Physical Rehab and Recovery Following a Car Accident

Motor vehicle accidents can cause personal injuries that last months and even years requiring ongoing physical therapy, as a car accident lawyer can explain. Injuries range from a nagging, chronic sore back to being total paralysis. Most back and neck injuries can be treated with a regular program of chiropractic care to alleviate pain. Others require surgery and long-term rehabilitation. Of the millions of car accidents that occur every year approximately one third are rear-ended collisions that result in head, neck, back and spinal injuries. Rear end accident victims often report symptoms that are diagnosed as “whiplash.” Whiplash injuries can result in ongoing pain that should be treated with physical therapy.

Symptoms of Whiplash From an Automobile Accident

Many people suffer from pain in the shoulders, neck, and head in the days, weeks, and months following an accident. Stiffness in the neck can cause a lack of motion making it uncomfortable to turn one’s head this way or that. Car accident victims also can develop chronic migraine headaches requiring bed rest or taking powerful and potentially dangerous medications. Whiplash patients report tingling and numbness in the hands and feet due to neck and back injuries. Finally, other car accident victims experience dizziness, fatigue and blurred or double vision as a result of the sudden impact of a collision.

Relieve Pain With Physical Therapy

There are many good reasons to engage a physical therapist after an auto accident, the first being to produce immediate relief from pain. Even a regular program of chiropractic can alleviate back, neck, shoulder and head pain on a temporary basis. Another way physical therapy can help is to condition the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the back, neck, and shoulders so that as healing occurs the spine is supported in its proper, pain-free position. If left untreated, torn muscles, tendons, and ligaments can heal and seal the joints in an improper position causing a lifetime of pain and limiting one’s mobility. Proper condition of the spinal and neck muscles can leave an accident victim feeling as good as they were before the accident if not even better. If a person waits until their injuries have fully healed and trapped their joint or back in an improper position, it could take much longer to rework the connective tissues back into their proper position.

Avoiding Surgery and Dangerous Pain Killing Medications

Physical therapy or chiropractic care should be the first plan of treatment before taking dangerous pain medications or undergoing surgery in the hope of becoming pain-free and avoiding meds or surgery altogether. Surgical repair in and of itself could be required and only then a person would be in a position to undergo rehabilitative physical therapy. All in all, physical therapy is a must when a person has been injured in an automobile accident is they intend on getting back to work or enjoying the same quality of life they may have had prior to the accident. Most programs of physical therapy are covered by the same health insurance that pays for surgeries or hospital care. A person considering physical therapy should consult with their insurance agent prior to jumping right in as there may be restrictions to you coverage one should be aware of.