Yes, but it’s not the only part. Your rehab plan is tailored to your specific injury as well as to your progress. In the beginning stages, when you’re in the most pain, you perform passive or static exercises. These are gentle movements made by your therapist, meaning they gently stretch the area for you.

For example, if you recently had rotator cuff surgery your therapist lets you relax while they move your arm around for you. These exercises promote flexibility and mobility without straining the fragile area. When you’re ready, you start learning some exercises on your own. Your therapist teaches you both flexibility and strengthening exercises, and ensures you have proper form with each movement.

You also work on ways to get back into your normal routine at home and work while learning tricks to improve pain and inflammation between visits. Each session generally includes some sort of soft tissue treatment such as electrical stimulation therapy, ultrasound, massage therapy, cold laser therapy, or simply applying heat or ice packs to minimize inflammation.