Have you ever been in a fender bender, or more serious car accident? If so, you most likely sustained a whiplash injury. You may have even sought out treatment after an auto accident. Interestingly, even when the fender bender is less than 10mph, it can still have a dramatic effect on the spine. If it is not treated properly, you can deal with these injuries for the rest of your life.
Why Don’t you Hurt Immediately Following an Auto Accident?
Most people who are in car accidents do not have a lot of pain at the time of the accident because of the adrenaline rush you get. After the adrenaline wears off the next day or a week after the accident, people start to feel pain throughout the body.
Common Symptoms After an Auto Accident
Some common symptoms we see in patients who have been in a car accident are
- headaches
- neck pain
- back pain
- numbness and tingling
- burning
- weakness
- muscle spasms
These are all manageable through chiropractic care! Regardless whether you’ve identified these symptoms, we always recommend you seek evaluation and treatment after an auto accident.
It is important to get you spine checked if you have ever been in any type of car accident. This is because the damage in your body may not present until years later. A whiplash injury is equivalent to spraining the ankle, but located in the neck. When another car hits your car the force of that car gets transferred through your body. That force causes damage to ligaments, tendons, muscles joints, nerves and even the brain.
How Often Do we See Patients for Treatment After an Auto Accident?
In our offices we see people who are seeking treatment after an auto accident. In fact, we see new cases on a weekly basis. There are many things that can be done to help decrease pain and restore normal function of the injured areas. No treatment plan is alike for any of our clients, but we have a common approach during assessment of presenting injuries.
What Do You Look for During an Evaluation?
The first thing done on the office is a thorough evaluation that may also include concussion screening. The reason for concussion screening is because even though you may not have hit your head you still might have sustained a concussion from the whiplash motion. A common misconception is that you have to get hit in the head to sustain a concussion, but this is not true. Additional focus during an evaluation include assessment to joints, bony structures, nerve tissues, muscles, ligaments and other soft tissues.
How Do You Determine the Type of Treatment After an Auto Accident?
Once the evaluation is done, acute care will be performed to decrease inflammation and decrease pain levels. Some of these treatments include, soft tissue work, medical massage, adjusting, electrical muscle stimulation, ice and/or heat. After the acute pain is decreased, active care will be done in order to strengthen and retrain the muscles and other soft tissues associated with the injured area. If the muscles are not strengthened, the patient tends to have continued problems and reoccurring pain and symptoms. It is an important step in the healing process.
If you or a loved one has been in a fender bender or car accident and never got evaluated, make it a point to do so in order to protect your spine and your overall health!