A Physical Therapist’s Guide to Navigating Back Pain after a Car Accident
A car accident is traumatizing, stressful and financially costly. It can leave mental, emotional and physical trauma. While dealing with the damage to your property, you may be recovering from physical injuries. A common complaint after a car accident is back pain. If left untreated, it can persist and worsen resulting in significant interruptions in your daily life.
Car Accidents cause sudden and forceful movements and impact to the body, leading to several injuries. Some common back injuries sustained in car accidents apart from major traumas are; whiplash, contusion, muscle strains or disc herniations. Oftentimes, the symptoms do not occur immediately as you sit there digesting what actually happened. The pain will often occur several hours to a couple of days after the accident. Back pain after a car accident can be debilitating and limiting. Your Lumbar spine is the origin of the nerves that supply information to your legs. It is crucial to recognize that professional care is needed to address back pain and injury and start your journey to recovery.
If you need immediate care on the site of the accident, emergency services will help guide you through the right steps. An assessment at the emergency room may be warranted with serious issues needing hospitalizations. In the event of non life threatening injuries, you may be directed to urgent care as needed. In cases when the pain occurs hours after the accident, a visit to the urgent care or orthopedist and physical therapist is appropriate. Physical Therapy plays a vital role in your recovery from back pain after a car accident. Physical Therapists are experts of the musculoskeletal system and can understand the impact of the trauma to the body.
Guide For back Pain Treatment After a Car Accident
Assessment
Physical therapists will provide a comprehensive assessment to determine the extent of the injury, the areas affected and determine the right diagnosis. Your physical therapist will then craft an individualized treatment plan to address your complaints of back pain after a car accident.
Treatments
Manual Therapy – Manual hands on treatment for the back pain such as soft tissue mobilization or spinal mobilization can help restore range of motion in low back, relieve tight tissues, alleviate pain, facilitate blood flow and promote healing.
- Active Range of Motion – Using several treatment methods like the McKenzie Method, your therapist will provide the tools and knowledge needed to restore active and pain free mobility to the lumbar spine so you can participate in your day to day life.
- Strengthening – Targeted and graded strengthening exercises to restore strength to weakened muscles, enhance abdominal support and stability can alleviate pain and improve overall function.
Stretching – Targeted stretching exercises are critical in addressing muscle tightness of the mid back, back, hip and leg muscles to improve spine alignment and reduce back pain after car accidents. - Patient Education – A Key piece in recovery and rehabilitation for back pain after car accidents is patient education. A physical therapist can advise you proper ergonomics at work, lifting/carrying and other household tasks to alleviate pain. A physical therapist can also teach you proper body mechanics for future prevention of injuries.
- Functional training – Progressive rehabilitation to guide the patient back to the activities of choice is critical to recovering from back pain after a car accident. A physical therapist can provide the right instructions on progressing to achieving your goals at each stage of rehabilitation with functional and task specific training.
Recovering from Back pain after a car accident requires patience and expert guidance. A physical therapist is your partner in care with goals to help you rehabilitate and education to empower you to resume an active pain free lifestyle. If you or your loved one are experiencing back pain after a car accident, reach out to us on 212-706-7480 or info@physisrehab.com to take the proactive step towards long lasting recovery.
