At our practice we see many patients suffering from spinal pain, shoulder pain, ankle, hip, wrist pain and other musculoskeletal conditions. When an individual sustains an injury there are very specific events that have to happen to ensure that a condition does not become chronic. So here are 5 tips to make sure that you have a full recovery from any injury:
1) Never use PAIN as a gauge for your recovery. Some patients stop their rehabilitation process early when their pain is gone but unfortunately this is just the beginning of their rehabilitation process. Joints, muscles, and tendon/ligaments have to be strong, maintain complete flexibility, and must be able to sustain stress and tension in a progressive way that requires time and stress loading.
2) 24 hours after an injury the worst thing that an individual can do for an injury is to rest. The body needs help to assure recovery. Supporting musculature which aids to recovery will atrophy very quickly if not activated.
3) Your insurance company is wrong. Never let your injury be dictated by your insurance company. Insurance companies continue to limit approved amounts for therapy while making it more expensive for you to receive care. Listen to your therapist as to the appropriate amount of therapy and most importantly follow your treatment plan regardless of what your insurance allows. Many times arrangements can be made so that total cost for therapy is way less than what insurance wants to dictate. Make the investment in yourself. No one wants re-occuring instances for the same injury.
4) Prevention is more important than anything to make sure that injuries do not occur. Make sure that you have a physical therapy preventative injury assessment at least on time a year. This is a physical examination to identify vulnerable areas of inflexibility, weakness, joint restriction, and high risk body ergonomics and movement. It is very possible to reduce your risk of injury by identifying imbalances within your body.
5) Don’t wait to get help when you have an injury. The sooner that you address an injury the faster you will be to recover from that injury. Put your ego away and just take care of you injury.
I hope that this has been helpful and I always wish you the best in health!
-Michael Ricchiuto MPT, EMT-P
