AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2018 Ask a Physio, by Megan Thomas
Q: I was involved in a minor car accident two years ago, however I suffered a serious soft tissue injury to my neck. With my injury now stable and my orthopaedic surgeon recommending I get back to exercising, what activity do you recommend I undertake to restore my fitness? Will I need regular physio as well?
MEGAN: Sorry to hear you suffered such a bad injury. It’s amazing how debilitating soft tissue injuries in the neck can be, especially when you can’t see any external damage.
My advice would be to ensure you have had a thorough assessment of your neck by a physiotherapist to determine your limitations and also any weaknesses that need addressing, such as joint stiffness and muscle strength.
This would then determine how much treatment you may need and what intensity or type of exercise that would be beneficial for your neck.
Other than this, I aways ensure my patients are involved in or enjoy the exercise programs I prescribe. If you hate swimming, I wouldn’t ask you to do it. If you really want to get back to high intensity gym classes, we would build a program to make it happen.
Without assessing you, yet knowing your surgeon has given you the all-clear, there will be lots of different forms of exercise and activity you can do. It’s now just up to you to make the call to the physio you trust and get going.
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