Have you been injured in a car accident or while exercising or playing a sport? An injury is some type of physical harm that happens to the body. An example of a minor injury would be a pulled muscle or a bruise. A more serious injury would be a broken bone or a torn ligament. Some injuries are even life threatening.
When a severe injury occurs, it can take some time to recover. A complete recovery from an injury is when there is no longer any pain or limited motion in the injured area of the body. Physical therapy can help you recover from an injury, increasing your chances of making a complete recovery.
Has your doctor recommended physical therapy treatment, but you’re not sure about it? Consider these physical therapy benefits.
- Relieve pain. One of the biggest benefits of physical therapy after an injury is that it helps to relieve your pain. An important part of physical therapy is stretching and loosening up muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are tensed or stiff due to lack of movement. The first part of healing a broken bone or a sprain is to restrict motion to avoid further injury and allow the body part to rest. Once it has rested for a sufficient amount of time, movement is the next step. It may hurt to move an injured body part at first, but the more you move, the better it will feel.
- Restore range of motion. After restricting the movement of an injury during the first part of the healing process, limited range of motion can result. Physical therapy helps you learn to move the injured part of your body again in the right way. As you stretch and move according to your physical therapist’s instructions, your range of motion will gradually increase. If all goes well, you’ll have full range of motion back by the end of your treatment.
- Strengthen your body. Physical therapy can also help you get stronger. Sometimes an injury occurs in a weak area of the body, or the injured part weakens after an injury due to lack of use. But the stretches and exercises your physical therapist will guide you through are designed to strengthen specific muscles and areas of the body that will help you recover from your injuries.
- Prevent future injuries. Strengthening your body through physical therapy will also help you avoid getting reinjured or experiencing a different injury. Strength and proper movement techniques that you learn in physical therapy will help prevent injuries for the rest of your life.
- Recover faster. If you’re ready to get back to regular life after your injury, physical therapy will help you do that much faster. Whether you’re in a hurry to get back to your sport or you just want to be able to resume your daily activities without assistance, physical therapy can help you achieve your goals in a shorter period of time.
- Recover more completely. In addition to recovering more quickly, you will also recover more completely with the help of physical therapy. Rather than reducing your pain or partially restoring your range of motion, physical therapy may be able to help you make a complete recovery, so that you feel as good as you did before the injury. In some cases you may feel even better.
- Avoid surgery. Some injuries may require surgery to repair. But many patients can avoid surgery by going to physical therapy. Physical therapy promotes healing at the source of the injury and is preferred to surgery whenever possible by both patients and health professionals.
Kim Chiropractic and Rehab Provides Physical Therapy
There are many reasons why patients can benefit from physical therapy when injured. At Kim Chiropractic and Rehab we believe in the effectiveness of physical therapy and we’ve seen it work for many patients who suffered from pain and limited mobility.
We have convenient locations in Centreville, Columbia, and Rockville. Contact us today to schedule a consultation. We look forward to providing you with quality physical therapy treatment.
