A car accident or other traumatic incident can result in serious injuries, and the ramifications of those injuries might last for months, years, or even a lifetime. Treating those injuries might begin with surgery, but the post-surgery recovery process is often just as vital in getting you back to the best physical condition possible.
Physical therapy comprises a wide range of treatments and techniques that can improve the health and quality of life of patients dealing with the aftermath of severe injuries. As such, a course or regimen of physical therapy is frequently a large part of getting back on your feet – both figuratively and literally – after a car accident.
Taking the Place of Surgery
In some cases, physical therapy will allow you to avoid having surgery. Most medical professionals will tell you that it’s nearly always preferable to use non-surgical methods, and surgeries are invasive, carry some level of risk, and are usually more costly. Assessing your medical options is important, and will require consultation with medical professionals and possibly a personal injury lawyer. The injury attorneys at Curcio Law are equipped to handle these types of cases.
The high-impact force of a car accident can often result in muscle, ligament, and tendon tears, with these tears ranging from partial to full ruptures. In many cases, a partial tendon or muscle tear (like a rotator cuff tear) can be treated with physical therapy. By strengthening surrounding muscle groups, these tears are allowed to naturally heal without needing surgical intervention.
Back injuries, also commonly experienced in car accidents, are another injury that can be successfully treated through physical therapy. Conditions like a herniated disc can be managed by a regimen of exercise and posture correction, bringing substantial relief and increased quality of life.
Enhancing and Supporting Surgery
In some cases, an injury requires surgery, but physical therapy is often crucial in ensuring that the surgery is successful and the patient makes a full recovery. In these cases, the outcome of the physical therapy is every bit as important as the surgical procedure itself.
Many surgeries create both inflammation and scar tissue, and both these can lead to negative long-term health issues. However, a proper physical therapy regimen can ameliorate the effect of these types of problems. In some cases, the physical therapy will take the form of exercise routines targeted at maintaining tissue elasticity. Other times, massage is the most effective way to target inflammation and scar tissue adhesion. In still other cases, high-tech tools have the ability to break up scar tissue with precise targeting.
Preventing Long-Term Damage
In the aftermath of a major injury, many people face issues due to compensatory movement habits. Simply put, the body sometimes naturally develops unnatural or risky movement patterns to protect or compensate for the injured area or areas. These compensatory movement habits lead to decreased mobility and the risk of either re-aggravating the original injury or even injuring another part of the body.
Physical therapy is the key to avoiding these compensatory movement habits. A physical therapy regimen, conducted under the care of a licensed professional, will enforce proper movement patterns while “re-training” the body on how to move while healing from a serious injury.
Accelerating the Healing Process
Whether your injuries require surgery or not, the body faces an often-lengthy healing process as it repairs and recovers from the damage done. Physical therapy has been proven to assist in the healing process.
Physical therapy exercises promote increased blood flow to the tissues, and heightened blood flow speeds up the healing process. Physical therapy can target specific parts of the body, resulting in quicker healing timelines.
Pain Management
Severe injuries and major surgeries almost always involve dealing with some level of pain, and that pain can last anywhere from days to being a chronic condition that requires management for life. Physical therapy can be of great help in pain management.
It can be tempting to want to manage pain via medication, and frequently it’s unavoidable, especially in the short term. But pain medication is only masking the signals the body is sending, not curing the root cause of the pain.
Physical therapy techniques – ranging from massage to ultrasound to electrical stimulation to manual therapy – have the ability to treat pain at its source. Over time, these treatments can bring the body to a state of either reduced pain or even an eventual freedom from pain.
Increasing Strength, Mobility, and Range of Motion
In the wake of a serious injury, there’s always the risk of seeing a diminishment in your physical condition. This can be as a result of the injuries themselves, the surgical procedures used to treat them, or long periods of forced immobility while you recuperate. Physical therapy is crucial in combatting any decline in physical condition, and a successful course of physical therapy can see a person recover and get back to a high standard of bodily function.
Muscle weakness can be a difficult issue in the wake of a major injury, especially for older patients who will naturally struggle to gain or even maintain muscle mass. A person with weakened muscles is at risk of a range of potential problems, including a greater danger of falling. Physical therapy is crucial in combating muscle weakness.
Mobility and range of motion can also suffer in the aftermath of a serious injury, as the body can become stiffer and certain movements can become more difficult. A physical therapy regimen will promote flexibility and skin/tissue elasticity, leaving the body more limber and moving more freely.
Restoring mobility and range of motion can often be a multifaceted approach, combining technological solutions with supervised exercises. This process can require weeks or even months of effort, and in some cases, a physical therapy regimen might need to become a permanent part of your routine. But the benefits to your quality of life will make the process worth it.
When recovering from a major injury, physical therapy is likely to be an important part of the healing journey. From managing pain to accelerating healing to enhancing your physical condition, physical therapy is the cornerstone of injury recovery.
