Can Physical Therapy Treat Old Auto Accident Injuries?
Is the pain from an old car accident still nagging at you? You should do something about it! Old injuries that are left untreated can cause chronic issues that can last a lifetime.
But which injuries are the most important to focus on and can a physical therapist from Impact Medical Sun City Center help treat these old accident injuries? Keep reading to find out!
Physical Therapy for Old Injuries
If you are dealing with pain or discomfort from an old car accident injury, there is a good chance that physical therapy can help.
Old injuries often respond to physical therapy because oftentimes, the initial injury left a specific area of your body weakened, and it never fully recovered. Let’s say that your ankle was sprained from the force of the accident, and there was damage to the lateral ankle ligaments that support the ankle joint. If that injury never fully heals, you may experience weakness and pain in your ankle, and it might not be able to support as much weight without giving out. This puts you at greater risk of another injury.
Another issue with leaving an old injury unaddressed is that other body parts must make up for the deficit. If your ankle is weak, your foot, calf, and leg muscles will have to handle more stress to help stabilize your injured ankle. Therefore, it is so important to treat these old injuries with physical therapy.
Physical therapy can be beneficial for old muscle and soft tissue injuries because even though they have been unaddressed for a long time, the ligaments and tendons still tend to respond well to targeted care. In fact, it is never too late to strengthen your ligaments or supportive tendons. Once treated, odds are that your chronic pain and discomfort will begin to decrease.
The Importance of Physical Therapy
Ideally, you should seek physical therapy for car accident injuries immediately. Doing so helps ensure that your injuries are properly diagnosed and then treated appropriately. Seeking early treatment allows your body to heal, preventing unwanted complications or chronic pain in the future.
Physical therapy helps to:
- Maintain your range of motion and structural integrity of your body
- Strengthen the tissues around the injury
- Enhance and speed up recovery time
- Decrease the risk of re-injury, chronic pain, and arthritis
Remember, if you failed to receive treatment for pain from an old auto accident and it has developed into chronic pain, it is not too late to seek treatment.
Research shows that seeking physical therapy for old injuries can decrease the severity of symptoms. Strength training, flexibility work, and endurance training can all reduce chronic pain.
Preventing Long-Term Damage
Unfortunately, as you may have discovered, car accidents can cause lingering pain if injuries are not treated right away. If you begin physical therapy immediately following your accident, you are much more likely to live without chronic pain. In fact, a study found that patients who did not receive care in a timely manner after a car accident are far more likely to suffer from degenerative disc disease, than those who received immediate care.
Car Accident Treatment Done Right
Physical therapy is an excellent form of injury treatment. If you are suffering from chronic pain or discomfort from an old car accident injury, it’s time to get relief! At Impact Medical Sun City Center, our physical therapists can help you regain mobility, strength, and endurance and treat the old injury so you can move forward pain-free.
Say goodbye to chronic pain and hello to relief! Call Impact Medical Sun City Center to schedule a physical therapy consultation today; (813) 938-5195!