A Guide to Pain Management After a Car Accident Injury

Pain is common after a car accident, stemming from different injuries ranging from minor to severe.

While some pain is temporary, others can become permanent or chronic. One study finds that 45 percent of individuals involved in a vehicle accident experienced road crash-related chronic pain two years after the incident.

Disregarding pain after a car crash can be dangerous. Pain is a typical indicator that something is wrong. Hence, getting pain care as soon as possible is crucial, as hidden injuries may be present.

Pain management is integral for car accident recovery, whether you’re dealing with chronic pain or minor discomfort. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some essential steps to help you manage pain effectively after a car crash.

Seek Prompt Medical Care

Even if you feel fine, seeking prompt medical care from a physician is crucial. It’s an indispensable component of pain management. Muscle pain and soreness can be standalone effects of an accident. Likewise, they can be signs of something more severe in some car accident cases.

A general practitioner might refer you to a pain specialist who can accurately diagnose, treat, and manage your pain problems. They can perform further examinations to check for underlying issues, helping them rule out medical problems and focus on treating your injuries.

Take Pain Medications as Prescribed

Doctors may also prescribe medications to manage and treat acute or chronic pain after a car accident injury. Muscle relaxants, pain relievers, and anti-inflammatory drugs are typical medicines recommended for pain management.

It’s essential to take pain medications as instructed by your doctor properly. Follow the dosing instructions to manage your pain well and prevent any adverse side effects. Your physician knows the safest and most effective medicines for car accident-related pain.

Cooperate With Physical Therapists

Physical therapy is another critical component of effective pain management. Expect your primary care doctor to refer you to a physical therapist. They can work together to develop a personalized treatment plan that will tackle your specific pain problems.

Physical therapy aims to strengthen the affected areas where you’re experiencing pain and restore their proper function and range of motion. Depending on the extent of your injury, the physical therapist may recommend a walker for adults and other mobility aids to help you move from one place to another until you fully recover.

Utilize Relaxation Techniques

Pain resulting from a car accident injury can profoundly affect your daily life, impeding your ability to perform routine activities. Dealing with pain and other aftermaths of the crash can eventually cause emotional trauma and mental anguish.

Utilizing relaxation techniques like deep breathing or yoga can effectively manage the injuries you suffered and the discomfort that comes with them. Moreover, it’s beneficial in enhancing your overall quality of life and alleviating the pain commonly associated with car accidents.

Get the Proper Amount of Sleep

Rest is essential to car accident recovery, allowing the body to heal and fully rebuild injured tissues. Your doctor may give you an idea of how long you should rest. But pay attention to how you feel and ensure you get the proper sleep.

It can be tempting to avoid the recommended period. Doing so, however, can lead to increased healing times and secondary injuries. If you want to expedite the healing process, prioritize having sufficient sleep, which helps stimulate growth and repair any tissues.

Increase Water Intake

The body may get dehydrated faster after sustaining a car accident injury. Staying hydrated is essential when your body is still experiencing pain and recovering from an injury.

Proper hydration aids in reducing inflammation and swelling, promoting increased blood flow and the transport of nutrients to the injured areas. Increasing your water can speed up healing, helping you fully recover from the pain and regain normal movement faster.

Monitor Daily Pain Levels

A pain journal is beneficial for recording any discomfort during daily activities. Describe the pain and its location and rate it on a scale of one to ten, with one constituting no pain and ten representing the worst. It’s also crucial to note what you did when the pain occurred and how it affected your daily life or work.

Get the Help You Need To Recover Faster

Pain is one possible outcome after sustaining an injury in a car accident. You may experience other symptoms, impacting your overall quality of life and well-being. This pain management guide is helpful, but don’t limit yourself to it. Ensure you get the help you need to recover faster and live back to normal.

Hot this week

Jupiter Endovascular Reports | 1st U.S. Patient Treated with Jupiter Shape-shifting Thrombectomy Device

“Navigation challenges during endovascular procedures are often underappreciated and have led to under-adoption of life-saving procedures, such as pulmonary embolectomy. We have purpose-built our Endoportal Control technology to solve these issues and make important endovascular procedures accessible to more clinicians and their patients who can benefit from them,” said Carl J. St. Bernard, Jupiter Endovascular CEO. “This first case in the U.S. could not have gone better, and appears to validate the safety and performance we are seeing in our currently-enrolling European SPIRARE I study.”

Avery Dennison Medical Introduces Ipdated SilFoam Lite: Sustainability, MDR Certification & Performance Improvements

The newly enhanced SilFoam Lite delivers superior efficiency and reliability, bringing improved fluid handling capabilities and improved tack. These improvements make the product ideal for customers seeking quality, high-performance solutions in wound care notes Avery Dennison Medical.

Voluntary Recall Notifying Medtronic Insulin Pump Users of Potential Risks of Shortened Pump Battery Life

Medtronic plc voluntarily issued a field action starting on July 31, 2024, notifying global customers of its MiniMed™ 600 series or 700 series insulin pumps to follow their pump's built-in alerts and alarms for battery status and to contact Medtronic if they observe changes in the battery life of their pump

Medtronic Expands AiBLE Spine Surgery Ecosystem with New Technologies and Siemens Healthineers Partnership

New advancements in the AiBLE Spine Surgery ecosystem build upon the company's commitment to procedural innovation and execution

Axlab, Danish Medtech Pioneer, expands to US with Advanced Robotic Tissue Sectioning for Pathology Laboratories

Kris Rokke, National Sales Director for Axlab in the US. "My team and I are extremely excited and honored about this unique opportunity to also offer this advanced technology to labs across the US and thus contribute to the pathology labs of tomorrow."