How to Care for Yourself After a Car Accident
Have you been struggling with living your life after a recent car accident? It's too easy to forget that in such situations, caring for yourself comes first.
It's tempting to want to help others in their time of need, especially if other people were involved in the accident too. However, you can't help anyone if you're not going to help yourself first when it comes to self-care!
Here are some of our tips on how to care for yourself after a car accident has taken place.
REST. REST. REST.
Did we mention rest?
Even though it helps to receive physical or massage therapy after an accident, your body still needs to rest. Think about it: your muscles have received a shock that goes against what they normally would experience while driving or being in the passenger seat. They need recovery time to resume a normal state of being, ideally without pain involved.
There are a few other things you should do, in order to get the rest you need:
Ask for time off from work. You're not going to be performing at your best and if your job requires you to do many physical activities, this will only add to your recovery time rather than reduce it.
Give your body the time it needs to heal. This will look different for everyone, and there's no set time limit on recovery. Everyone's body is different, so your recovery time will be too.
Try to stay calm and positive. While there's nothing positive that an accident happened in the first place, it won't help you mentally to hyperfocus on the accident. If you find this keeps happening however, it's best you seek professional therapy. ICBC can offer you coverage for counselling if needed.
Apply an ice compress to your injury for the first 72 hours. Ice is best used for acute pain from auto accidents and the injuries you may have incurred. For more details on ice as a treatment option, check out our previous blog post "Ice or Heat? What to Do If You Pull a Muscle." While the post generally focuses on pulled muscles, it's still a part of your body that can be affected by car accidents and the care tips within our post can help regardless.
Move as normally as you possibly can
While it's important to rest, it's also a good idea to help your body move normally (as much as it's able to, anyway). Depending on your injury, of course, this may take some time. And don't move your body if it hurts!
Don't force yourself into an intense workout, but do move around. Walk, bend over, reach out to grab things, and move around. It's also recommended you move slowly while exercising, so that you don't injure yourself again.
Stretch before you have to move around
Stretching can help limit the likelihood of increased inflammation due to your car accident-related injury. Be sure to both warm up before moving around, and cool down when you're done. Again, go about it slowly as opposed to fast, and don't force yourself to stretch or exercise if it hurts.
Stay hydrated
You'd be surprised at how many people forget to do this tip! Drinking water can help both your body and your mind to destress. Try to boost your sense of relaxation and ease to counter the stress of the accident by drinking calming teas such as lemon balm or chamomile, or other herbal blends that are decaffeinated. Hot water with honey and lemon can also provide a soothing effect on your body.
Try keeping a pain and progress journal
We often recommend that you start this kind of journal, as opposed to just a pain one. This way, you're not focusing only on the pain that's preventing you from resuming normal activities, you're also tracking your progress. Maybe you were able to do something today that yesterday was limited. Or, maybe you feel well enough to do something fun, which you were avoiding due to pain. Either way, grab a notebook and start recording. This tip can also help you if you have an active claim with either ICBC or WorkSafeBC.
Seek physio help
Did you know ICBC can cover at least 25 physiotherapy sessions if your accident happened after April 1, 2019? It means you don't have to spend any money at all on recovery. So long as your claim is active and you've been approved to proceed, you're good to go. You can make your claim online and we'll discuss your treatment options during the assessment.
At Triumph Physio, we offer multiple forms of physical therapy that are covered by ICBC. Rest assured, you're in good hands while recovering from your car accident.
Book an appointment with us in the event you've been injured and need help soon!
Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Triumph Physio and Wellness and a clickable link back to this page.