Physical Therapy for Neck Pain After a Car Accident in Brooklyn

Common Auto Accident Injuries

The incredible forces at work in car accidents can result in a long list of varied injuries. Some of the most common are head injuries, chest injuries, broken bones, internal bleeding, and whiplash.

It might surprise you to hear that whiplash is a genuine injury since it has a bit of a reputation for being an injury that people fake in court hearings to try and sue people.

Despite some people’s abuse of the term, whiplash is a real condition. It occurs when your car abruptly stops by hitting something, throwing your head forward and stretching the muscles and ligaments in your neck to an extreme degree.

For whiplash and many other of common car accident injuries in Brooklyn, you’ll need to see a physical therapist to recover to normal health.

Physical Therapy for Whiplash & Neck Pain: What Does PT Do?

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, physical therapists are “movement experts who optimize the quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.”

Physical therapists use a variety of physiotherapy techniques for neck pain and other injuries. Many injuries heal best if you avoid using them while they improve. However, some injuries heal better if there is more mobility in the injured body part.

Physical therapy exercises for neck injuries and other injuries are ideal when exercise actually speeds up recovery.

Without careful physical therapy after car accidents, you can potentially end up with permanently impaired functionality in recovered body parts. While surgery can sometimes treat such injuries as well, physical therapy is a wonderful first approach that often makes surgery unnecessary.

Exercises for Neck and Shoulder Pain: Physical Therapy Techniques

Let’s take a look at neck pain therapy. While the exercises appropriate for each part of the body differ, taking a look at physical therapy for neck injuries can give you a general idea of what treatment from a physical therapist looks like.

There are three basic kinds of physical therapy exercises. The first is the strengthening exercises that build robust muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints. The second is stretching exercises that promote limber muscles and joints. Lastly are aerobic exercises, which develop the cardiovascular system.

Exercises for the shoulders and neck generally focus on strengthening and stretching rather than aerobic training. The following exercises should not be performed if you’re injured without the supervision of a professional physical therapist.

You can use the following rule of thumb to guide your exercises. Discomfort and difficulty are acceptable during exercise. They can even make you stronger.

However, actual pain is a signal that you need to stop. Exercising through pain risks further injury. This can reduce your body’s functionality rather than increasing it. That’s the exact opposite of the point of the exercise!

Stretching the Neck

One great exercise to stretch your neck starts with you sitting up straight in a chair. Hold onto the bottom of your chair with one hand, and turn your head away from that anchoring hand. Slowly pull your neck away from it until you feel it stretching your neck.

Remember to stop if there’s any pain, but gradually stretch your neck farther and farther, for about 20 seconds each time.

You can also stretch simply by turning your head one way and then the other. While this movement is trivial in the uninjured, it can be difficult after an accident.

Strengthening the Neck

Most strengthening exercises don’t directly target the neck, though a good physical therapist can help you zero in on that area.

To indirectly strengthen your neck, stand up straight and pull your shoulder blades together firmly. As always, avoid going so far as to cause actual pain, but pull your shoulders back strongly and hold your position for at least 5 seconds at a time.

How Can a Physical Therapist Help After an Auto Accident?

A car accident can cause an incredible number of complex injuries. While some injuries will be completely obvious to you, others may be more subtle. To find all of your injuries, it’s important to have a no-fault doctor in Brooklyn examine you.

On top of that, even obvious injuries may require therapy and other forms of treatment that you don’t know about.

A physical therapist is essential to recover from some of the injuries you may have received in an auto accident. Also, Brooklyn physical therapy is covered by no-fault insurance, so you don’t need to worry about paying our-pocket expenses for PT.

Finding Car Accident Physical Therapy Near Me

Google is a great general-purpose tool, but you can find far better results by using a tool specialized just for finding injury doctors Brooklyn, NY.

With this Find a Car Accident Doctor tool, you can quickly find a long list of doctors right in Brooklyn, including physical therapists. Not only will you be able to quickly find your options, but you’ll also see what languages each doctor speaks. You can also locate each doctor’s working locations and book an appointment to meet with them right then and there.

Get the Very Best Care to Speed Your Recovery

We hope you learned something helpful about physical therapy for neck pain in this brief piece.

Call (800) 897-8440 today to find an experienced Brooklyn auto injury doctor near you. No-fault insurance is accepted and same-day appointments may be available. Don’t delay call now and get on your way to recovery.