If you’ve dealt with a serious injury recently, you might be looking for ways to help alleviate the pain and find a new normal. You’re not alone. You might be looking for some physical therapy benefits after your time healing with a doctor.
Every 7 seconds a worker is injured on the job. With just workplace injuries alone, that’s a huge number of people who might end up needing help getting back on their feet. That doesn’t take into account any other kind of injury, like auto injuries, or just random happenstance.
A serious injury can be life changing, but it doesn’t have to be life-ruining. If you’re struggling to readjust to your new situation there are people who can help you. You might need a physical therapist. There are so many physical therapy benefits and it’s a great way to transition more easily back into good health.
If you’re unfamiliar with physical therapy or what it can do for you, don’t worry. It can be a little bit confusing, but we’re here to help.
Physical therapy is a crucial part of the healthcare field, focusing on recovery from physically traumatic accidents. Physical therapists help patients live full and mobile lives through various training techniques and modalities.
These well-trained professionals, most of whom hold doctorate degrees, know the best practices to restore mobility and functionality. They often work as part of a treatment team, stepping in after a doctor has stabilized or healed an injury to assess the patient’s condition and create a personalized recovery plan. This can include both healing and preventative measures to avoid further injury.
Physical therapy is essential for recovery, offering benefits that regular healthcare alone cannot achieve. For those looking to regain their previous level of activity, even if limited, physical therapists are invaluable. In 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported over 350,000 worker’s compensation cases involving sprains and strains from overexertion. Employees with musculoskeletal injuries often require physical therapy to recover and return to their regular duties.
A lot of different people can benefit from physical therapy, and there are many automobile and work-related injuries that call for physical therapy as an ideal healing mechanism. Even if your specific injury isn’t mentioned, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t qualify. A physical therapist can assess your situation to see if they’re able to help you return to a better quality of life.
Physical therapy can treat, among other things:
Some of these injuries have subcategories containing other injuries within them. If you’re not sure if you fit within one of these categories, seeking out a consultation with a physical therapist is a great first step towards healing
When you first visit a worker’s compensation physical therapist, you will undergo a thorough review of your current care, the circumstances of your injury, and any information provided by your doctor. A treatment plan will then be determined to address your current work-related health issues.
Physical therapy includes a variety of different treatments during your care. Some of these could consist of:
Different forms of exercise may follow some of these services, including some therapies you will learn how to perform on your own in the comfort of your own home.
Your treatment plan will also include educational information on how to avoid hurting yourself again, and what other types of injuries you are at risk of if not careful. Psychological support is another vital piece of your therapy experience because a good New York physical therapist understands emotional health is crucial to healing.
As you can see, physical therapy covers a broad range of care, and therapists in this field may focus on one specialty or many. When you receive your initial referral for treatment, your doctor should explain to you what course of care to expect and the potential benefits of the experience.
Typically, providers in this field of medicine can benefit you in several ways:
It’s standard practice for a primary physician to recommend a local physical therapist because they usually have a working relationship of sorts. This networking between caregivers provides you with an effective collaborative treatment experience that will yield the best results for your injury recovery.
In addition to primary care providers, physical therapists may also coordinate your care with:
The doctor who initially makes your referral to a New York physical therapist will do so according to how seriously you are hurt, and when this type of therapy is appropriate. Frequency can vary widely on a case by case basis, where some patients may need to attend appointments three times a week over the course of several months. It’s critical not to miss any scheduled visits so that you have appropriate documentation of your condition for your worker’s compensation case.
Upon completion of a physical therapy care plan, employees will receive a reevaluation by their referring physician to determine how much improvement in their injury has been made. Further therapy, or even a new treatment approach, may be recommended if more progress needs to be done.
For many, a successful physical therapy experience after a workplace injury depends on the outcome of several factors, including:
Ultimately, a skilled New York physical therapist will prove less costly than surgical alternatives that increase downtime and risks for complications.
While the initial injury was traumatic, the danger doesn’t end there. If you’re not completely healed and rehabilitated from your traumatic auto or work-related injury, you could suffer lasting damages.
Starting physical therapy immediately after your hospital care can be the difference between suffering long-term injuries or living a relatively pain-free life.
Physical therapy can also help prevent long-term damage by preventing you from further hurting yourself.
Improper care and attention to sustained injuries can lead to further injury in the long run. A physical therapist can assess the damage that you present upon arrival and make assumptions about what kind of damage can be expected down the line.
They can use this assessment in your physical therapy to train away from these further injuries.
After you leave the care of your workers’ comp doctor, you can essentially expect that you will no longer be under observation barring the random check-up.
When you seek the help of a physical therapist, you can rest assured that you’re going to get help with your condition for the duration of your healing process. This can let you feel secure in your healing and care.
The healing process doesn’t end when you’re “healed”. If you discover lasting pain years after your injury or car accident, you can return for more physical therapy even if there’s nothing “wrong” that a doctor can fix.
Whether your healing process lasts weeks or years, a physical therapist is going to be able to provide an actionable game plan to help move your healing forward and get rid of your pain.
While you may be unable to continue taking pain-relieving medication for the rest of your life, and you may be unable to seek further care from doctors for the same injury, there are always new ways that a physical therapist can work with you to adjust your care plan and lower your pain levels.
If you suffer from a work-related injury or accident, you might be worried about your condition when you need to get back on the job.
It’s unlikely that you’ll be fully healed after your medical healing period. Still, it can be unsafe to take pain-relieving medication while on the job, primarily if you work in a physically strenuous field, or an area with a lot of heavy machinery.
Work conditioning is a great way to slowly get yourself back “in working order” and prepare yourself for your job.
A physical therapist can assess your situation and the job that you have to try to make a plan for what exercises and therapeutic methods they can use to best suit your needs.
If you go through certain repetitive motions at work that interact negatively with your injury or healing process, your physical therapist can devise an aggressive but cautious healing schedule to retrain you and get you ready for your job.
Jumping directly back into work can lead to further injury if you’re not yet ready for that kind of pressure. A physical therapist can ensure that you get back to work in a timely manner while also maintaining proper safety habits.
One of the best benefits of physical therapy is pain reduction. After an accident, even after you’ve completed the primary part of your healing process, it’s likely that you’re going to be dealing with some residual pain.
Pain management can be handled by a doctor if that’s the route that you decide to go. There’s no shame in taking pain medication, but certain pain medications come with a host of issues, especially if your pain is severe.
Over-the-counter pain medications (and their slightly stronger pharmacy counterparts) can be particularly hard on the liver. While many people take them daily, they are not without their risks.
If you happen to suffer from severe pain, your doctor might instead prescribe you opioid painkillers, which can be incredibly addictive. While they will kill your pain, they can also impair your abilities at work or at home, and you can become dependent on them. They come with heavy side-effects and withdrawals. Some people are allergic to opioids or refrain because of previous addictions.
It’s ideal, if possible, to avoid the need for heavy, long-term painkiller use.
A physical therapist will work gently with the areas that hurt in order to gently ease them back into use. This should reduce the need for long-term and frequent pain medication. It might not get rid of the need altogether, but it will provide another option. It will also provide a selection of coping mechanisms to draw from when you would rather not take pills (or when they’re inaccessible to you).
Physical therapy isn’t just about restoring motion and relieving pain, it can also be about building strength throughout your body. This can be part of the process that helps to prevent future injury.
Physical therapy doesn’t just aid in the recovery process, it can also make you stronger than you were before your accident. Don’t expect to leave physical therapy as a body-builder or distance runner, but you can potentially leave with muscle functionality that you didn’t know you had before.
Physical therapy that focuses on the core is great for overall health and stability. Your core is kind of the “foundation” to the rest of your body when it comes to physical therapy and general strengthening. Your core helps your balance and assists in a lot of your day-to-day motions. A strong core built under the care of a physical therapist will be a major boon to your healing process.
If you’re in the United States, surgery is expensive. Now, some of your medical care might be covered by worker’s compensation or automobile insurance, but are you completely covered?
Also, if you suffer an injury now but don’t feel the real impact of that injury until years in the future, will that surgery still be affordable to you, even if you’re covered now?
That aside, do you want to go through the surgical process? It’s invasive, painful, and requires a long period of aftercare (and likely even more physical therapy).
Some surgery is unavoidable. Sometimes immediately after an accident, you’ll be taken to surgery for emergency care. Physical therapy helps to reduce the need for future surgery.
Strengthening your muscles and working on proper conditioning can provide enough of a robust framework that you can avoid costly surgeries in the future. The extra strength prevents you from future injuries or degeneration over time.
Physical therapy can be a life changing experience after a traumatic accident or work-related injury.
Healing from physical trauma is difficult, but a good physical therapist can make all of the difference.
For more information on finding the right care for you, check out the rest of the blog.
If you think that some of those physical therapy benefits can help you after your injury, you should consider reaching out to a professional as soon as possible. It’s never too soon (or too late) to start the physical therapy process.
Call (888) 590-4030 today to make an appointment with an experienced physical therapy near you who accepts workers’ compensation. Get help now, call now and get on your way to recovery.
Yes. According to a study by researchers at Stanford and Duke, reported on Stanford Medicine, early physical therapy can help lower the risk of long-term opioid use by up to 10%.
The duration of your physical therapy treatment will depend on the type of injuries you have suffered, your reason for undergoing therapy, and the course of treatment that the physical therapist has designed for you.
You don’t need a referral from a doctor; you can find a physical therapist on your own. However, some insurance companies may insist on referral to provide coverage.