Should You See a Physiotherapist After a Serious Accident?

As physiotherapists, we get to treat many clients after serious road or work accidents. Physiotherapy treatment provides relief for injured clients, but encouragement to commence a rehabilitation gym program is also very important. Exercise programs as part of a rehabilitation regime can be of great benefit, but they should be undertaken with specialised attention.

The Following are Some Client Case Examples:

Dorothea had a car accident and severely injured her left knee and her neck. As part of her rehabilitation she came to the gym with me some months after the accident, having never been to the gym before. She is now exercising regularly and had lost a lot of weight and is looking and feeling great. She is still having ongoing maintenance treatment once a month to keep her chronic problems at a manageable level and is doing very well.

Lee, who is a concreter, came to me after he fell off his off-road bike and fractured his neck. Initially, as he had just come out of his neck brace we had to very slowly progress his rehabilitation. After three months I then commenced a gym program with him which we gradually progressed and he has become a regular gym member. Ironically he always had chronic lower back pain, long before he broke his neck, and now as a result of going to the gym he is fitter than he has ever been. His back gives him less pain than it has ever done before and above all he has more energy. He has two young children, which he can go home to in the evenings and have fun with. He is more optimistic that he can remain in his career for longer as it is one that is a very difficult career for somebody that has these injuries.

Darren, who is in his forties, comes to mind. He is a painter who works in commercial and domestic painting. He came to me working six days a week and his body was in trouble! He had chronic back pain, chronic shoulder pain and Achilles tendonitis. He was doing no exercise at all besides the strenuous activities of his work. I have been seeing him now for over a year, but within a matter of weeks we were relieving a great deal of his symptoms. With our hands on treatment and stretching regime we released a lot of his pain. We then encouraged Darren to join the gym. He attends the gym regularly and has lost a significant amount of weight. His fitness has increased significantly and overall his symptoms have been significantly reduced. He is able to work a full day without the difficulties he was previously having. He has been of great inspiration to me!

David just turned forty and has been a client of mine for twelve years now. He has a very high stress corporate job. He is an ex-rugby league player and as a result has numerous injuries which have plagued him all his life. Due to all of the travel associated with his job and erratic meal times, he has put on weight over time. He was very busy, very stressed and wasn’t doing any exercise at all. He had operations on both his knees, operations on his shoulder and he has chronic neck and back pain. As well as having regular maintenance physiotherapy with us, he has now joined the gym and he has become a regular exerciser. He has lost more than fifteen kilos and by doing all of that he has significantly relieved his symptoms. He is bike riding with the kids and is able to bike ride to and from work as well. He is not taking quite as much pain medication which is important because he has issues with his stomach too. He is such an inspiration because even with his incredibly busy lifestyle, he has the right mental focus and has achieved a great deal for himself.

Denise just turned fifty and has been a client of mine for about ten years. She initially came to me with severe chronic headaches and neck pain which were significantly affecting her quality of life, disturbing her sleep, and affecting her ability to work properly. She is a primary school teacher and as a result is dealing with a fair bit of stress. She now attends treatment once a month for maintenance treatment and in addition she is a regular walker. She also walks with a good friend of hers, they motivate each other and she has a home program to do as well. Because of all that, she really has progressed very well, she hasn’t had to take very much medication at all and she is sleeping better. She gets significant relief from the program she undertakes, which can last her for much of the time in between her treatments. She loves gardening and is able to do this without as many problems these days. Her quality of life overall is certainly significantly better and over a long term the benefits for her will be great!

For an assessment, or to organise a suitable specific progressive exercise rehabilitation program, contact me on 07 3209 8444 and take control of your pain today!