- Breast Cancer -
Supporting you through breast cancer treatment
Physiotherapy has a vital role during and after a diagnosis of breast cancer. Depending on your treatment and surgery, you may experience side effects such as pain, reduced mobility, muscle strength and scarring.
Active’s Connected Care approach ensures you have collaborative and caring physiotherapy support throughout your chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and recovery.
Our program to Optimise, Recover and Thrive has been developed with the skills and knowledge gained from more than 20 years of working with leading breast surgeons and cancer specialists. Your Women’s Health physiotherapist works with you, your surgeon and your multidisciplinary health care team to provide:
- support for comfort during radiation treatment
- gentle exercise to help you through chemotherapy
- guidance for scar tissue tightness and cording
- a proactive treatment plan for arm and shoulder recovery
- a personalised exercise program after surgery
- targeted and safe exercises to regain your strength and fitness.
Active’s Optimise, Recover and Thrive focus supports you through all phases of your breast cancer journey
Optimise
Protecting your physical condition during chemotherapy and radiation therapy is important for your recovery, can reduce side effects and improve your treatment outcomes. If you have chemo before your surgery, then protecting your physical health and wellbeing is essential to prepare for surgery.
- Your physiotherapist will help with a gentle exercise program during your treatment.
- We help with supervised exercise in our private gyms, or in the privacy of your home.
Recover
After breast cancer surgery and throughout your treatments, our caring and knowledgeable physiotherapists support you to improve your physical health and wellbeing. Your physiotherapist will help you reduce scarring or cording, gradually regain shoulder movement and help with shoulder or neck pain.
Our team works closely with Breast Surgeons and the Breast Care Unit. Our physiotherapists will visit you while you are in hospital (please see selected hospitals here). You can also attend our clinics after you leave the hospital, or connect with us in an online consultation.
It’s time to check in with your physiotherapist:
- after you have your drains removed
- if you experience problems moving your neck or shoulder
- if you have arm tightness or restriction
- if you have radiation treatment after surgery. Often, it can be hard to raise your arm above your head for treatment. Make sure you contact our physiotherapists first, as they will help you manage the treatment comfortably.
Thrive
- monitoring your exercise program and tailoring it to your changing needs
- managing ongoing symptoms with hands-on physiotherapy
- providing education and advice for your specific requirements.
