The Role of Physical Therapy in Personal Injury Recovery

When you suffer a personal injury, you likely hope for a quick medical solution for your injuries—or even better, injuries that heal over time without further intervention. But sometimes, the journey to recovery is long, bumpy, and time-consuming. If you’re prescribed physical therapy, you’ll need to attend sessions weekly and do exercises at home. Physical therapy can be a very effective way to recover from injuries and manage your pain.

Learn more about how physical therapy may affect your personal injury claim and how you can protect your case. To discuss your case in greater detail with our Louisville personal injury lawyers, call John H. Ruby & Associates at 502-373-8044.

Range of Motion Restoration

Suffering an injury generally involves losing a significant amount of range of motion. But you can’t just bounce right back to your previous range of motion—doing so can lead to torn muscles, tendons, and ligaments. You have to rebuild your range of motion over time through sustained exercises and continually pushing your limits. This is one of the main areas of focus in physical therapy. Skilled physical therapists can tailor your prescribed exercises to your specific limitations and weaknesses, helping you build your proprioception—that’s just a fancy way of referring to your body’s inherent ability to sense movement and location.

Blood Flow and Circulation

Many injuries lead to impaired circulation, which can worsen your discomfort and slow down the healing process. Physical therapy interventions aim to improve your blood flow and help blood flow to injured tissues. As a result, you may see progress more quickly. Massage, hydrotherapy, and range of motion exercises can all help your injured tissues get the nutrients they need. As an added bonus, this can also decrease your overall pain as you heal.

Pain Management

Many injury victims struggle with pain management as they recover. This is especially true if you have severe or multiple injuries. Unfortunately, severe pain can make it even harder for you to heal. It keeps you from stretching, doing your physical therapy exercises, getting back into your daily routines, and doing other things that will help you recover more quickly. 

Physical therapy uses a range of modalities that alleviate discomfort and provide natural pain relief. Soft tissue mobilization and joint manipulation can help you overcome your initial pain hurdles and get to a place where you feel more comfortable attempting other exercises. Strengthening and conditioning routines can also go a long way in stabilizing your injuries and providing a strong foundation on which you can build.

Muscle Strengthening

Depending on the severity of your injury and the amount of time you spend on bed rest, you could lose a significant amount of muscle mass while you are resting. Think about bodybuilders; they spend years building their dream physiques in the gym, but a month-long bout of severe illness can set them back months. The same is true for the rest of us; even a short hiatus from your daily routines can leave you with muscle atrophy. Because of this, you may feel fatigued and drained after short walks or bursts of activity.

Physical therapists know this, and their interventions focus on slowly rebuilding your muscles through strength and conditioning exercises. Your exercises will target the specific muscle groups that have been impacted by your injury, allowing you to rebuild your natural balance and get back to your previous level of health and mobility.

Promoting Psychological Wellbeing

This is one of the rarely acknowledged benefits of physical therapy. Suffering a personal injury can be devastating for your confidence and your self-image. Physical therapy addresses these psychological wounds while supporting you in your physical recovery. As you progress through your set exercises, you will start to see your body in a more positive light and trust your ability to overcome and recover.

Explore Your Legal Options with John H. Ruby & Associates

With the help of the team at John H. Ruby & Associates, you can begin fighting for the compensation you deserve after an accident. Let us help you hold the other party accountable. Call us at 502-373-8044 or contact us online to set up a consultation with our Louisville team now.