Most individuals involved in accidents (whether car, sports, or work-related) may experience several long-term and incapacitating symptoms.
Besides emotional and mental trauma, an accident can cause physical damage that can affect your quality of life. This is where rehabilitation comes in.
With the help of rehabilitation programs, you can achieve the highest level of functionality, self-management, and quality of life possible. Although it will not reverse the damage caused by an accident, it can help restore you to perfect health and well-being.
Table of Contents
What is Rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is a step-by-step process that helps you recover. If you get involved in an accident, you might lose your physical, mental, and even cognitive abilities because of several injuries.
A rehabilitation program can help improve these abilities, so you can regain your normal functioning and get back to your daily life. It achieves these by helping you regain your movement and strength, re-learn skills, and even find alternative ways of doing things.
Below are some general treatment components for rehabilitation program:
- Treating the injury and preventing further complications
- Providing adaptive tools and altering the environment
- Treating the disability and improving function
- Teaching the patient and family and helping them adapt to lifestyle changes
The success of the rehabilitation program depends on many factors, including:
- Family support
- The patient’s overall health
- The nature and severity of the injury
- The type and degree of any resulting disabilities or impairments
Who Needs Rehabilitation?
The accident rehabilitation program is ideal for individuals who have lost the abilities they need for their daily life. If you have developed the following symptoms after an accident, you might need rehabilitation.
- Pain and stiffness in the head, neck, and shoulder
- Chronic Migraines or headaches
- Loss of range and motion in the neck
- Chronic back pain
- Tingling and numbness of the upper extremities
- Blurred vision and memory problem
The Aims of Rehabilitation Program
The overall goal of rehabilitation is to help people adapt and recover from an injury or illness that resulted from involvement in an accident. It helps you regain your abilities and achieve independence.
The main focus on rehabilitation is on:
- Attaining full physical and psychological recovery as possible
- Rebuilding social connectedness to family and community
- Learning to understand and self-manager physical and mental health conditions to the best of the person’s ability
- Helping individuals return to safe and meaningful work in the short time possible
- Improving a person’s quality of life through gaining life management skills, resilience, and a sense of direction for the future
The Stages of Complete Rehabilitation
If you want to heal from an injury, you must follow the proper rehabilitation schedule and framework.
Your recovery process will take a lot longer without an effective treatment that follows an established series of processes and exercises.
Rehabilitation programs vary depending on which injury you have, the abilities you lost, and how server the problem is. However, the general framework for recovery is constant and based on recent research. The four stages of complete recovery include:
Stage 1- Rest and Protect the Injury
If you have undergone surgery or have an injury, it’s wise to rest and protect yourself from further harm. This way, you can allow your body to heal.
After an accident, the body reacts to various injuries through inflammation and pain. You can boost your recovery process significantly by managing inflammation and pain better. Also, by protecting the injured area from further damage.
In this stage, you will receive analgesic medication and anti-inflammatories to ease the inflammation and pain. Specialists will also cover your injury with a protective cast, sling, or tape to shield it from damage. You will also achieve proper rest, which might involve the use of ice or cold packs.
Stage 2- Recover your motion
Swelling and pain resulting from injuries or surgery can prevent the movement of the injured part of the body.
For a patient to regain normal range of motion, the physiotherapist will prescribe careful soft tissue and joint mobilization training as part of the rehabilitation program.
However, the training will start slow and involve minimal stretching exercises. Stretching too far or starting the training too soon can slow and even reverse the healing process.
A physiotherapist will use advanced flexibility training suited to your injury. As such, you will regain your range of motion and avoid the permanent effect that a reduced range of motion can have on your body’s function.
Stage 3 – Recover your strength
Injury and surgery and the subsequent recovery period can cause muscle wasting and weakness know to affect balance. Rehabilitation programs can help reduce muscle loss and strength deficits.
During rehabilitation after a sports accident, it’s crucial to maintain cardiovascular endurance. Therefore, regular stationary cycling, pool exercises, or general exercises are crucial.
The best way to maximize recovery is performing exercises that reduce aggravation, strengthening local regional and central muscle groups, and maintaining excellent form and proper technique.
Stage 4 -Recover your function
The last step of rehabilitation is recovering body function and returning to normal life. This stage involves exercises that restore coordination and balance and improves agility. The exercise can also boost other functionalities of the body.
Areas Covered in Accidents Rehabilitation Programs
Rehabilitation encompasses several areas, each designed to address a range of issues. They all have a common primary goal: To help patients return to a healthy lifestyle. Here we will outline the various areas covered in rehabilitation programs.
Physical care: It works to improve movement dysfunction. Specialists work with patients to restore mobility, strength, stability, and functional ability. They achieve these through specific exercise and various treatment methods.
Occupation therapy: This area focuses on restoring the patient’s ability to carry out daily activities. It involves restoring balance and improving motor skills. Therapists also help people learn how to boost their functional ability through adaptive equipment and other potential treatment options.
Respiratory care: In case of breathing difficulties or disorders, respiratory care will work to address them. It involves ventilation care, reducing respiratory distress, and exercises to promote lung function.
Cognitive Rehabilitation: Involves therapy to improve the patient’s memory, problem-solving, organizational, and reasoning skills.
Vocational training: This area deals with therapy geared towards preparing people to return to work after an injury.
Rehabilitation Teams
A team of specialists will plan your rehabilitation program to help you meet your recovery goals. This team may include:
Neurologists: Specializes in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of spinal cord and brain injuries.
Rehabilitation nurses: They’re a vital part of the rehabilitation team. The nurses assist individuals with severe injuries to attain and maintain maximum function.
Physical Therapists: They help individuals maintain, restore, and improve movement and functioning. Their services prevent and eliminate impairment of body functions and structure, and participation.
Occupation therapists: Help people with a physical, sensory, or cognitive disability be as independent as possible in all the areas of their lives.
Case managers and social workers: Work with the rehabilitation team to pass information to patients and families in discharge planning. This includes education, compliance with guidelines and requirements, care coordination, etc.
Speech-language pathologists: Work to assess, diagnose and treat speech, social communication, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in patients.
Dieticians: Teach people about healthy eating and special diets essential for their recovery.
Neuropsychologists- Diagnose and treat accident survivors facing thinking, memory, and behavior issues.
Types of Rehabilitation Services
The different types of public and private rehabilitation services that offer treatment to survivors of accidents include:
In-patient Rehabilitation
This refers to therapy or treatment you receive in a clinic or hospital setting before getting discharged. Patients who suffered a brain injury or spinal cord injury after an accident may require in-patient therapy to recover to a point where they can go home safely.
Outpatient Rehabilitation
It’s the treatment received when not admitted to a clinic or hospital. These therapy centers often provide a blend of services from speed pathologists and psychologists to physical therapists. Outpatient rehabilitation centers can address a variety of conditions, including psychological disorders, neck and back pain, etc.
Conclusion
Rehabilitation is vital for individuals involved in serious accidents. It helps to minimize and slow down the disabling effects of chronic injuries by equipping patients with self-management strategies and assistive products they need. It also addresses pain and prevents further complications.
Rehabilitation programs vary depending on the severity of the injury and your overall health. Various specialists will plan your rehabilitation program, including neurologists, occupational therapists, and even dietitians.
If you have suffered a severe injury because of an accident, a rehabilitation program will come in handy to help you get back to your feet as soon as possible.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4299742/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/rehabilitation-team
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/community-rehabilitation
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsupport/rehabilitation-after-a-major-trauma-incident
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rehabilitation
Why CMRC?
CMRC Hospital is the specialized provider for Long-term Care and rehabilitation services in Saudi Arabia. With one main facilities in Saudi Arabia, which are designed in a rehabilitation and long-term care hospital with a capacity of 66 beds.
CMRC provides an interdisciplinary clinical approach for Vent Rehabilitation Services which is customized for adults, adolescents, and children. The best rehabilitation services are not only our goal but our ultimate objective is to customize the care plan for each patient and make sure that the patient’s family and their members are integrated into the treatment plan.
When you joined Saudi Arabia hospital for any kind of our rehabilitation services or even for long-term care you will feel as if you are at #Your Second Home.
