Maintaining an active lifestyle is critical to good health; this is especially true for patients recovering from wounds or extended hospital stays. Robust activity can improve mental health, reduce the risk of infection, and accelerate wound healing.1 Staying active can be challenging for patients with wounds, however, and it is critical that health care professionals take steps to enable their patients to stay as active as possible.
The Healing Benefits of Activity
Aside from the long-term benefits to heart health, mental health, and longevity, exercise provides many direct and indirect benefits to patients healing from wounds. Physical activity can promote rapid wound healing, reduce oxidative damage, and promote a healthy lifestyle. This can improve patient outcomes and reduce the costs of treatment.
Exercise Benefits Mental Health – There is ample evidence that exercise promotes good mental health, reduces the effects of depression, and causes people to report a greater level of happiness. These effects are especially important for those who have had an extended stay in a hospital or who are in a long-term care facility because these populations may be at greater risk of developing mental health problems.
Exercise Reduces Inflammation – Inflammation is one of the major causes of delayed healing. Research shows that wounds with low levels of inflammation heal much more quickly and completely. Exercise and other physical activity have been shown to reduce the level of inflammatory markers in the blood, thus helping to reduce the level of inflammation and promote rapid healing. Reduced inflammation may also provide palliative benefits by decreasing pain and discomfort in wounds … read more