In a serious car accident, your spine can suffer a number of injuries that cause swelling around your spinal cord. This, in turn, can cause some temporary paralysis, and until the swelling goes down, the doctors will not be able to fully determine the extent of the paralysis. When it is determined that there is no permanent damage to your spine, you can begin to bounce back from this car accident. There are ways to help you bounce back faster, too.
Physical Therapy in a Pool
Initially, you will not be able to move much as the pain and swelling in your back will prevent movement in the limbs that are temporarily paralyzed. However, that does not mean that you cannot get into a pool with warm water and move what you can. Slow, controlled movements under the guidance of a physical therapist will help increase circulation, which speeds healing. The warm water in the pool will help with the pain, and the natural buoyancy of the water will prevent any more injury because you are not incurring any of the usual shocks from footfalls on land.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy near, but not on, the swollen areas can also speed healing. Massage encourages endorphin production, which is the happy, pain-relieving chemical in the body and brain. The endorphins are sent to the areas being massaged, which are near the injured swollen areas. Now you should feel less pain and be able to move just a little more each time.
Spine Rehabilitation
When the swelling has finally subsided and bruising has decreased significantly, you should be regaining feeling in your back, legs and/or arms, depending where the swelling in your back was located and what parts of your body in which it was limiting movement. If you were doing pool therapy and massage therapy, you were, in essence, already doing some spinal therapy. However, you will now enter the phase where you will be doing a lot more physical rehabilitation of your spine.
It includes a lot of bending, twisting, and stretching exercises to get your back to comply. The ultimate goal of this stage of rehabilitation is to get your back back to the point of movement and range of motion you had before your accident and before the temporary paralysis. The more effort you put into the rehab process, the faster you will heal, and the easier it will become.
For more information, reach out to companies like Florida Pain Center.
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