Thousands of people sustain injuries in accidents every day. Proactive healing methods can help your body recover from an accident with less lasting pain, and in some cases, it can help resolve post-accident pain symptoms completely. Physical therapy near me can reduce inflammation around the site of the injury and ensure muscle strength for a restored range of motion. Don’t overlook this important step in recovering from an accident.
Accidents That Often Require Physical Therapy
Many people use physical therapy to recover from car accidents. In a car accident, the sudden force of the vehicle stopping can bruise the body or damage delicate muscles, tendons and bones. “Whiplash” is the common term for injuries to the structures of the neck following a car accident. The body releases huge amounts of inflammatory compounds to encourage its structures to heal. This causes both acute pain and lasting pain.
Other accidents, such as slip-and-falls, can also lead to lasting pain and inflammation. Over time, nursing the injury can lead other parts of the body to overcompensate, causing more tension, strains and pain. Begin physical therapy as soon as possible after an accident to get the body back on track to healthy healing.
How Physical Therapy Promotes Recovery
Physical therapy can help with most types of damage from car accidents and other accidents, from deep bruises to whiplash. If the accident resulted in broken bones, physical therapy can re-strengthen the surrounding muscles to restore function more quickly and reduce the risk of re-injury.
A physical therapist near me will use a combination of gentle stretches and strengthening exercises to help repair damaged tissues. They can also use aerobic exercise to build strength and promote faster healing. Pain relief options, such as dry needling and meditation techniques, can help you manage pain following an accident.
PT Benefits for Post-Accident Healing
Many accident settlement cases include funding for the victim’s physical therapy regimen. This is because physical therapy reduces the impact of the accident on the rest of the patient’s life and can return them to normal functioning more quickly.
Stretches return range of motion to muscles that have been shocked or sprained in the accident, such as the neck muscles. Strengthening and aerobic exercises that reduce inflammation both relieve pain and help curb chronic pain. Since injured tendons and structures are easier to sprain again, physical therapy can reduce the risk of re-injury. Finally, learning how to manage pain can reduce your dependence on painkilling medications that can damage the liver, stomach and other organs.
Enhance Recovery With Home Techniques
Physical therapy doesn’t stop when you leave the Derby physical therapy office. Your physical therapist will give you a regimen of techniques to do at home that will promote recovery between sessions. These are often the same stretches, strengthening exercises and mindfulness exercises the therapist performs in-office, with written instructions you can take home with you.
Patients who follow a physical therapist’s regimen closely can expect faster recovery times and less pain from their accident overall. Curb pain both now and later by going to physical therapy as soon as possible.
