelling control and better positioning take the edge off, all of it inside the precautions your surgeon set.
What We Treat
Fractures and dislocations treatment in River Forest.
The cast is off, or the joint is back where it belongs, and now the stiff, weak, do-not-trust-it part starts. Healed is not the same as ready. That gap has a plan, and it starts with a cause-first evaluation.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- An elbow that will not straighten the last little bit since the cast came off
- A wrist that complains every time you push up out of a chair
- Reaching overhead and stopping short, waiting for the shoulder to go again
- One leg noticeably thinner than the other after weeks in a boot
- A limp you did not have before, that nobody has looked at since
- Cleared by the surgeon and still handing the heavy bag to your other arm
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
The bone healed. The rest did not, on its own.
A break or a dislocation is really two problems. The first one, getting the bone set or the joint back where it belongs, was handled by the ER or your surgeon. The second one is everything the injury and the time in a cast, sling or boot left behind: a joint that stiffened, muscle that thinned out fast, swelling and scar tissue that limit how tissue glides, and a limb that lost track of where it is in space. After a dislocation, the tissue that keeps the joint centered has been stretched or torn, so control needs rebuilding, not just strength.
Meanwhile the other side and the joints above and below picked up the slack and quietly changed how you move. That is why cleared to heal is not the same as ready to use. A cause-first evaluation measures how much motion, strength and control are actually missing, and in what order to give them back. Any restrictions from your surgeon come first, and we build inside them.
The Honest Truth
Stiffness sets fast. Confidence comes back slow.
If you keep waiting
- Range you do not go after early is harder to win back later
- The good side does everything, so the injured side keeps falling further behind
- The guarding and the limp outlast the injury and turn into how you move now
If you start this week
- You leave visit one knowing what motion and strength are missing, and in what order they come back
- Hands-on work starts the same visit, inside whatever restrictions your surgeon set
- You get a plan with an endpoint: a real one, not an open tab of visits
You went back to work in the sling because nothing else stops for a broken bone, which is exactly why the arm never got its turn. Nobody regrets starting too early.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Built for after the break.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here is what the four phases look like after a fracture or a dislocation.
Weeks 2–6
Prime
Win the motion back.
Joint mobilization, scar and soft tissue work including IASTM, and graded range work go after the stiffness a cast or a sling leaves behind.
Weeks 6–10
Perform
Rebuild strength and control.
Loading steps up on the injured side, with blood flow restriction available when heavy weight is still off the table, plus the position sense a dislocated joint loses.
Weeks 10+
Prevent
Trust it under load.
The lifting, reaching, kneeling or landing your actual life asks for gets tested here first, with your therapist watching. That is the endpoint, not just another appointment.
Sean has been such a positive part of my progress. He’s always on time, easy to talk to, and invested in helping me understand the pain I was feeling. He broke things down in a way that made sense, walked me through exercises step by step, and made sure I felt comfortable doing them on my own. Highly recommend and definitely would return.
Shared by Emily S. · One-on-one rehab
Phase one: cleared to heal, and still not trusting it
Phase four: loading it without thinking about it first
Fractures and dislocations
Four phases
Questions, Answered
What people ask after a break or a dislocation.
Often sooner than people expect, and the timing belongs to the surgeon or physician managing the fracture. Even while a bone is still being protected, there is usually work to do: swelling, the joints above and below the injury, the other side of the body, and keeping the rest of you conditioned. Bring your restrictions to the evaluation and the plan gets built inside them.
A joint that has dislocated once has stretched or torn the tissue that keeps it centered, and it usually loses some of its sense of position too. Feeling fine at rest is not the same as being stable at the end of your range or under load. An evaluation tells you what is actually missing. If the answer turns out to be very little, we will tell you that as well.
Illinois has direct access, so no referral is required to be evaluated. After a surgical repair we do want the protocol and any weight bearing or motion restrictions, and we are glad to coordinate with the surgeon following you. Your plan runs through four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform and Prevent, so you always know which phase you are in and what is left.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person calls you back. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
- Hours Mon–Thu 7am–7pm · Fri 7am–5pm
- (708) 657-4038 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
- No referral needed in Illinois
5.0 · 120+ Google reviews
Typical response: under 2 business hours
Step 1 of 5
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during business hours to lock in your time.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Elevate Physical Therapy and Fitness
- 7607 North Ave, River Forest, IL 60305 (opens in a new tab)
- (708) 657-4038
- Fax: (312) 312-9631
- info@elevateptaf.com
- Mon–Thu 7am–7pm · Fri 7am–5pm