If you’ve been in a car accident and your car suffered any kind of damage then it is very likely that your body has also been injured. Car accident injuries can be tricky to diagnose and treat because the symptoms can take hours or even days to fully show up, so you might not realize how seriously you’ve been injured right away. Any time you’ve been in a car accident, the rule of thumb should be to schedule an appointment with a car accident injury chiropractor to get checked out, determine whether you are injured, and start on a treatment plan so you can fully heal.
Here are 5 ways a car accident injury chiropractor can help you after an accident.
1. Treating the Underlying Issue
While back and neck pain or headaches might be what is causing you pain and discomfort, a car accident chiropractor will be dedicated to identifying and treating the underlying issue. By treating the root cause of your car accident injury symptoms, your chiropractor actually helps offer long-term relief of your symptoms. One of the most common car accident injuries is whiplash, which affects the spine in your neck, referred to as the cervical spine. Your chiropractor will help you determine if you experienced whiplash or if it’s just a headache. Spinal injuries are common in car accidents because of how the force of impact shakes up your body. Many underlying issues of car accident injuries involve damage to the spine, as well as its supporting muscles and tissues, and nearby nerves.
2. Managing Pain More Effectively
Chiropractors use a natural, drug-free approach to effectively manage your pain symptoms after a car accident, while traditional accident doctors may prescribe medications that only temporarily mask pain symptoms and only work in the short-term. Your car accident injury chiropractor will focus on managing your pain with long-term solutions in mind. In order to help relieve you of your pain symptoms, your chiropractor will treat the actual injury in the spine, muscles, or nerves. In addition to spinal injuries after a car accident, it is also likely that you have bruising and are experiencing sore muscles after being involved in such a shocking event.
3. Restoring Healthy Spinal Alignment
Your car accident injury chiropractor will assess how your spine has been affected by the force of impact. Spinal misalignments can occur because of a car accident, which can lead to many of your symptoms like pain and discomfort. Identifying misalignments in your spine can also help your chiropractor determine the location of the underlying issue or injury. One type of spinal misalignment that can occur due to a car accident and lead to pain is a herniated disc. When one of the discs that separate your spinal joints is jostled out of place from the force of the accident, it can put pressure on nearby nerves. This can lead to nerve pain and discomfort when your vertebrae are no longer separated effectively by the disc. A car accident injury chiropractor will look for misalignments like this and use gentle, therapeutic adjustments to restore your spine to its proper alignment.
4. Relieving Pressure on Muscles & Nerves
Chiropractors use adjustments to help restore your spine to its proper posture. Adjustments are one type of treatment option to help manage your car accident injury symptoms and also address the root cause. When your chiropractor adjusts your spine back into proper alignment, a herniated disc will no longer be putting pressure on a nearby nerve. Spinal misalignments can also affect the muscles that support your spine. These muscles can be strained with the stress of the accident and can become stiff, tender, or even warm to the touch. Using chiropractic techniques like adjustments and therapeutic massage will help encourage the muscles that support your spine to strengthen and alleviate tension.
5. Helping Regain Lost Mobility
When you visit a car accident injury chiropractor, part of the treatment process will include helping you to regain any lost mobility due to your injury. Car accident injuries to the spine and muscles can affect your range of motion. For example, a whiplash injury can cause pain and stiffness in your neck muscles, making it difficult to turn your head from side to side without extreme pain. Spinal adjustments, massage, stretches, and exercises with your chiropractor will help you regain any lost mobility due to your injury.
Visit the car accident chiropractors at ProCare Medical Center to experience lasting relief from your car accident injury.
