Motorcycles usually have the most severe accident injuries than other vehicles as nothing is protecting the rider from the collision’s full impact. Due to the severity of the injuries, the rider’s recovery is usually expected to be lengthy and demanding. This involves several rehabilitation practices like physiotherapy and counseling, to save the rider from permanent physical disability or mental breakdowns.
Some of the most common physical motorcycle accident injuries are:
- Nerve damage
- Internal injuries
- Brain or head injury
- Spine injury
- Road rash
- Broken bones
After the accident, the rider can experience psychological symptoms like:
- Fear to undertake daily activities
- Loss of appetite
- Difficulties sleeping
- Mood swings
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Getting the Best Care
Rehabilitation after a motorcycle accident is a very demanding undertaking, and you need plenty of financial resources to pursue it. If you have motorcycle accident insurance, health insurance and disability insurance, you will need to make the most of the compensation offered by the policies.
Keep in mind that it’s best you start the rehabilitation as soon as possible and adhere to everything the doctors tell you. Here is an insight into what to expect from rehabilitation after a motorcycle accident.
Physiotherapy
The goal of physiotherapy rehabilitation is to restore mobility to a patient after the accident. This involves using techniques like standard massage, exercises and heat. Physiotherapy is a preferred rehabilitation treatment for motorcycle accident victims as it takes a holistic approach to the treatment process. Therefore, progress can be achieved steadily and sustained to help the patient resume a normal life.
The common physiotherapy practices employed in motorcycle accident rehabilitation are:
Neurological Physiotherapy
This therapy is used to restore the normal functioning of nerves that may have been damaged during the accident. It addresses muscle spasms, loss of balance and coordination, decreased sensation, loss of function and muscle weakness.
Orthopedic Physiotherapy
This therapy targets the correction of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints that may have been damaged in the accident. It helps improve mobilization by rectifying skeletal injury.
Occupational Therapy
After an accident, you can find yourself having difficulties with everyday tasks like feeding yourself. Occupational therapy is to help individuals improve their ability to undertake daily tasks in light of the new situation following an accident.
The accident may have resulted in the amputation of your dominant hand, making it impossible to write, eat, or bathe. This therapy will help you learn to make your remaining hand the dominant hand and use it for everyday tasks.
Speech Therapy
A brain injury following a motorcycle accident may make you lose your speech and other functions related to your throat like eating, drinking and swallowing. The brain needs to be retrained to learn how to perform these functions again, and this is where speech therapy comes in.
Speech therapy will help you rectify:
- Articulation disorders and give you back the ability to form all words correctly
- Fluency disorders and enable you to regain flow, rhythm and speed of speech
- Receptive disorders so you can understand and process what others say
Counseling
Any accident is a traumatic experience that leaves those involved with a heavy mental burden. Most regret that they weren’t able to make better choices and reactions. They may find it challenging to deal with their new reality. As part of the motorcycle accident rehabilitation, counseling is meant to help the mind gain the same strength as the rest of the body to keep pushing forward. This allows patients to achieve quicker recoveries.
Rehab and counseling can be expensive. You will likely need a top-notch injury and disability attorney to represent you in a personal injury case. Your lawyer will assist you through the legal process. According to Berger and Green, your lawyer can help gather evidence such as photographs and videos from surveillance and traffic cameras. They will help you get fair compensation and the best rehabilitation care that money can buy.