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Accident victim physical therapy: Two injuries it can treat

There are many types of accidents a person could be involved in on any given day. For example, you could get into a car accident on the way to work, or you could injure yourself in a workplace accident. No matter what type of accident you’re involved in, physical therapy can help. There are two types of injuries in particular that physical therapy for accident victims can help treat.

Muscle injuries

One type of injury that physical therapy for accident victims can treat is muscle injuries. You have muscles in almost every area of your body, and they’re critical to your ability to move. An accident can lead to several common types of muscle injuries.

For example, a car accident can lead to strained neck muscles. An accident at work can leave you with a torn muscle in your back, leg or shoulder. To help treat such injuries, physical therapists can use techniques like manual therapy. This method uses hands-on movements to stretch muscles and massage muscles, and these movements can also help break down scar tissue as the injured muscle heals.

Herniated discs

Another common injury caused by accidents is a herniated disc, and physical therapy for accident victims can help treat this painful issue. A disc is the pillowlike structure between two spinal vertebrae. Like a pillow, discs have a flexible outer covering and a softer interior, and damage to the outer covering during an accident can allow the interior to poke out or herniate. The material poking out of the disc can then irritate spinal nerves and cause many other issues.

Physical therapists can help accident victims treat herniated discs, and one therapy method that’s often used for such injuries is therapeutic exercise. Typically, the exercises included in your therapy plan will consist of two types. One type will be stretching exercises, and these are designed to relieve tension in muscles. In turn, reducing the muscle tension can put less stress on the herniated disc.

The second type of exercise typically used in herniated disc treatment is strengthening exercises. As the name implies, these exercises are intended to strengthen the muscles around the injured spinal disc. This strengthening is helpful because it can provide increased support for the injured area.

Armor Physical Therapy offers effective physical therapy for accident victims

If you’re an accident victim looking for physical therapy, look no further than our Armor Physical Therapy team in southwest Michigan. We offer free screenings, and these can help you determine how you’ve been injured. Our team can then create a personalized treatment plan to target your injury and its symptoms. This plan will contain multiple therapy methods, and some of these therapies may include options such as: