You’ve probably heard people talk about their trick elbow or their bum knee. Maybe they injured it at work, or playing a sport, but having  recurring injuries is something that many people deal with daily.

However, you don’t have to let recurring injuries or pain sideline you or make you miss out on activities you love.

You can – and should – stop neglecting your recurring injuries and seek out a qualified physical therapist who can help assess the situation and get you back on track – and pain-free.

Here are four reasons to stop neglecting your recurring injuries – and get back out there!

1. Reduced pain: If you have an old injury that you haven’t really healed from, you are likely still dealing with pain or stiffness. Manual treatments, such as soft tissue mobilizations and joint mobilizations, and specific exercises to re-educate the body on a neuromuscular level are just a few ways to help with most any recurring injury. Sometimes it’s just a matter of education, learning proper form and technique for exercises and even household tasks, which can make a big difference.
2. Regaining movement or mobility: If you had an injury that may or may not have required surgery, and you didn’t have appropriate physical therapy afterwards, there is the possibility that the repaired tissue, muscle, or tendons didn’t heal properly. You may not have pain anymore, but you are likely missing out on mobility and/or movement in the joint, which can cause recurring issues, or even lead to issues elsewhere in the body over time. So, if you keep rolling your ankle (whether you’ve had surgery on it or not), seek out a course of physical therapy to work on the underlying issues.
3. Less chance of reinjury: Did you have ACL knee reconstruction surgery at some point? A lot of athletes have had this procedure, as this is a common sports injury. There are studies that show that people who have had an ACL injury are about 30% more likely to reinjure it in their lifetime – which could mean more surgery, pain and medical bills. In addition, 70% of ACL injuries are non-contact, which means there may be underlying issues that caused the injury. Just because you had surgery and you now have a new ACL ligament helping to stabilize the knee doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve taken care of the problem. Going back to physical therapy even after you’ve recovered and back on the field, can help reduce risk of reinjury, and help keep you doing the things you love.
4. Regaining motor control: According to the Institute of Physical Art, motor control is the ability to use efficient mechanical and neuromuscular components of the body to create proper posture and be able to perform functional activities in an efficient manner. What this means is that we’re taking all the parts of your rehabilitation, the manual therapy, the exercises, and alignment, and we’re putting them back together as a whole, coordinated body so you can move. In the IPA approach, we help you to use what’s called a CoreFirst strategy, which means you are initiating movement with the stabilizing muscles engaging first. The more you can train this strategy into your body, which provides an Automatic Core Engagement (Saliba 2009), the more efficient your movement is going to be. Come learn more about this work with our therapists at Beacon!

When you work to prevent or heal a recurring injury, you are giving yourself a gift. You can play tennis with your partner, jog with your kids or get back to the gym. You don’t have to worry about pain or another injury looming in the distance. A qualified physical therapist will teach you about proper techniques and help with exercises and other mobility work to prevent future injuries.

Beacon Physical Therapy

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our clients in establishing healthy movement patterns that help maintain strength, flexibility and mobility. If you are having an issue, make an appointment today. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.