What is physical therapy?
Physical therapy is a type of treatment that is all about proper movement and body mechanics. If you’re rehabilitating from a car accident or other injury, a physical therapist (PT) will provide services to develop, maintain, and restore your maximum movement and functional ability.
Based on a patient examination, your PT will come up with a treatment plan that includes a variety (and likely a combination) of different exercises, stretches, treatment modalities,manual therapy, and patient education designed to strengthen muscles, rehabilitate injuries, and prevent further injuries.
How can physical therapy help my rehab?
Physical therapy is able to help rehabilitation from personal injuries and accidents by:
• Increasing healing time
• Relieves pain from injuries
• Improves balance, movement, and mobility
• Treat chronic conditions that were exacerbated by an accident
• Controlling bowels and bladder
• Helping to adapt to an assistive device like a walker or cane
• Learning to use a prosthetic
When should you see a physical therapist?
A physical therapist is one of many different kinds of doctors you may see after an injury. However, while they are a licensed medical professional, PT’s typically aren’t the very first doctor you’ll see. This is especially true if there is an acute injury (the result of a single, traumatic event).
Depending on the seriousness of your injuries, the first doctor you’ll see will be in the emergency room, urgent care, ora general practitioner. If your injuries aren’t as serious and don’t involve broken bones or require surgery (ex: soft-tissue injuries like whiplash or a concussion), you may get referred to a chiropractor or physical therapist by your doctor right away. But if you experience a serious injury like a herniated disc, it may require surgery before you see a PT.
Essentially, your treatment course would lead you to a physical therapist once the worst has passed. You’ll see a PT when you’re ready for rehabilitation, not fighting for your life or getting ready for surgery.
What does a physical therapist do to rehabilitate my injury?
PTs first engage in an examination or assessment by taking down the patient’s history, general questions about their health, and performing selected tests and measures to identify potential and existing movement-related disorders.
Some tests will include seeing how you move, walk, grasp, lift, and rotate; they may also test your range of motion, see how far you can bend, and what else may be limited.
Taking together your history and tests and measures, your PT will be able to characterize signs, symptoms, and risk of movement dysfunctions to create a plan of care for rehabilitation.
At each session, there will be a short assessment of your range of motion to track improvements as well as asking for updates on your pain and symptoms. Sessions may include a hands-on method to aid in proper body movements, joint mobilization, or joint stabilization. There may also be a light exercise prescribed. Most treatment plans will include self-guided exercises to be done at home for maximum improvement between sessions.
It’s also possible that your treatment plan will include “device” treatment modalities to aid in your rehabilitation. This would be things like ice, heat, electric stimulation, ultrasound, and water pools. Your PT also may prescribe massage therapy and/or acupuncture for pain relief in conjunction with your rehabilitation plan. Ultimately, the goal is to restore function, reduce pain, and improve living conditions.
Not only can physical therapy plans be tailored to the individual based on their patient examination and conditions, but physical therapists can also specialize in a specific clinical area. This includes some of the following: cardiovascular and pulmonary, geriatric, pediatric, neurological, orthopedic, sports, women’s health, palliative care, and back pain treatment.
How do I find a physical therapist?
This can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’ve never had to go to physical therapy before. Your doctor or personal injury attorney will likely have recommendations of people you can see. You can also use the “Find a PT” function on the American Physical Therapy Association’s website based on your city or zip code. Just like when searching for an attorney who specializes in personal injury after an accident, you’ll want to make sure your PT also has experience with your type of injury.
California Personal Injury Lawyers
If you’ve been injured by the negligence of another and have questions about how physical therapy may interact with your personal injury claim, please give us a call. When you contact our firm, you’ll speak with me, personal injury lawyer Dan Hanecak, directly. My goal is to provide you with free and honest advice to help you figure out a course forward.
Please give me a call today at (916) 619-5452 or fill out the form on our website and I’ll follow up with you to discuss your case.
