Physical capacity and recovery

This service is for adults whose daily life is limited by pain, loss of strength or movement difficulties. For example, this may involve difficulty standing for longer periods, unsteady walking or returning to familiar activities after a less active phase of life. You do not need to be able to assign your symptoms to a particular diagnosis before the appointment. New or pronounced general exhaustion can also have causes outside the musculoskeletal system. If you have breathlessness, circulatory problems, unintended weight loss or marked deterioration, we therefore discuss what further medical assessment is needed. An orthopaedic examination does not replace a comprehensive internal medicine or neurological assessment.

We start with your medical history, existing findings and the question of which activities you would like to manage better again. We take account of pain, existing health conditions, medication and your previous experience of movement or exercise. We then assess the muscles, joints, movement patterns and functions relevant to your concern. If there are signs of reduced muscle strength or muscle mass, an appropriate strength or functional test and, additionally, BIA using the seca mBCA may be useful. These examinations answer different questions: strength measurement records the force you actually produce, while BIA provides estimates of body composition, among other things. A single measurement does not fully explain your capacity for activity. Which examination is suitable also depends on what you can do safely without overexertion.

We explain the findings and discuss which change matters most for your daily life initially. This may involve treating the underlying orthopaedic symptoms, recommending suitable movement or physiotherapy, or arranging further specialist assessment. We explain specifically which measures take place at the practice and which take place elsewhere. If movement is suitable for you, its amount and intensity should match your current situation. Improvement may show, for example, in how safely you walk or how well you manage an agreed daily activity. Increasing activity is not an end in itself. Follow-up examinations are arranged when they can inform a useful decision about further treatment.

If your symptoms become significantly worse after physical or mental effort, particularly only hours later or the next day, please mention this explicitly. This kind of response to exertion needs a different assessment from ordinary loss of fitness. A generic programme of gradually increasing activity is then unsuitable. For symptoms occurring in connection with a COVID-19 illness, you will find separate information under ‘Long COVID / post-COVID’. IHHT is a separate procedure and is not a guaranteed part of the service described here. Selecting an examination or a device does not, by itself, amount to a recommendation for your personal treatment either. This consultation is not a sports medicine performance test, a generic ‘recovery check’ or a promise of a particular recovery within a set period. There is no uniform examination or treatment package for all patients.

When requesting an appointment, please describe as specifically as possible which activities are difficult and for how long. Use ‘Appointments & enquiries’ or contact us by phone. Our team will direct your enquiry to the appropriate clinic. Bring existing reports and an up-to-date medication list. We clarify which services are needed and how they will be billed before providing them. Statutory and private insurance coverage must each be considered for the specific service. For a self-funded service, you receive clear cost information beforehand; for patients with German statutory health insurance, the service is provided only after a written self-funding agreement. The name ‘Physical capacity and recovery’ does not imply a fixed package price.