Whether you’re a student athlete, weekend warrior, or active enthusiast, sports injuries happen. From a pulled muscle to a torn ligament or broken bone, the list of potential damage to your body when you’re active can go on and on. If the unfortunate occurs and an injury happens, you’ll want to heal quickly and physical therapy is one of the most successful ways to get back in the game fast.
How Does Physical Therapy Help with Injury Recovery?
It’s no doubt that physical therapy plays a crucial role in healing from a sports injury. Similarly, many doctors prescribe physical therapy for surgical rehabilitation. But how does it all work? What benefits does physical therapy bring to the recovery process and how can it help you get back on track?
Pain Management in Sports Injury Recovery
Besides medication, physical therapy serves to reduce inflammation through hot and cold therapy or electrical stimulation. This can help alleviate pain and encourage your body’s healing response.
Strength Building After an Injury
Anyone who has experienced an injury can attest to the fact that muscle loss occurs quickly. Not only does this make the area more susceptible to further injury but it also reduces the ability to heal. Targeted physical therapy exercises can rebuild the muscles around the injury and restore strength.
Post-Injury: How to Restore Mobility & Flexibility
Physical therapy also assists with reaching pre-injury flexibility and mobility. After an injury, many people accommodate the weakened area with habits that can later become ingrained. It’s important to encourage mobility as it was before the injury, rather than compensating for the new lack of mobility. For instance, after a broken leg is healed, muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the leg need to be strengthened and loosened in order to move like you did before the injury. Many people rush to get back to action and might rely more on the other leg instead of returning the injured leg to its correct form and function.
The same goes for flexibility. Physical therapy largely focuses on restoring the range of motion and flexibility in the injured area, as well as assessing and correcting any other areas in the body that may have been affected by the injury. Post-surgical rehab at a physical therapy center can also reduce scar tissue and teach techniques to avoid future injuries.
Best Physical Therapist for Sports Injuries Near Me
At Florence Rehabilitation Center, our team has decades of experience with sports injuries. Our talented sports injury physical therapists design effective personalized treatment plans and sport-specific rehabilitation programs. The goal is to get you back to your pre-injury physical state through a combination of manual therapies, hot and cold treatments, and strength, flexibility, mobility, and endurance exercises. Due to the nature of injuries, a weakened physical area is more likely to be reinjured. With that in mind, during your recovery, our PTs incorporate injury prevention by perfecting your form and strengthening the injury site itself, as well as other weaker or injury-prone areas. Contact us today and our sports injury specialists will help you return to your sport stronger and faster than ever before!
