Whether you fell from a ladder, slipped at work, or were injured in a car accident, physical therapy may be beneficial for you and help speed up your recovery. Physical therapists are knowledgeable about the musculoskeletal system and the conditions that affect it. Through exercises, stretches, diet, and lifestyle changes, they can help alleviate your pain and condition your body to improve your physical health. If you have been injured in the following accident scenarios, talk to a trusted professional about the physical therapy services that they can offer you. They can evaluate your injury or condition and determine if you are a right candidate. 

As a healthcare professional who offers physical therapy in Bowie, MD services knows, such as one from Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic, everyone can benefit from going to physical therapy sessions. If you are experiencing ongoing pain, see if physical therapy is an option.

You have suffered an accident injury

An injury after a serious accident, whether it’s a car accident or workplace accident, can put your life on hold. While you are recovering, you cannot participate in many activities. Physical therapy sessions can help you recover faster and alleviate your pain. With guidance from a physical therapist, they can target areas of your body that have been affected. Low-impact exercises and stretches can help you gradually increase your strength and functionality again.  

You want to improve your flexibility and mobility

Limited mobility and flexibility is a big issue for many people. Experienced physical therapists have a strong understanding of movement and what treatment methods are best for increasing your range of motion. With a physical therapist’s help, you can become more flexible so that you can reduce any pain and enjoy your favorite activities. They can educate you about stretches you can do. 

You have pain from repetitive motion

For many people, their work-related tasks can put added stress on their body, causing severe pain. Repetitive motions like lifting, pushing and pulling can take a toll on vulnerable joints and muscles. An intensive physical therapy program provides patients relief for chronic pain. 

You want to prevent injury

Strengthening and conditioning your body through physical therapy is a great way to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place. Focusing on your weak areas allows you to stay in top condition so you are less prone to sustaining injuries. This is helpful for elderly individuals, athletes and anyone who wants to maintain their health. 

To learn more about how physical therapy can help you, schedule an appointment today.

What To Expect During Your First Physical Therapy Session

Physical therapy is beneficial for a wide range of conditions. It can help individuals regain their strength following an injury or surgery. It can also improve balance and coordination in individuals with temporary and permanent movement disorders. The first visit for a physical therapy Bowie in MD with a physical therapist determines subsequent treatment and includes multiple steps. 

Interview

During your first visit, your physical therapist will begin by asking you questions to get a sense of your overall health history, the limitations and discomfort you experience due to your condition, and what you hope to achieve through therapy.

Physical Evaluation

After interviewing you, the therapist may touch and move your body parts or ask you to perform movements or activities to determine how well your joints, muscles, and nerves function and assess your:

• Strength
• Coordination
• Flexibility
• Balance
• Range of motion
• Mobility
• Stamina

Treatment Plan

After a thorough evaluation, a physical therapist will propose a treatment plan to help you achieve your goals. Treatments often begin during the first visit and include various modalities. Sessions will usually start with an application of heat to stimulate blood flow and send oxygen and nutrients to the affected areas. Heat increases flexibility in preparation for other treatments that follow.

After applying heat, the therapist may use manual massage techniques to decrease muscle pain and tension and improve circulation. The therapist might also repeatedly move your joints in various directions to help improve your mobility.

Ultrasound is helpful in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. A topical gel on the skin over the affected site helps deliver ultrasound waves to the muscles via a wand to improve blood circulation and promote healing. Light therapy and electrical stimulation can help reduce pain and inflammation and encourage injury healing.

Treatment sessions may also include supervised exercises that you can perform with progressive degrees of intensity as your condition heals or improves. Your sessions will end with an application of ice to control inflammation resulting from therapeutic activities.

Home Exercises

During an initial physical therapy visit to our clinic Mid Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic, your therapist may recommend exercises using special equipment available at the physical therapy site. The therapist will also review home-based exercises you can perform independently between sessions. Discussing the importance of these exercises is a crucial part of your initial visit and will help ensure that you continue to improve and progress between sessions with a therapist.

If an injury or medical condition leaves you unable to enjoy life, schedule an evaluation and initial session with a knowledgeable physical therapist to start on the road toward feeling better.

You may require physical therapy to help you recover from an injury or medical condition that causes pain or limits your mobility. Your therapist will periodically assess your abilities to determine if your therapy is helping you achieve the goals you set during your first visit. 

Typical physical therapy in Bowie, MD goals may include:

• Pain relief
• Better range of motion
• Better balance
• Greater endurance
• More strength

Your therapists may apply one of the following methods to evaluate your progress during physical therapy.

Ask for Your Feedback

One of the most significant ways your therapist can determine if you are progressing in your therapy is to rate your pain level. Before you start your treatment plan, your therapist will ask you to describe your pain’s intensity by assigning it a number on a predetermined scale. As your therapy progresses, your therapist will periodically ask you to rate your current pain level and compare it to the baseline measurement you provided at your first session.

Take Objective Measurements

Your therapist can evaluate your strength, endurance, and range of motion objectively by using various tests. For example, at the start of therapy for a shoulder injury, you may not have been able to lift your arm higher than your rib cage. If you can raise your arm above your head after several weeks of treatment, your therapist can objectively determine that you are improving without asking you.

Therapists also use various kinds of equipment to measure strength, including isokinetic dynamometers that measure muscle strength in the hips, elbows, shoulders, or knees or hand held dynamometers that a patient can squeeze to indicate grip strength.

Observe You While You Are Performing Dynamic Activities

The ability to perform various activities without pain or compensating for a deficiency in strength, flexibility, or balance are additional signs that a physical therapist will look for when assessing your overall progress. Your therapist may ask you to demonstrate your ability to perform various dynamic activities, including walking, bending, or squatting, which demonstrate the degree to which you can support your body weight and maintain balance while shifting your center of gravity. 

The goals for your therapy are established before it begins. Your therapist will determine the best approach to your treatment based upon an initial assessment. Still, a routine evaluation of your progress is necessary to determine if an adjustment to the initial approach will be beneficial or if you have attained your therapy’s maximum benefit.

Contact our experienced physical therapist  at at Mid Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic for your physical therapy in Bowie, MD, we will evaluate your condition and recommend a treatment plan to help you achieve your goals.

Chiropractor 

 Understanding Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care has been used as a reliable treatment for back pain and other health issues for over a century, and yet it’s only just now beginning to gain any sort of mainstream recognition. If more people understood chiropractic, they would be better able to benefit from it. If you’ve been thinking about trying out a safe, affordable, and all-natural treatment option in order to improve your sense of well-being and enhance your health on an overall scale, you really should be looking into getting chiropractic adjustments from a Chiropractor.

What’s the Science Behind Chiropractic?

How can chiropractic benefit the body without relying on medication and by only using natural techniques? Chiropractic focuses primarily on maintaining the health of the spinal column. The spine houses the central nervous system, protecting it so it can facilitate communication between the body and the brain. When the spine is in its proper alignment, the central nervous system is able to function well.

However, the spine can suffer from misalignments, which are known as vertebral subluxations, due to a variety of causes such as falls, auto accidents, and muscle strains. These subluxations not only cause pain and discomfort in the body, but they disrupt the signals going between the body and the brain, which lead to a breakdown in many of the body’s other functions. As a result, issues with sleep, digestion, energy, and even stress can start to occur.

Various Chiropractic Techniques

A Chiropractor such as Ameriwell clinics, deploys a variety of chiropractic techniques, including CBD oil. Patients can choose one or more of these to address their issues. Some of the chiropractic adjustments can expect include:

Diversified technique: Widely used, this technique entails a high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust at a joint (quick, shallow thrusts that cause the popping noise).

Thompson technique: A variation of the Diversified technique, the Thompson technique uses a segmented table with drop pieces as your doctor delivers high-velocity, low amplitude, and low-force to fully adjust your spine.

Using an activator: This technique employs a small, handheld instrument called an activator. It applies a quick, low level of force to specific points on the body. These impulses dampen muscle resistance to treatment

Extremity Adjustments: While many think of back and neck issues when they consider chiropractic care, it also addresses the needs of hands, feet, wrists, and ankles. These areas see repetitive and intense movement and experience strain as much if not more so than anywhere else on the body. By addressing issues in the limbs, extremity adjustments can reduce pain and increase articulation.

Pelvic Blocking: This technique addresses pelvic or hip misalignments. Often, such issues can cause problems with the lower back, knees, and other areas.

Each of these methods alone or in combination with each other helps patients manage and lessen their chronic pain. Also, they provoke the body’s natural healing process making it more receptive and able to recover after injury or everyday wear and tear. Thus, using chiropractic adjustments regularly allows patients to stay active, strengthen their muscles, improve their mobility and range of motion, and be aware of how to keep themselves healthy over the long-term.

Consult a Chiropractor 

Chiropractic care is often a solution for a variety of different types of pain. If you have a medical issue you’re not sure what to do with, chiropractic care could be the answer. 

Chiropractic Car Accident Care

There are more than 6 million car accidents in the U.S. every year. Thankfully, the number of fatalities has gone down in recent years, but nearly 4.5 million people are seriously injured in car crashes every year.

Knee injuries account for about 10 percent of car accident injuries. People seated in the front side passenger seat are particularly susceptible, as their knees often slam into the car’s dashboard upon impact. The knee is the largest joint in the body, and though neck and back injuries are more common in car crashes, knee injuries can be just as serious.

The Most Common Knee Injuries Suffered by Accident Victims

• • Torn Meniscus. The two menisci in each knee are actually cartilage that serve as a cushion between the shin bone (tibia) and the thigh bone (femur). The cartilage can tear when the knee is under stress, and the pain and swelling will make it difficult to extend the knee.
  • Kneecap Fractures. When involved in head-on or side-impact collisions, victims could crack, break or shatter their kneecap (patella).
  • Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). The ACL connects your shin bone and thigh bone. When the ACL tears away from the knee joint, there will be much pain, and surgery will likely be required.
  • Dislocated Knee. This occurs when the kneecap becomes misaligned with the shin and/or thigh bone.
  • Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) Injuries. Located in the back of your knee, the PCL keeps your shin bone from moving too far backwards. When the front of your knee takes a huge hit while in a bent position (like when a passenger’s knee hits the dashboard), your PCL can be damaged.

What Are Your Treatment Options?

In many cases, car accident victims experiencing knee pain may be asked to engage in physical therapy, take painkillers and, if those fail, prepare for surgery.

A Proven Alternative – Chiropractic Care 

Another option that is increasingly popular is chiropractic care. Following extensive examinations and testing, including x-rays, most chiropractors will examine not only the knee but also your lower back, pelvis, hip, ankle and feet due to the direct impact they have on the knee. They will discuss a treatment plan with you that likely includes exercises and gentle chiropractic manipulation and mobilization techniques, as well as laser or ultrasound therapies to reduce the pain and increase your range of motion.

Car accident victims have many options to consider, as a chiropractor, like a car accident treatment professional in Glen Burnie, MD, at a practice like Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic, can explain.