Work related injuries are almost always unexpected, and frustrating. Millions of these injuries occur around the world every day, often in ways that feel mundane or unexpected. Approximately 30% of all work injury costs are due to musculoskeletal disorders. These disorders are often also called “repetitive stress injuries” or “repetitive motion injuries.”
Physical therapy is a common treatment option for those who have been injured at work. That’s because physical therapy is a non-invasive way to address many injuries. And as a non-invasive treatment, physical therapy offers significant benefits with few drawbacks.
Which means physical therapy for work related injuries should often be the first treatment of choice.
How Does Physical Therapy for Work Related Injuries Help?
A work-related injury includes any injury you receive while you’re on the clock or as a direct result of your job. This could include traumatic injuries, including cuts and lacerations, broken bones, and so on. These are the typical “worker’s comp” injuries you might usually think about. But work-related injuries can also include overextension, strains, and soft tissue damage from collisions or falls. These injuries can often be harder to see.
Slips and falls are among the most common work-related injuries. Many of these injuries impact bones, nerves, ligaments, and other soft tissue such as muscle. Addressing these injuries often begins with physical therapy, which are treatments designed to improve your strength, promote healing, and rehabilitate your body after an injury.
If you’ve experienced a workplace injury, physical therapy may be helpful in the following ways:
- Strengthening of the Muscles: Many physical therapy exercises are designed to build muscle. This can be particularly beneficial in several regards. First, muscle mass can help you resist injuries. Second, some injuries may cause atrophy due to loss of mobility. If you injure your left arm, for example, you may stop using itttt, and that can cause muscle loss. Strength building can help reverse that atrophy and restore strength to the impacted muscle.
- Get you ready for work: As a physical therapy patient, one of your goals is likely to return to work (and your normal day-to-day life) as quickly as possible. If you do this on your own with no supervision, you might push yourself too hard and aggravate your injury. Often, setbacks like this can be more frustrating than your initial injury! Physical therapy can take an aggressive, yet cautious approach, returning you to work as soon as it is safe to do so. This helps ensure you don’t lose any time to setbacks.
- Helping you regain mobility: Injuries can cause joints and limbs to stiffen and tighten. This can drastically reduce your overall mobility. Physical therapy can be calibrated to return flexibility to these impacted areas. As a result, physical therapy sessions will often improve your overall range of motion. Stiff limbs can make climbing stairs or ladders painful and difficult. This can seriously diminish your ability to do your job. With physical therapy, you’ll be able to be more active–and work with less pain.
- Rehabilitate after an injury: Physical therapy is designed to help you get back to your old self. Sometimes that will happen directly after an injury. In other cases, rehabilitation can occur after other treatment or surgery, for example.
When Should You Seek Physical Therapy?
If you’ve been injured on the job, it’s important to seek the appropriate care. In cases of overextension or stress-related musculoskeletal injuries, physical therapy for work related injuries is a good first stop.
There are several reasons for this. Physical therapy has very few downsides and a wide variety of benefits. Often, more extreme or invasive treatments are only attempted after physical therapy has failed to yield results. In most cases, however, physical therapy can generate significant symptom reduction on its own.
In many cases, physical therapy provided right after your injury can help prevent further injury and trauma. In other cases, it will simply help you feel better faster!
Get Your Physical Therapy First
If you’re injured on the job, New York state laws require your employer to pay for your care. True, it can sometimes take some time to sort out the details, but you should not delay your care, as this can decrease your quality of life and risk aggravating your injury.
Our office has over 30 years of experience helping patients find relief. And we can help you navigate the system so you can get care as quickly as possible.
If you have questions about what your physical therapy may entail–or the best way to get back on the job most quickly, contact Diaspo Chiropractic and Physical Therapy to schedule a consultation!
