From broken bones to torn muscle tissues, accident injuries come in all shapes and sizes—and levels of severity. But if you’ve been hurt, it’s always important to proceed with caution and consider the benefits that physical therapy can offer. Providing comprehensive rehabilitation care for patients in Kenai, AK, MediCenter highlights a few major reasons to start a physical therapy program after an accident.

The Benefits of Physical Therapy After an Accident

1. Professional Evaluation

If you’ve been involved in a serious accident, it’s important to visit a family doctor for a complete evaluation. Through physical assessment and medical imaging, these physicians can pinpoint problems that haven’t caused any noticeable symptoms yet—such as whiplash resulting from a car accident. Based on the check-up, your doctor may recommend starting a physical therapy program.

Throughout treatment, a physical therapist will work with you to monitor the progress of your recovery and look for additional stress that may have resulted from the accident. Under this specialized care, you can have greater peace of mind knowing that a skilled professional is guiding your recovery in a safe manner. Without it, you may end up experiencing chronic pain or low mobility that is not as receptive to treatment later in the process.

2. Natural Healing & Non-Invasive Pain Relief

While rest is often an important part of the accident recovery process, it’s also important to keep the body active. However, since abrupt movement and exercise can make an injury worse, it’s best to seek guidance from a physical therapist.

Thanks to their intensive knowledge of the musculoskeletal system, these specialists understand how to stretch and strengthen joints and tissues to speed up healing. They may also teach you safe techniques for pain management without having to rely on medications.

3. Injury Prevention

Even if you aren’t experiencing pain or mobility issues after an accident, there is a high likelihood that underlying tissues and joints have been compromised by the incident. If another incident occurs, it’s possible that these weak areas of the body could succumb to a severe injury.

By keeping you active in a controlled environment, physical therapy programs allow these weakened areas to regain their ability in a gradual manner. As such, you will avoid placing the injured area under unnecessary stress, while also strengthening tissues to keep them healthy in the future.

Waiting to seek medical care after an accident can make recovery more difficult. Fortunately, patients on the Kenai Peninsula can turn to MediCenter for responsive, effective, and gentle rehabilitative care. Under the treatment of skilled physicians, this urgent care center will quickly assess your condition to get you on the best path to recovery. If necessary, the clinic’s physical therapy program can provide customized treatment to address your specific injuries. You can learn more about these exceptional services online or by calling (907) 283-9118 to schedule an appointment at their facility.