Car accidents, slips and falls, workplace accidents, and bicycle crashes are a few types of personal injury cases that cause painful injuries. Injuries may include soft tissue damage, broken bones, herniated discs, shoulder injuries, brain injuries, and whiplash.
The treatment plan for these and other injuries typically includes physical therapy. A physical therapist can help treat chronic pain caused by injuries and assist a person in regaining mobility and flexibility in the affected body part.
Four Ways a Physical Therapist Treats Pain Caused by an Injury
Your treatment plan will address your specific injuries and may include one or more therapies. For example, it could include a combination of therapeutic exercise, soft tissue mobilization, manual therapy, and electrical stimulation.
Four common therapies used by physical therapists to help relieve pain include:
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Therapeutic Exercise
You might think that exercise will cause more pain related to your injury. However, exercise can help manage pain by:
- Increasing stability in the joints
- Improving endurance
- Increasing flexibility in the joints and muscles
- Strengthening the muscles
Therapeutic exercise is targeted exercise. Your physical therapist designs an exercise routine tailored to target the areas that can help relieve chronic pain.
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Massage After Ice/Heat Treatments
Ice and heat are common ways to treat pain. Ice is effective when the pain arises from inflammation and swelling. Heat can alleviate pain associated with muscle spasms, cramps, and muscle tightness. A physical therapist may use ice and heat with massage therapies to treat pain.
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Dry Needling
Dry needling can reduce pain caused by a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, including whiplash, lower back pain, and shoulder pain.
A physical therapist inserts thin needles into the trigger point near your injury (painful knots in muscles, connective tissue, or ligaments). The needles are either solid filiform needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles. Both are small and generally do not cause pain.
Dry needling is sometimes used alongside electronic stimulation. An electrical current is transferred to the muscle through the needle to accelerate pain relief.
The benefits of dry needling include:
- Minimally invasive
- Outpatient treatment
- Decreases muscle tension and tone
- Electronic stimulation stimulates blood flow to provide analgesic effects that numb pain
- It may be used as a standalone treatment or as part of a physical therapy plan of care
After dry needling, a patient’s range of motion should improve. The patient should also experience decreased pain and tightness.
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Cupping Therapy
Inflammation and injuries can negatively impact the fluidity of tissues, resulting in pain. Cupping therapy can be effective in reducing pain and inflammation. It creates space within tissues through negative pressure to improve mobility.
A physical therapist uses cups to create suction on specific target areas. They may glide the cups over the target area to provide a deep tissue massage.
There are several forms of cupping that have been used for thousands of years in numerous cultures. However, dry cupping is commonly used by physical therapists in the United States.
Cupping leaves dark, red circles the size of the cup on the skin. Those circles usually fade within two to three days after the procedure. Many patients report feeling less pain and experiencing increased mobility after receiving this type of physical therapy.
How Do I Know If I Need Physical Therapy After a Personal Injury Accident?
Your physician will discuss whether physical therapy is necessary to help you heal after an accident or injury. They may even refer you to a physical therapist for an evaluation. The physical therapist will ask questions and perform various physical tests to determine the source of your pain.
Physical therapy is a non-invasive, effective way to manage pain. Accordingly, many doctors refer patients for physical therapy instead of using pharmaceutical interventions such as opioids.
You may include the cost of physical therapy for pain management in a personal injury claim. However, insurance companies may question non-traditional forms of physical therapy, including cupping and dry needling, asserting that they are not proven forms of pain management.
Your physician’s detailed medical documentation and continued treatment can help substantiate a claim for physical therapy after an accident. However, if the insurance company refuses to pay for this treatment, you may want to seek legal advice regarding your options for a claim against the party who caused your injury.