Reclaiming Your Life: How In-Home Physical Therapy Transforms Post-COVID Recovery for Roslyn Residents
The journey back to full health after COVID-19 often extends far beyond the initial illness, leaving many patients struggling with persistent fatigue, muscle weakness, and reduced endurance that can last for months. For residents of Roslyn and the surrounding Long Island communities, in-home physical therapy has emerged as a game-changing solution that brings professional rehabilitation directly to your doorstep, eliminating the barriers that often prevent full recovery.
The Hidden Challenge of Post-COVID Recovery
As more people recover from COVID-19 across the country, many are facing another uphill challenge: rebuilding the physical strength and cardiorespiratory endurance lost during long hospital stays or weeks in bed. Depending on the severity of their illness, this can take weeks to months. Research shows there can be long-term and secondary impacts of COVID-19 on your body, such as chronic fatigue, loss of strength and endurance, orthopedic issues, and even some neurologic challenges.
A startling number of those recovering from COVID-19 (whether hospitalized or not) report continued fatigue, weakness, limited endurance, and mobility challenges for many months afterward. The toll on muscle strength, balance, endurance, and heart and lung capacity, can last for months, potentially years after the virus leaves your body.
Why In-Home Physical Therapy Makes the Difference
Traditional outpatient therapy requires patients to travel to clinics, which can be challenging for those still experiencing post-COVID symptoms. In addition to keeping patients safe and providing continuity of care, in-home physical therapy also helps people recovering from COVID. For many of them, recovery does not end when their symptoms disappear.
In-home therapy not only protects patients from infection, but it also ensures continuity of care during recovery. In-home physical therapy, however, allows them to rehabilitate in a safe environment. The biggest difference is context. At home, your therapist sees exactly how you live and can address the specific challenges in your environment. They identify the uneven threshold that’s a tripping hazard, the bathroom layout that makes transfers difficult, or the stairs you struggle with daily.
Comprehensive Post-COVID Rehabilitation at Home
Studies show that it can improve endurance, muscle strength, and posture, which all contribute to better lung capacity. In other words, physical therapy helps your lungs function more efficiently and take in more oxygen with each breath, increasing oxygen saturation so you can breathe easier. With targeted exercises and breathing techniques, your therapist can help you recover strength and redevelop more efficient breathing patterns.
A comprehensive post-COVID recovery program typically includes:
- Respiratory Training: Many COVID-19 patients will need to start with breathing exercises, at least twice per day, before moving on to other types of exercise. The goal, Ambrose explains, is to strengthen the muscles involved in respiration, which COVID-19 has weakened. Each session should include two minutes of deep-breathing exercises (slowly breathing in through your nose, allowing your belly to fill with air, then slowly exhaling through your nose) and two minutes of pursed-lip breathing
- Strength and Endurance Building: Physical therapists can use a range of exercises, including aerobic sessions and endurance training, to help patients improve their balance, posture, and muscle strength, as well as to reduce breathing problems and improve quality of life. Stretching and strength exercises also help restore your general fitness and ability to move
- Functional Movement Training: To rebuild physical strength and functionality, it’s especially important to target the hips and legs, focusing on activities that mirror daily tasks
- Balance and Safety Assessment: Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults, and most falls happen at home. A physical therapist evaluating your actual living space can identify and address risks that contribute to falls in ways a clinic visit never could
The MedCare Therapy Services Advantage in Roslyn
For Roslyn residents seeking post-COVID recovery support, in-home physical therapy roslyn services through MedCare Therapy Services offer a uniquely personalized approach. Since 2010, MedCare Therapy has been providing expert home physical therapy and occupational therapy services. Serving Long Island since 2010, we are dedicated to providing quality therapy for those who struggle to visit local therapy offices.
Roslyn Heights has a significant senior population, many living independently in homes they’ve occupied for years. We understand the local landscape—the multi-level homes common in this area, the importance of maintaining independence in a community where neighbors know each other, and the value families place on keeping loved ones comfortable at home. Our approach respects that context.
Our licensed therapists deliver personalized physical and occupational therapy in the comfort of your home—helping seniors improve mobility, safety and independence without travel. This personalized approach is particularly valuable for post-COVID recovery, where vital signs including heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and rate of perceived exertion are monitored to help you recover, make progress and improve your overall activity level safely. Task training will be based on the movements and actions you need to perform in order to get through your daily routine at home and work safely and comfortably.
Evidence-Based Recovery Protocols
A study by the American Physical Therapy Association indicates that physical therapy services can improve outcomes related to cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal system impairments and quality of life in patients experiencing the effects of long COVID. In post-COVID-19 patients, these benefits are avoiding or removing secretions in the airways, improving the cardio-respiratory capacity, increasing the oxygen saturation, and enhancing the muscle strengthening.
Most people recover from COVID 19, feeling “mostly normal.” Typically people attribute any residual fatigue, lack of endurance or mild shortness of breath to just “being out of shape.” These are actually well documented signs of residual effects of the virus and what it can do to our body/systems long term. A skilled PT can help you get back to your “pre-COVID normal” in a safe way that is based on the science of healing and an understanding of limitations caused solely by this virus.
Starting Your Recovery Journey
First, we verify your Medicare coverage and physician referral. This happens before your first appointment so there are no surprises about what’s covered. Most of our patients qualify for Medicare-covered outpatient physical therapy services. Your initial evaluation happens at home. The therapist assesses your current mobility, strength, balance, and any specific challenges you’re facing. They observe how you move through your actual living space, which reveals risks and limitations that wouldn’t show up in a clinic setting.
The good news: With the right physical activities — and time — these abilities can be regained. For fall prevention and balance training, many Roslyn Heights patients report feeling more confident and stable within a month. Strength gains from resistance training usually become noticeable around the four to six week mark.
Post-COVID recovery doesn’t have to be a journey you take alone. With professional in-home physical therapy services tailored to the unique needs of Roslyn residents, you can rebuild your strength, endurance, and confidence while remaining safely at home. The path back to your pre-COVID life is within reach—it just takes the right support system to get you there.