Occupational Therapy
An occupational therapist will recommend techniques to help you perform daily living tasks as you recover from surgery. Specific recommendations will vary depending on your individual living situation. Your therapy team will teach you safe procedures for common daily activities such as:
- Dressing
- Bathing
- Toileting
- Getting in to and up from a seated position
- Getting in to and out of a vehicle
Decide what type of vehicle will be used for travel after your surgery.
Things to consider:
- Bucket vs. bench seats
- Height of the vehicle
- Size of the door and how far it opens
- Leg room and head room inside the vehicle
Special equipment may be recommended to assist you with your daily activities
You may be instructed to use a "reacher" for donning pants and shoes. Your therapy team will demonstrate how to use each recommended device, as needed. One commonly used device is the ‘Sock Aid’ demonstrated here:
Your therapy team may recommend special equipment to assist you with
your daily activities such as the sock aid, demonstrated here.
(The following steps are demonstrated without narration.)
Step 1: Pull sock on to the sock aid with top of sock facing you. Pull until toe of sock is tight against sock aid. Do not pull sock beyond knots on the side.
Step 2: Use the ropes to lower sock aid to the floor in front of foot on operated leg. Put your foot into sock.
Step 3: Point your toes down towards the ground and pull up on the rope. The sock aid will be moving out of sock.
Step 4: Pull until sock aid is all the way pulled out of sock.