Common Injuries After Car Accidents & How Physical Therapy Can Help

20-50 million people are injured or disabled due to car accidents each year. Car accidents can be extremely stressful, burdensome and financially costly. Most people who have been in a car crash don’t immediately feel symptoms like pain or immobility. Typically symptoms won’t be felt until days or even weeks after the accident. Seeking treatment as soon as possible is important to ensure that these pain symptoms do not become chronic. 

Common injuries after a car accident include: 

• Whiplash

• Headaches 

• Back Pain

• Neck Pain

• Shoulder Pain

• Knee Pain

Of all potential injuries, whiplash is the most reported after a traffic collision. With this type of neck pain, there are multiple variables involved that can contribute to the severity, recovery time and overall impact on your life. 

Common symptoms associated with whiplash may include:

• Stiffness to neck, arms, upper back, and even the face

• Numbness into arms, neck and upper back

• Headache, dizziness, nausea

• Feelings of general weakness

• Altered sleeping habits and patterns

• Difficulty with concentration

It’s important to seek out physical therapy as soon as possible after a car accident. Although you may the immediate onset of pain or symptoms of injury, these symptoms may bring forth pain and mobility problems as time goes on.

Why Physical Therapy? 

Physical therapists are musculoskeletal experts, well-suited to treat the underlying musculoskeletal injuries that may have occurred as a result of a car accident. At Therapydia, our physical therapists work with you one-on-one to conduct a comprehensive head-to-toe analysis with the goal of developing a custom treatment program that is unique to your condition and individual needs. 

The goal of physical therapy is to help you repair and strengthen damaged muscles and tissues. In more severe neurological cases, your physical therapist can help you relearn everyday activities such as brushing your teeth or opening a door. 

Throughout your car accident injury treatment program, your physical therapist may incorporate techniques such as: 

• Manual therapy to mobilize joints, decrease scar tissue, reduce inflammation and promote tissue healing.

• Custom exercises to address neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, spine dysfunction or weakness.

• Postural training to resolve pain in the neck, shoulders and back.

Your physical therapist will work to strengthen and stabilize any weakened areas of the body to get to the root cause of your injury and make sure that you can walk away without having to worry about re-injury or lasting symptoms.

At Therapydia, we offer same and next day appointments. If you have been injured in a car accident, seek out physical therapy as soon as possible in order to resolve your pain and dysfunction most efficiently.