Should I Consider Physical Therapy After a Fracture?

Fractures are a common medical problem, affecting about 178 million people worldwide every year. Many people think that fracture treatment simply means casting or bracing the affected area and letting the bones knit together naturally. 

While that might sound ideal, it’s not all there is to healing a broken bone. In fact, many fractures can cause long-term symptoms or disability if not treated in a more comprehensive manner, with follow-up care that includes a customized physical therapy plan. 

At Minit Medical Urgent Care and Physical Therapy in Kihei, Kahului, and Lahaina, Hawaii, our expert team recommends physical therapy as a standard part of fracture treatment to help promote optimal healing and recovery. If you’re nursing a broken bone, here’s how physical therapy can help you.

Physical therapy basics

Physical therapy uses a series of exercises, stretches, and activities to help people recover from a wide variety of injuries, including fractures. 

Like any therapeutic treatment technique, physical therapy begins with an evaluation and a physical assessment of your injury, enabling us to tailor your therapeutic activities to your needs, abilities, and lifestyle. Your evaluation includes: 

• A complete physical exam
• A review of your medical history
• A review of any fracture treatment you’ve received
• Activities to assess functional deficits following your fracture

Depending on your specific needs, your therapy program may include:

• On-site exercises
• At-home exercises
• Hands-on manual therapy
• Soft tissue mobilization and massage
• Use of assistive devices, like crutches, canes, or braces

Your program will be focused on relieving pain and inflammation, restoring strength, flexibility, and normal function, and helping you get back to your regular activities as soon as possible.

Physical therapy and fracture healing

Because a fracture is a break in a bone, it’s easy to think only bone tissue is involved. But because fractures alter the way you use the affected part of your body, they also involve muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other tissues, as well. 

While casting or other immobilizing techniques helps bones “knit” together, these techniques don’t address the effects on surrounding tissues. That’s where physical therapy can help.

Promoting healing

Physical therapy uses targeted interventions to engage natural healing processes to support optimal bone tissue regeneration. Many exercises help reduce inflammation and improve blood flow for better delivery of oxygen and other nutrients necessary for healing and recovery. Early intervention also helps prevent painful stiffness in muscles and joints.

Building strength

Fracture treatment involves immobilizing bones to give them a chance to heal and to prevent further injury. Even a brief period of immobilization allows muscles and other tissues to atrophy and weaken. Physical therapy helps rebuild strength without overstraining the treatment area.

Restoring normal movement

Immobilization can also affect the way you move or use the affected limb or joint. Our therapists use exercises designed to restore normal movement and function over time, avoiding strain while helping you gradually return to normal activities.

Preventing future injury

By tailoring your physical therapy program to your specific needs, we can help ensure your body is strong enough to handle the unique demands of your life, including those associated with work or social activities. Restoring strength and flexibility to the area can help prevent weaknesses that could increase your risk of future injury recurrence.

Find out how physical therapy can help you

Physical therapy can play an essential role in helping you recover following a fracture. To learn more about the physical therapy services we offer and how we can tailor a program specifically for you, book an appointment online or over the phone with Minit Medical Urgent Care and Physical Therapy in Kihei, Kahului, and Lahaina, Hawaii, today.