Cardiac rehabilitation is like a having a personalized healing plan for your heart.
If you’ve had a heart attack, heart valve repair or a major heart condition — your body’s muscles likely became deconditioned. You may feel weak and tire easily. That’s to be expected.
What you want is to regain your strength. Safely. And that is what cardiac rehabilitation is for — regaining your former self under supervision.
You’ll learn about modifying your cardiac risk factors. Recovering from cardiovascular disease isn’t just about the physical. It’s equally about adjusting psychologically to your condition.
Cardiac rehab won’t change the past, but it may just improve your outlook on the future considerably.
Who benefits from cardiac rehab?
Whether your issue is major or minor, cardiac rehab programs can help. They are designed for people who:
- Recently had a heart attack.
- Recently underwent cardiac catheterization or a stenting procedure.
- Have stable chest pain while on maximum doses of medications.
- Had heart valve repair.
- Have heart failure with low heart function.
How does cardiac rehab help?
Your goal will be to get back to functioning normally and enjoying your life to its fullest.
Exercise is key — it can reduce the risk of death after a heart attack. It can also lessen the risk of future heart attacks.
You’ll learn how to take your medication as prescribed and recommended. You’ll be able to work towards a target weight with dietary changes for lasting results. Your cholesterol levels, and blood pressure will be regularly monitored to ensure that they’re within an acceptable range.
What happens in cardiac rehab?
A team of people works with you during cardiac rehab — a medical director, nurses, exercise specialists, nutritionists, and psychologists.
The first step is a medical evaluation and baseline assessment. This typically starts with a thorough review and understanding of your medical history.
There may be additional tests requested depending on your specific condition. Test might include cardiac imaging, an electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests or an exercise stress test.
Once the results are evaluated, you’ll meet with your team who develops a personalized cardiac rehab plan that covers a variety of areas and topics:
- Exercise training under supervision.
- Physical activity counseling.
- Nutritional counseling and weight management.
- Care for your other conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, or unhealthy cholesterol levels.
- Psychosocial support for issues such as anxiety, stress, and depression.
- Medication education to help you understand why taking your medicine as directed is essential.
Cardiac rehab is designed with the intent to improve your health and quality of life going forward. This is what we live for.
To learn more about cardiac rehab at Cooper and Inspira Cardiac Care, visit us at What We Do/Cardiac Rehabilitation.
Call to Schedule An Appointment.
