Clinical department

Physiotherapy

Empowering Every Journey with Strength and Grace

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Physiotherapy

Department overview

Onco-Physiotherapy is a specialized rehabilitation service that supports cancer patients across diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and palliative care. The World Health Organization recognizes rehabilitation as an essential component of cancer care, improving function, participation, and quality of life.

The Onco-Physiotherapy Unit upholds the Institute’s vision that every individual with cancer deserves care that minimizes suffering and preserves quality of life, irrespective of social or economic status. By restoring function, mobility, and independence, rehabilitation supports patients in living longer, healthier, and more meaningful lives.

The department contributes to the mission of delivering state-of-the-art cancer care through evidence-based rehabilitation integrated with treatment. It also supports education, research, and awareness by training students, guiding caregivers, and promoting preventive rehabilitation practices.

Guided by the Institute’s values of compassion, dignity, ethics, and teamwork, Onco-Physiotherapy ensures holistic care that treats the person beyond the disease. Cancer treatment can affect how the body moves and functions, leading to reduced strength and stamina, stiffness, persistent fatigue, lymphedema, pain or nerve-related symptoms, balance problems, and difficulty performing daily activities independently.

Message from the Head of Department

“The Onco Physiotherapy Department is guided by a compassionate vision to restore function, improve quality of life, and support every individual in living with strength, dignity, and independence throughout their cancer journey, regardless of background or resources. Building on our institute’s legacy in comprehensive cancer care, we aim to integrate Onco physiotherapy seamlessly across all stages of oncology care. Through early intervention and patient-centered rehabilitation, we focus on reducing disability, minimizing treatment-related complications, and promoting optimal recovery.”

Dr. Srinivasan VijayScientist D & Head - Department of Physiotherapy
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Conditions we treat

  • Pre-Treatment Rehabilitation (Prehabilitation)

    • Baseline functional assessment
    • Exercise prescription to improve treatment tolerance
    • Breathing and endurance training
    • Education on prevention of complications

  • Rehabilitation During Treatment

    • Fatigue management programs
    • Gentle mobility and strengthening exercises
    • Pain relief and posture correction
    • Respiratory physiotherapy
    • Prevention of treatment-related complications

  • Post-Treatment Rehabilitation

    • Recovery of strength and stamina
    • Functional training for return to daily life and work
    • Scar mobility and soft-tissue management
    • Balance and gait training

  • Lymphedema Management

    • Complete decongestive therapy (CDT)
    • Sequential pneumatic compression therapy
    • Manual lymphatic drainage
    • Compression bandaging and garment guidance
    • Exercise and self-care education

  • Palliative Rehabilitation

    • Pain relief strategies
    • Positioning for comfort
    • Assisted mobility training
    • Enhancing dignity and quality of life

Diagnostic Evaluation

Diagnostic Services & Capabilities

Treatment Options

The Department of Physiotherapy is equipped with a spacious exercise therapy and electrotherapy suite designed to support comprehensive rehabilitation. The unit houses modern physiotherapy equipment and therapeutic modalities to ensure evidence-based patient care.

Prevention & early detection

Exercise and fitness

  • Individualized exercise and fitness guidance
  • Lifestyle modification to support function and wellbeing

Lymphedema prevention

  • Compression stockings when indicated
  • Lymphedema-prevention exercises
  • Limb care education

When To Visit

When to visit

Clinical Indications

  • Before cancer treatment (prehabilitation)
  • During cancer treatment
  • After surgery or treatment
  • During recovery and survivorship
  • In advanced or palliative care
  • When experiencing pain or stiffness
  • When facing fatigue or weakness
  • When there is reduced mobility or function
  • When managing lymphedema or swelling
  • When experiencing balance issues or risk of falls

Facilities & capabilities

Comprehensive Decongestive Therapy (CDT)

CDT is provided for effective lymphedema management, focusing on volume reduction, skin care, and functional improvement.

Lympha Press devices

Three Lympha Press devices are available to support adjunctive therapy and enhance lymphatic drainage.

Virtual Reality (VR) therapy

VR-assisted rehabilitation uses immersive digital environments with therapeutic exercise to make rehabilitation interactive, motivating, and patient-centred.

Low-level laser therapy (photobiomodulation)

Low-level laser therapy is being implemented for oral mucositis and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, aiming to reduce pain, inflammation, and treatment-related complications.

Onco-Physiotherapy department

Department environment

Onco-Physiotherapy activity

Rehabilitation equipment and patient care

Onco-Physiotherapy in practice

Clinical rehabilitation setting

Legacy

  • For over two decades, the Department of Physiotherapy in Cancer Rehabilitation has stood as a pioneering and dedicated unit in South India, emerging as one of the few specialized teams exclusively focused on onco-rehabilitation. Evolving alongside advancements in surgical, radiation, and medical oncology, the department has transitioned from a supportive service into a core pillar of holistic cancer care.
  • Delivering care across the cancer continuum—from prehabilitation and post-operative recovery to management of treatment-related complications and palliative support—the department remains committed to enhancing quality of life, functional independence, and survivorship. As an early adopter of structured cancer rehabilitation protocols in India, it has successfully integrated evidence-based physiotherapy into multidisciplinary oncology practice while developing patient-centered, goal-oriented care models.
  • The department has demonstrated strong clinical leadership through specialized services such as lymphedema management, post limb salvage surgery rehabilitation, neuromuscular and fatigue rehabilitation, pelvic floor and pediatric onco-rehabilitation, and the use of photobiomodulation for oral mucositis and trismus. These initiatives reflect a significant shift toward highly specialized oncological rehabilitation.
  • Aligned with the institute’s palliative care philosophy, physiotherapists play a vital role in pain relief, mobility preservation, and enhancing comfort and dignity at the end of life. This underscores the principle that rehabilitation extends beyond cure to encompass comfort and dignity.
  • Beyond clinical care, the department has contributed significantly to education, training, and advocacy—mentoring students, supporting interdisciplinary learning, and advancing research in onco-physiotherapy. Its sustained efforts have helped create awareness and strengthen the integration of physiotherapy into comprehensive cancer care across healthcare settings, contributing to the recognition of Onco-Physiotherapy as a postgraduate specialty.

Achievements

1 Milestones
  1. 01
    No separate achievements were provided in the source material.

Our Doctors

Our Team

Physiotherapy team at Cancer Institute (WIA)

Contact Physiotherapy

Scientist D & Head - Department of Physiotherapy

Dr. Srinivasan Vijay

physiotherapy@cancerinstitutewia.org
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Cancer Institute (WIA), Adyar campus