Post-surgical rehabilitation
Post-Surgery Physiotherapy in Singapore
Written by Louise Yow, Shiv Mohan Banka and Zita Sham, Principal Physiotherapists at Phoenix Rehab.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist and Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 28 September 2026.
Your operation is done. Your rehabilitation hasn’t started.
Most people leave hospital with a photocopied sheet of exercises and a review appointment six weeks away. Those six weeks are not waiting time. They are the part that decides how much movement you get back.
One 45-minute appointment, $230, nett, no GST. Treatment starts in it. No referral needed.
Reviewed by Fairuuz Saleh
Principal Physiotherapist, Phoenix Rehab · AHPC A1301092H
Fairuuz has been rehabilitating injuries since 1997, with a clinical focus on knees after ACL reconstruction and the return to sport that follows. Meet the physiotherapy team.
Last reviewed: pending clinician sign-off
Which of these is you?
Surgery is booked
The best time to meet your therapist is before the operation, not after. We show you the movements you will need on day one, fit anything you will need in advance, and make sure you know what the first fortnight actually looks like. What you can do the week before surgery is the baseline the repair gets built on.
You have just been discharged
This is the window. Send us the operation note and we will tell you when your protocol allows movement to start, which is often sooner than people expect and occasionally later than they assume.
It was months ago and it is still stiff
Harder, but rarely finished. Stiffness that has been there six months takes longer to shift than stiffness at six weeks. That is a reason to have it measured now, not a reason to leave it.
How recovery is run
4-Stage Structured Recovery
Every plan at Phoenix runs on the Phoenix Recovery Protocol: four stages, with measurable criteria to move between them. After an operation that means range measured in degrees and strength measured against your other side at each review, so progress is a number rather than an impression.
Calm & Protect
Settling a swollen joint is work, not rest. Protect the repair and move only where the protocol permits.
Move & Mobilize
Range is trained back, not waited for. Specific, repeated, and measured in degrees at each review.
Rebuild & Strengthen
Strength, stability and stamina, loaded progressively and measured against your other side.
Return & Perform
Stairs, driving, lifting, work, sport. Rehearsed under load before you meet them for real.
None of the four stages is passive. Every one is trained, and every one has criteria you have to meet before you leave it. That is Criteria Before Clearance: you move up when the measures say so, not when a number of weeks has passed. How the Protocol works →
Why timing decides how much you get back
The window most people miss
Every protocol differs and your surgeon’s instructions always come first. But almost all post-surgical recovery follows this shape, and knowing where you are in it tells you how urgent the next step is.
- Week 0 to 2, Stage 1Swelling control, and movement only where your surgeon permits it. Often the most useful thing we do here is stop you doing too much.
- Week 2 to 6, Stage 2Controlled movement so tissue glides and joints do not tighten. This is the window that most influences the range you end up with.
- Week 6 to 12, Stage 3Strength returns, and it is trained rather than waited for. Scar work where it limits movement. You start using the limb for real tasks rather than exercises.
- Beyond 12 weeks, Stage 4Work, sport, stairs, lifting, driving. The point at which the operation stops being something you think about.
Operations we rehabilitate
Surgery we see every week
Grouped by the area operated on. If your procedure is not listed, send us its name. It is very likely we have rehabilitated it before.
Hip and knee
Shoulder
Foot, ankle, back and neck
Hand, wrist and elbow
Hand, wrist and elbow operations are managed by our hand therapy team. Hand therapy after surgery →
Bring your paperwork
We work to your surgeon’s protocol, not a generic one
A repaired tendon, a plated fracture and a joint replacement each have different rules about what may move, when, and how much. Too early risks the repair. Too late costs movement that is harder to get back.
So the first thing we ask for is your operation note, discharge summary or referral letter. If your surgeon has specified a protocol we follow it. If they have not, we contact them.
Send us your operation note or scan report
We will tell you what it means for your rehabilitation, when therapy should start, and roughly how long it usually takes. No appointment needed to ask.
We explain what the report means for your recovery and timeframe. We do not diagnose from documents. That needs an assessment.
Who you will see
The same therapist, every appointment
You are matched to the physiotherapist who rehabilitates your operation most often, and you stay with them, because measuring range and strength over time only means something if the same person is taking the measurements. All are registered with the Allied Health Professions Council.
Fairuuz Saleh
Principal Physiotherapist · AHPC A1301092H
ACL reconstruction and return to sport, hip pain including labral tears, knee rehabilitation, and the lower back problems that drive hip and knee pain. Over 1,000 cases since 1997.
Tampines
Zita Sham
Principal Physiotherapist · AHPC A1302159H
Rotator cuff repair and shoulder stiffness, achilles tendon repair and tendinopathy, ankle and foot injuries that will not settle.
Orchard, Tampines
Ching Yee
Principal Physiotherapist · AHPC A1700671H
Recovery after total knee and hip replacement, from the first days after surgery through to walking without thinking about it. 200 total knee replacements since 2016. Mandarin or English.
Tanjong Pagar
Shiv Mohan Banka
Principal Physiotherapist · AHPC A1302278J
Shoulder and knee problems, spinal dysfunction, and exercise rehabilitation where muscle imbalance is holding the joint back. Master of Manual and Sports Physiotherapy.
Orchard, Tampines
What it costs
One price, stated once
Assessment & Treatment
One standard 45-minute physiotherapy appointment, nett, no GST. Most of it is treatment. We work out what is actually limiting you, and then we treat it, in the same appointment. You do not pay for a consultation and come back another day to be treated.
- Hands-on treatment from the first appointment: manual therapy, joint mobilization, soft tissue work, and modalities such as therapeutic ultrasound where they help
- A review of your operation note and your surgeon’s protocol
- Range measured in degrees and strength measured against your other side
- A stage diagnosis against the four stages
- A written plan and a home program you walk out holding
- Your next review dated into the diary with the same therapist
After that your therapist dates each stage review into the diary, so you know what the program involves before you commit to anything. Every post-surgical program is 12 appointments at $230 each, $2,760 in all, paid as you attend. If you need more, your physiotherapist shows you which stage criteria are still open, and each extra appointment is $230.
No packages and no discounts for booking a course.
If it is not going to plan
Months on, and it has stopped changing
The knee that bends well enough for stairs up but not for stairs down. The shoulder that will not reach behind your back. The ankle you no longer trust on uneven ground. It improved every week and then, somewhere around week six or eight, it stopped, and it has been the same ever since.
Stalled Recovery Review
Three appointments, one a week for three weeks, with a senior physiotherapist. Range and strength measured three times, a review of your operation note and what has been done so far, and an honest written answer on what is measurably available from here.
Three weeks rather than one long visit, because a joint that has been stiff for months cannot take ninety minutes of work in one sitting, and because what you want to know is what changes between appointments. A joint measured once is a number. Measured again after a week of the right work, it is an answer.
$690, being three 45-minute appointments at $230, booked as a block with the same therapist.
A question we get a lot
“Can you just come to my house?”
We do not run home visits, and it is worth being straight about why rather than leaving you to guess.
The equipment is here
Graded resistance, measured range, shockwave, traction, and splinting made on site. A living room has a resistance band and a chair.
Progression needs measuring
Post-surgical rehabilitation is a sequence of small, measured increases. Measuring the same joint the same way each visit is how we know whether the plan is working.
Continuity
In clinic you see the same therapist, with your notes, your measurements and your surgeon’s protocol in front of them, every appointment.
If getting here is genuinely the obstacle, that you cannot weight-bear, cannot drive, and nobody can take you, say so and we will work out what is realistic. Many people who assume they cannot travel in the first fortnight find they can by week three, and we would rather plan for that than write it off.
Questions we get asked
Do I get treated at the first appointment, or only assessed?
Treated. Most of the 45 minutes is treatment. We work out what is limiting you and start on it in the same appointment, which for most people means hands-on manual therapy, joint mobilization and soft tissue work, with modalities like therapeutic ultrasound where they earn their place. The assessment keeps running while we treat, because how the tissue responds tells us as much as any single test.
When should I start physiotherapy after surgery?
Often sooner than people expect, and your surgeon’s protocol decides it. Some repairs begin controlled movement within days; others need a period of full protection first. Send us the operation note and we will tell you what applies to yours.
Do I need my surgeon to refer me?
No. You can book directly. We will still want the operation note or discharge summary so we work to the right protocol, and we will contact your surgeon if anything needs clarifying.
How many appointments will I need?
Post-surgical recovery is a course rather than a one-off, commonly somewhere between 6 and 30 appointments depending on the operation and how stiff things have become. An ankle ligament repair and an ACL reconstruction are not the same job. Your therapist writes the number each stage needs and gives you the range at the first appointment. Every appointment is $230.
Can I claim this on insurance?
Many of our post-surgical patients do, particularly where the claim is tied to the operation. It depends on your policy. Send us your policy details on WhatsApp and we will tell you what applies before you book. Itemized invoices provided, and a clinical report if your insurer asks.
My surgery was months ago and it is still stiff.
Have it measured. Late is harder than early, and we will be honest about what is realistically available from here, but a joint that stopped improving is not always finished improving. The Stalled Recovery Review exists for exactly this. Bring the operation note.
I had my surgery overseas.
That is common in Singapore and it is not a problem. Bring whatever paperwork you have, in whatever language. If there is no protocol we will contact the operating team or work to the standard protocol for that procedure.
Will I see the same therapist each time?
Yes, that is how we schedule it. If your therapist is away or your case needs the hand therapy team instead, we tell you before the appointment rather than at the door.
Had an injection rather than an operation? Cortisone, PRP or hyaluronic acid turns the pain down without changing why it started. See physiotherapy after an injection.
Where we are
Clinics across Singapore
For doctors and surgeons
Sending us a patient
If you are referring after an operation, send us the referral letter or the operation note and we will tell you which stage the patient starts at and roughly how many appointments that stage needs. Where the plan calls for it, shockwave therapy and custom insoles are available in clinic, and the stages are set out in the Phoenix Recovery Protocol.
Tell us what was operated on
Send the operation note, the discharge summary, or just the name of the surgery and roughly when it was. We will tell you when rehabilitation should start and what it involves.
Itemized invoices provided, and a clinical report if your insurer asks for one.
Timelines on this page are typical ranges and your surgeon’s protocol takes precedence. Every figure and week highlighted requires clinician verification before publication. Physiotherapists assess, treat, exercise, educate and refer; doctors diagnose, inject, prescribe and order imaging. If we find something that needs medical review we refer you back to your surgeon.
Programs run at all five clinics
Physiotherapy recovery programs after surgery
Each program runs Stages 1 to 4 of the Phoenix Recovery Protocol. Every appointment is one to one with your physiotherapist, 45 minutes, $230 nett, no GST. Phoenix uses no therapy assistants.
- Lumbar Microdiscectomy Recovery Program. The nerve is decompressed. The spine is not yet rehabilitated.
- Hip Arthroscopy and FAI Recovery Program. A short operation with a long rehabilitation, and gluteals that switched off long before it.
- Ankle Ligament Reconstruction Recovery Program. Repeated sprains damage position sense as well as ligament. Both are trained back.
- Shoulder Replacement Recovery Program. Anatomic and reverse rehabilitate differently. Which one you had decides everything.
- Ankle Fracture Surgery Recovery Program. Six weeks off it costs about a third of your calf. That is the limp, not the plate.
- Patella Fracture Recovery Program. The kneecap knits in about six weeks. The thigh muscle takes far longer.
- Shoulder Dislocation and Labral Repair Recovery Program. Whether the shoulder stays in is decided over the months after.
Also built on their own condition pages: ACL reconstruction, Achilles repair, rotator cuff repair, meniscus surgery, total knee replacement and total hip replacement.
If your recovery has stalled rather than started, the Stalled Recovery Review is three appointments over three weeks with the same physiotherapist, $690 nett.
The programs we run after surgery
Every one of these starts with one Assessment and Treatment, a single 45-minute appointment at $230 nett, no GST, where a physiotherapist finds what is actually limiting you and treats it the same day. What follows is the program that fits the shape of your recovery.
ACL Reconstruction Recovery Program
Quadriceps, single leg control and hop testing before clearance rather than a date on a calendar.
Stages 1 to 4
Knee Replacement Recovery Program
The bend is easier to gain early than late. Range, then strength, then stairs without the handrail.
Stages 1 to 4
Hip Replacement Recovery Program
The hip stops hurting long before the muscles around it are strong. The limp is trained out.
Stages 1 to 4
Rotator Cuff Repair Recovery Program
Protected, then range, then loaded. The stage most people cut short is the one that decides it.
Stages 1 to 4
Achilles Rupture Recovery Program
Walking is not the test. A single heel raise on that side is.
Stages 1 to 4
Meniscus Surgery and Knee Arthroscopy Program
Swelling after a scope is the symptom. Quadriceps strength is the problem.
Stages 1 to 4
Stalled Recovery Review
Three appointments over three weeks with the same physiotherapist, for a recovery that stopped short. $690.
Stages 1 to 4
Every one of these runs the same four stages. The Phoenix Recovery Protocol sets out what each stage works on and what you have to meet to move up. The full list is on the programs page. No referral needed to start.
What our patients say
Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.
