Physical Therapy for Cervical Cancer

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) offers comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy services for cervical cancer patients. With a focus on cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and strength training, our team of experts will promote a specialized physical fitness regimen to help you reduce stress, prevent fatigue, cope with cervical cancer symptoms and improve your overall quality of life.

As part of our dedication to treating the whole person, and not just the cancer, CTCA rehabilitation services are equipped with an integrated team of specialists that includes physical, occupational, speech and massage therapists. Our goal is to help each patient realize the powerful physical and psychological benefits of physical fitness, and capitalize on the ways it can strengthen your cervical cancer treatment.

Highlights of our physical therapy and rehabilitation services include all of the following.

Evaluation

Prior to initiating therapy, our rehabilitation team will first conduct a thorough physical evaluation that also includes a functional assessment of your ability to perform standard activities of daily living (ADLs).

Physical therapy/Exercise program

It is a core tenet of our approach at CTCA to ensure that all patients maintain at least some level of physical activity. The benefits of even the most minimal physical exertion cannot be understated. Regular exercise not only improves your body’s strength and resistance to disease, it also boosts the body’s tolerance to other cervical cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiation. By participating in a simple regimen for daily exercise, you’ll enjoy a variety of benefits that extend from gaining a sense of physical control over your condition to providing an outlet for stress and anxiety. In addition, exercise will instill you with the motivation and the drive for optimal wellness.

Designed to provide you with just the right amount of exercise to complement your cervical cancer treatment, our exercise programs combine range-of-motion training with other light activities, including resistance training. Our exercise programs work best for patients who are capable of maintaining independent self-care, and work to help patients improve their strength and stamina before their fatigue increases to debilitating levels.

• Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) – The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion is a test that helps CTCA therapists gauge overall physical fitness in terms of the amount and intensity of exercise that you are able tolerate. The Borg RPE scale ranges from 6 (no exertion at all) to 20 (maximal exertion). Since the condition of each cervical cancer patient is unique, the Borg system measures “exercise” as any activity that increases heart rate. During exercise, most people tend to achieve 65 to 75 percent of their maximum heart rate.
• Flexibility Program – Basic stretching activities are an effective way to help cervical cancer patients improve overall mobility and range of motion, and can also help to reduce joint stiffness and pain. Improving flexibility comes with many benefits that include the following:
  • Enhancement of performance in everyday activities
  • Improvement of mobility and independence
  • Improvement and maintenance of posture and muscle balance
  • Injury prevention
  • Promotion of physical and mental relaxation

Manual therapy

Massage therapy is one means of manual muscle therapy offered at CTCA. If you require massage therapy as part of your cervical cancer treatment, you will first need to obtain a referral from either a physical or occupational therapist. Our rehabilitation services at CTCA provide the following forms of manual massage therapy:

• Swedish massage
• Reflexology
• Lymphedema massage
• Myofascial release

Occupation therapy

On occasion, cervical cancer patients may also require the assistance of occupational therapists (OTs) to deliver quality-of-life programs. Our OTs work by studying you as you interact with your day-to-day surroundings, which helps them to assess your physical mobility. Occupational therapy can teach you how to address, and adapt to, any physical limitations that may result from cervical cancer treatment.

Quality-of-life programs include the following:

• Showering
• Dressing
• Eating
• Toileting

Speech pathology

CTCA speech pathologists can assist patients not only with speech therapy, but also to help troubleshoot any swallowing problems that may limit their ability to consume food. This helps to prevent aspiration, an improper swallowing mechanism that causes food to fall into the lung. Our speech pathologists will work with the Nutrition and Food Services Teams to thicken or puree food to make it easier to swallow.