Motorcycles and their riders evoke certain thoughts and feelings in people. Freedom. Rebellion. These are just a few of the feelings that may flit through your mind when you see or think about motorcycles. However, these two-wheeled vehicles may also evoke thoughts of injuries, too. 

That’s not too surprising. The Insurance Information Institute reports that 84,000 injuries occurred during motorcycle accidents in 2019. Motorcycle accident injuries can range considerably in severity. They can range from minor scrapes and bruises to fractures and serious soft tissue tears. No matter how severe your motorcycle accident injury is, a physical therapist can take steps to help you treat it. 

Three ways physical therapists can help people with motorcycle accident injuries: 

1. Helping to improve their mobility — Torn soft tissue, fractured bones and damaged joints may need to be immobilized to heal properly. For instance, your knee may need to be immobilized after a knee replacement surgery. However, long periods of immobilization can decrease your joint and muscle mobility. 

Physical therapists can take steps to help increase your mobility. One step they can take is to use joint mobilization. This hands-on technique involves physical therapists easing a joint or muscle through its normal movement patterns to help ease stiffness and boost mobility.

2. Working to boost their strength — The immobilization that’s often used to treat motorcycle accident injuries can also leave your muscles weak and sore. Why? The immobilization is designed to keep your muscles from moving. But they need to move to maintain their flexibility and strength. 

Physical therapists can show you how to do isometric exercises that can help you maintain more flexibility and strength even when your injury is immobilized. They can also usher you through a program of active and resistance exercises once your injury immobilization is over. Such therapeutic exercise programs can help restore muscle strength and flexibility more rapidly. 

3. Addressing their pain — Immobilized injuries tend to become less painful over time. Yet you might find that your pain returns once the immobilizing device is removed. Why is that? Your muscles and joints are weak and stiff after being immobilized for so long. 

Fortunately, a physical therapist can help ease your post-immobilization aches and pains. The exercise plan they create for you can have a hand in this. In addition, these specialists can perform techniques like soft tissue mobilization to help ease your pain. 

Find effective help recovering from motorcycle accident injuries at Rehab Access

Need top-notch rehab services to deal with a motorcycle crash injury? Our Louisiana-based Rehab Access Physical Therapy clinics can offer you the effective help you need. Our physical therapists can start by assessing your injury and current condition during a free screening. They can then build you a treatment plan designed to take every one of the above steps and more — and do it in a way that’s personalized to you. 

Contact our team today for more information about how we can treat your motorcycle accident injury or to schedule your initial appointment with us.