Post-cast and post-fixation rehabilitation — from wrist and ankle fractures to more complex internal fixations. Restoring range, strength, and confidence to load.
A healed fracture is only half the story. Time in a cast or fixation leaves the joint stiff, the muscle wasted, and your confidence to load it badly shaken. Bone union is the start of rehab, not the end of it.
Our fracture rehabilitation restores range of motion first, then systematically rebuilds strength and your trust in the limb — from straightforward wrist and ankle fractures to complex internal fixations. We coordinate with your surgeon’s loading restrictions so progress is always safe and never premature.
Image — post-cast mobility and strength work
Why it happens
The root causes we look for.
01
Immobilisation stiffness
Weeks in a cast leave the joint tight and the surrounding tissue restricted.
02
Muscle wasting
Unused muscle loses size and strength quickly, sometimes dramatically.
03
Fear of loading
Patients understandably hesitate to trust a limb that was recently broken.
04
Altered movement
Compensations picked up during recovery linger and overload other areas.
Symptoms we treat
Recognise any of these?
Severe stiffness after cast removal
Weakness in the affected limb
Fear of loading the bone
Swelling that lingers for weeks
Reduced range at the nearby joints
Loss of muscle bulk
Our Approach
How we'll actually treat it.
WEEK 1–2
1
Assess healing
Coordinate with surgeon, screen for restrictions, begin gentle motion.
WEEK 2–6
2
Restore motion
Joint mobilisation, gentle stretching, manual therapy for soft tissue.
Fracture rehab is methodical and deeply rewarding — with the right graded programme, the great majority of patients regain full range, strength and confidence in the limb.
92%
Recovery & satisfaction rate
92%
Regain full function
8–14 weeks
Typical programme
60 min
Per session
Common questions
Your questions, answered.
Still unsure? Our clinicians answer the questions patients ask most. You can always call the HSR Layout clinic for a straight answer first.
Because the bone healing and the soft-tissue recovery are two different things. Weeks of immobilisation stiffen the joint and waste the muscle. Rehabilitation is what restores the range, strength and function the cast took away.
Often sooner than people expect — we work within your surgeon's loading guidelines and can begin gentle range and strengthening for surrounding areas early. We coordinate directly with the bony healing timeline so it is always safe.
Most patients regain full or near-full range with consistent rehab, though complex fractures can take longer. The earlier we start safely mobilising, the better the end result tends to be.
Completely normal, and we treat it as part of recovery. Graded loading rebuilds not just the tissue but your confidence, so using the limb stops feeling like a risk.
Typically 8–14 weeks, depending on the bone, the fixation and how much stiffness and wasting set in. We give you a clear milestone plan at your assessment.
Often yes, for the joints above and below the cast — keeping the shoulder, fingers or hip moving prevents them stiffening up while the fracture itself heals. We will check what's safe within your specific injury and timeline.
In most straightforward fractures, yes — bone typically heals to its original strength or close to it. What rehab adds is the muscle strength, range and confidence around the bone, which don't return automatically just because it's healed.
That's exactly what we monitor at each session — checking range, strength and pain response against where you should be at that stage of healing. Progressing on a fixed schedule regardless of how the bone and tissue are actually responding is a common rehab mistake, and one we deliberately avoid.