Accident Rehabilitation

The greatest tragedy that we can encounter in our lives is an accident. Some people meet an accident once in their lives while some are unfortunate to meet it several times. An accident sometimes becomes our greatest nightmares and leaves a chronic yet remarkable change in our bodies. 

While there has been an incredible rise in the cases of road accidents, we must follow all the traffic rules to avoid such misfortune. But what if the accident has already befallen us? What should we do next? While spending days on the hospital bed, your body will go through many changes and a lot of medical assistance will be provided to you.

However, you will still suffer a loss of muscle strength. The muscles of your body may not function as before, but there is always a way out of every problem, right? You can regain the strength of your body muscles through rehabilitation. 

What is Accident Rehabilitation?

Accident rehabilitation is basically a process in which a physiotherapist or a team of healthcare professionals helps you to restore your health or strength after you've met an accident by providing you with a series of training and techniques so that you may regain maximum self-sufficiency.  

Importance of Rehabilitation

This process is vital for you to get back the lost muscle strength and it is best done through physiotherapists in Hamilton. The rehabilitation steps are decided based on the severity of the injury caused by the accident. While doctors suggest some exercises and therapy to your family to help you perform them at home once you are discharged from the hospitals. Rehabilitation is best done under the supervision of the physiotherapist in Hamilton.

An accident doesn’t only incur the loss of health but your wealth is equally affected.  The long hospital bills, medicine charges, and all the other expenses make you regret your accident twice. But, you are fortunate enough if you have already claimed your accident benefits in your insurance policy. 

What is Accident Benefit?

Accident benefit is primarily designed to provide you assistance after you've met an accident and the benefits converge vary by province. Generally, accident benefits coverage will include your medical and rehabilitation expenses; if you are no longer eligible to work as a result of your injury then the compensation of the loss of your income is also covered. If you are killed in the accident then the funeral expenses and compensation for your family members are also covered in it. 

Depending on the place you reside you can add or limit your accident benefits coverage and for this, you should also review your policy plan. So, what do you need next for claiming the benefit? You must report your accident to your insurance company within several days of the accident; if you fail to report it in a reasonable amount of time your claim may not be honored. 

Next, keep all your facts at hand. When you contact your policy agent or the company, the representatives are likely to ask several questions such as the name of the registered person, your auto insurance policy number; details of your vehicle such as your vehicle model number, plate number, and your driving license number and so on. They will also take note of the details of your accident, like the time and location of the accident, extent of your injury, extent of damage caused to your vehicle, and so on. 

What is Whiplash?

An accident is likely to cause you several types of injuries and most common of all is whiplash. It’s just another name for the muscle, ligament, and tendon injuries that are common in car accidents. During the accident, the sudden and abnormal movements of your car strain your muscles and other soft tissues of the body without causing a fracture. This causes whiplash which can be very painful and can be treated with the assistance of a physiotherapist. Other common injuries are head injuries, scrapes and cuts, knee trauma, broken ribs, and others.  

Physiotherapy is involved in the process of rehabilitation; the treatment differs as per the severity of the injury and the stage of injury. If you are at an acute stage then light stretching exercises will be provided which will be followed by the strengthening exercises. Physiotherapists in Hamilton will provide you with therapy from the acute stage to your recovery. It is best to take precautions to avoid accidents because an accident brings nothing but a spate of pain. 

Also Read:  Surgery Rehabilitation - All You Need to Know

Stages Of Accident Rehabilitation 

Rest and Protect the Injury

The first step is always to minimize any further damage and let the body heal naturally in the initial phase to reduce inflammation and pain caused by injury. This usually includes adequate rest, using a protective case, sling, and various other medications. Your recovery process has begun!

Recover Your Motion

You’ll likely experience swelling or pain followed by an injury or surgery, restricting your body movement. Soft tissue and joint mobilization training is an important part of rehabilitation and plays a big role in recovery. At this point your training and activity shouldn’t go too far and neither should they start way early as both of these can potentially reverse the healing process instead of fostering it. 

A professional physiotherapist will effectively avoid this and will help get your range of motion back over time. 

Recover Your Strength

It is important to set goals for minimizing muscle loss and strength recovery in a rehabilitation program. Exercises like stationary cycling, pool exercises, or gentle exercise may be recommended for maintaining endurance. The keys to maximizing recovery are maintaining good form and proper technique

Recover Your Function

The final stage in accident rehabilitation is recovering injury-specific parts of the body to get functioning and return to motion. This final stage may include agility, restoring balance and coordination, and gradual progress of getting back to normal.

Author - Denish Tamakuwala

Denish Tamakuwala is a Physiotherapist and Clinic Director at Innova Physio. He is a Registered Physiotherapist with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Science. He obtained a Diploma degree (honours) in Fitness & Health Promotion from Humber College. He possesses extensive knowledge and practical experience in therapy and rehabilitation treatment. Apart from assisting his patients through physiotherapy, he loves to compose informational articles to educate the mass.