When a car accident happens, you may wonder what your next steps should be. One of the places that you should go to is a Pompano Beach car accident chiropractor that can best help you with some of the effects of the car accident. You should find the best accident chiropractor that focuses on car accident injuries. Even if you don’t think you are injured, you may still suffer from inflammation from a car accident after the fact. By reading on, you can learn all about the injuries caused by a car accident and how you can get the relief you need.
Issues that Can Happen After a Car Accident
There can be a lot of problems that happen after a car accident. Some of these injuries may be immediately apparent while others may not appear until shortly after the accident. You should see a doctor as soon as you can after an accident, even if you do not feel any pain.[i] Sometimes people don’t want to make a big deal of these issues even if they do feel pain, because they think that it isn’t important. There can be some potential long-term effects after a car accident that you should be aware of.
Whiplash
Whiplash is easily one of the most common injuries felt after a car accident. This is caused by any motion that forcefully causes your head to jerk forward or backward. This force can cause tearing and stretches in the tendons and muscles in your neck. Some of the common symptoms of whiplash include pain/stiffness when moving your head to look over your shoulder, tenderness, a decrease of motion, pain and tightness in the neck area.[ii]
Nerve Damage
Depending on the physical trauma, you can end up with some significant nerve damage. Car accidents can cause the nerves to get compressed, crushed, and stretched. This can lead to a variety of different issues like neuropathy, uncontrolled movements and twitching, numbness and a constant tingling sensation. Often times this nerve damage is caused by broken/dislocated bones and slipped discs.
Herniated Discs
Trauma from a car accident can be so severe that you may suffer from a herniated disc. A herniated disc is a condition where the tissue found between the vertebrae can rupture or balloon out, which puts pressure on the nerves and cause inflammation on the nerves in the spine. If you have a herniated disc, you may notice symptoms that primarily affect your arms and legs. These symptoms include loss of control over your muscles, severe pain, or even loss of feeling.
Shoulder Injuries
A lot of injuries in a car accident happens to the shoulder. Since you wear your seatbelt wrapped over one of your shoulders, the force of the impact can cause significant damage to that shoulder. This can also lead to a twisting that can cause issues. The problem with shoulder injuries is that they tend to worsen as time goes on, potentially leading to chronic shoulder conditions.
These are all just some of the common injuries that you suffer from after a car accident. There are various other injuries, particularly to the back and spine, that you should be very concerned with after a car accident. This is why it is so important to seek medical attention as soon as you possibly can after a car accident.
Should You Go to a Chiropractor after a Car Accident?
In an ideal world, you should see a medical professional within 3 days of the accident though you should seek medical attention right away. Any delays in seeking medical care can be used against you by the insurance company, reducing the claim you are entitled to or even denying your claim altogether.[iii] However, this isn’t just important so that you don’t have to fight the insurance company, it’s also important for your physical health. Delays in treatment can lead to even more serious issues down the line, so be sure that you get to the ER or urgent care as soon as possible.
Why Should I See a Chiropractor after an Accident?
Chiropractors are able to take a look at you to assess your condition. They can diagnose your condition and it’s severity, then come up with a treatment plan that will best benefit your needs. You can start this plan immediately, which is so important to you if you want to begin the healing process as soon as possible. In this section, you will see some of the biggest reasons as to why you need to see a chiropractor after your car accident.
Pretty Much All Car Accidents Can Cause Whiplash
Whiplash is one the most common injuries that can happen in a car crash. Even the smallest car accident can have the potential of giving you whiplash. What can make whiplash even problematic is that the longer you ignore this problem, the more difficult it is for you to treat it. When it comes to whiplash, you should not wait until you feel any pain before you seek out medical treatment. You can find relief and avoid getting injured further by visiting a chiropractor. Chiropractors regularly treat whiplash, meaning that they are the best place to turn for your whiplash treatments.
Unknown Injuries From Car Accident
Sometimes you may get into a car accident and feel fine, but you may have injuries that you are unaware of until a little while after the fact. When you see a car accident chiropractor, they will do a full body assessment to identify any issues that you may have after the car accident. It is very common for people who have been in a car accident to suffer from some type of muscle or ligament tears after the accident. These are injuries that may not be seen through x-rays. An experienced chiropractor can provide treatments that will significantly reduce the pain of these tears and other issues that you may be suffering from.
Prevent Needing Invasive Procedures and Long-Term Care
The problem that a lot of people have is that they think that they can ignore their minor injuries. Unfortunately, by ignoring these seemingly minor symptoms you can make things worse. Getting treatment as soon as possible can speed up the recovery process and minimize the long-term effects of car accident injuries. By seeking our car accident chiropractic care, you can prevent chronic pain as well as receive safe and drug-free treatments.
You Can Save Money in the Long-Term
Chronic medical conditions can be a very costly problem in the long-term. Seeking out immediate medical care can prevent injuries from becoming a chronic condition. This means that you will require less treatment to feel better. That will save you a lot in additional medical treatments.
You should see a chiropractor after a car accident as soon as possible to get back to enjoying your life. The injuries caused by a car accident can wreak havoc on your quality of life. When you take the time to get treatment from a car accident chiropractor right away, you are going to be able to get back to your life a lot quicker.
Benefits of Using a Chiropractor After an Accident
Why see a chiropractor after an accident? There are so many different benefits that you can gain from seeing a car accident chiropractor after you have been in a car accident. There has been research about car accident chiropractic care, which has shown this to be an effective and safe treatment for a variety of different injuries.[iv] This is particularly true when it comes to injuries involving the neck and spine. In this section, you will find out some of the top benefits of using a car accident chiropractor after being involved in a car accident.
Reduce Inflammation
You can get a lot of inflammation from a car accident, which is something that a chiropractor can help you with. A common reason for this inflammation is the microtears that can occur in the muscles and ligaments. These tears are often too small for them to show up on x-rays. What you may not realize is that x-rays really only show that there are no issues with the bone or masses located anywhere. This will not show the smaller little injuries that can still have a huge impact on your everyday life. A car accident chiropractor will perform their treatment on you, which will restore the body’s natural placement and help ease your pain, swelling, and inflammation.
Reduction in Scar Tissue
Think of when you get an injury, like one that requires stitches, and after it heals you end up with a scar. The same can happen to your muscles and ligaments. Even as injuries heal, they can still cause a great deal of discomfort. Scar tissue buildup can cause inflammation and pain that can interfere with your life. A car accident chiropractor is able to break up this scar tissue buildup faster so that you can find the relief and healing that you need as you recover from your injury.
Pain Relief without the Need for Medication
There is an epidemic that this country is facing right now and one of the major causes of it is the use of addictive pain killers. Medical doctors have a tendency of just prescribing medicines for pain management, which can lead to various side effects in addition to the fact that it can cause addiction. While pain medicine may give you relief for a little bit of time, it only treats the pain and not the underlying cause of the pain. Without treating the cause, you are just going to be in pain without any relief. If you want to get the healing necessary to find relief from the pain, a car accident chiropractor will address the underlying cause so that you can live a pain-free life without those potentially addictive medicines.
Regain Your Range of Motion
In a lot of cases, you may find that your range of motion has greatly diminished. When the car accident chiropractor focuses on your inflammation, they will also take a look at your current range of motion. Inflammation can interfere with the healing process by blocking the blood and nutrients from getting to the areas that they need to. The range of motion that you have lost after your car accident can be restored little by little after each of your chiropractor visits, you can restore your range of motion.
There May be Pain That You’re Unaware Of
There are a lot of injuries after a car accident that you can absolutely notice, such as lacerations or broken bones. However, there are a lot of injuries that you may not even know that you have. Some of these symptoms are ones that you may not even be aware of, such as soreness, dizziness, headaches, and other pain. Sometimes these are symptoms that you may not even suffer from until a little bit after your car accident. Car accident chiropractic care can be excellent preventative care in cases like this, helping you to diagnose these unknown conditions and treating them appropriately.[v]
Chiropractic Treatment Works
Despite the common misconceptions about chiropractic care, this is an alternative approach to healing that is proven effective. These are skilled professionals that have experience and knowledge that can help you speed up the recovery process. If you get routine adjustments, you have the ability to get back to your everyday life quicker. Without car accident chiropractic care, you may end up with chronic physical ailments and rely on pain medicines. You may even need surgical care that you could have avoided by seeing a reputable chiropractor.
Non-Invasive
There are surgeries that can resolve your physical injuries after a car accident, but more often than not surgery isn’t the best course of treatment. You may be able to avoid these more invasive approaches by seeking car accident chiropractic care. This is an all-natural approach that will make it so that you aren’t overly reliant on medications. There is also the added benefit of the fact that by not having invasive surgery, you can save a lot of money on your treatments.
Legal Claims
There aren’t just medical benefits to seeking out car accident chiropractic care right away. This can also be very helpful for you when you are dealing with insurance companies. If you were in an accident that was caused by the recklessness and negligence of another person, you will likely want to seek legal actions against them. By seeing a car accident chiropractor after your car accident, they can document any of your injuries so that you have this information for your claim. They will also write a report for your attorney and the insurance companies so that they have this information on record, including the extent of your injuries.
As you can see, there are quite a few benefits of going to a chiropractor after a car accident.
What Type of Treatments Can a Car Accident Chiropractor Offer?
Now that you know how beneficial it is to go see a chiropractor after your car accident, you may be wondering what type of treatments they offer you to help you get back to your regular activities. There are a few different approaches though one of the most common approaches is MLS laser therapy. The type of treatment plan that you have will be completely dependent on the type of injuries that you have. Different approaches work for different injuries. This section will take a look at the chiropractic care approach to treatment after a car accident.
When a car accident chiropractic treatment plan is created, there are a few phases that are often created as part of this plan. There is the “Inflammation Phase”, which is focused on reducing the amount of inflammation that you are suffering from. This is a necessary part of the treatment process, even if you believe that you don’t have any injuries. The Inflammation Phase can be very important because this is the first part of feeling better and pain-free. If you resolve the inflammation, you can reduce the amount of pain someone feels as well as help them recover quicker.
The next part of the process is referred to as the “Repair Phase”. During this part of the traditional chiropractic process, the treatment turns to supporting the tissues that have been injured. This is the part of the treatment plan where the goal is to restore the range of motion as much as possible to what you had prior to the car accident. There is a focus on different stretches and exercises that you can even do at home that can help you regain your range of motion, which can be especially important if you rely on these physical movements for your work.
The third phase of this process is the “Healing Phase”. This phase is all about building elasticity in damaged muscles and strength building. One of the reasons why this stage is so important is because it reduces the risk of the injury re-occurring as well as reducing the likelihood of ending up with irreversible damage. The number of times you have to visit the chiropractor during this phase of your treatment is significantly reduced.
Your exact treatment plan can depend on what your injuries are and how severe they are. Proper consultations are so important here because this is how your car accident chiropractor is going to figure out the best course of action for your recovery. Every patient is different, which is why treatment plans are customized specifically for your needs.
Among these treatments is the MLS laser therapy. You may or may not be familiar with what this type of treatment does and how it can benefit you. Laser therapy uses specific wavelengths of light in order to treat various injuries, including ones after a car accident. This treatment works by having light energy enter your damaged cells, which can stimulate its inter-cellular activity. By doing this, you are not only able to reduce the amount of pain that you suffer from but you can also speed up the recovery of the damaged cells. As soon as you can get these cells to recover, the healing process will finally be complete.
MLS laser therapy is a painless therapy that can take about 8 minutes, depending on the needs of your particular injuries. In some cases, you may experience a somewhat comfortable sensation where the treatment was applied. Some patients report that they can feel some positive results in only a few treatments, but the average course of treatment is between 7 and 10 sessions. Acute conditions may subside quickly, within the first phase of treatments. This is generally the case for people who have been injured in a car accident.
There are a few benefits to getting MLS laser therapy. For one thing, this is an excellent treatment approach for anti-inflammation. Laser therapy can actually have an anti-edema effect, activating the lymphatic drainage system. This means that it can drain out the swollen areas so that you can get relief from the inflammation. It can also have an effect on the nerves, allowing your body to block the pain from being transmitted to the brain. Pain relief also comes as a result of the anti-inflammation benefits you get from laser therapy.
Laser therapy can also accelerate the body’s growth of cells and tissue repair. The lasers can penetrate deep into the tissue, repairing the ligaments, muscles, and tendons quicker. This type of treatment can also reduce fibrous tissue formation, improve nerve function, increase metabolic activity, and offer faster, wound healing.[vi]
Conclusion
Chiropractic care is an all-natural approach to finding not just pain relief, but to resolve the underlying conditions that are causing you discomfort after your car accident. You could take the more traditional approach of going to a regular medical doctor, but then you may end up receiving prescriptions with negative side effects and get invasive surgeries. There are natural approaches that can be highly effective in treating your car accident injuries, thanks to the care of a chiropractor. A reputable car accident chiropractor will have years of knowledge and experience that can provide you with the individualized and effective care that you want. If you need a different approach to treatment, chiropractic accident treatment plans can be an amazing approach.
[i] https://injury.findlaw.com/car-accidents/types-of-car-accident-injuries.html
[ii] https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/neck-strain-whiplash#1
[iii] https://www.reyeslaw.com/auto-accidents/soon-see-doctor-car-accident/
[iv] https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/chiropractic-pain-relief#1
[v] https://www.absolutelifewellnesscenter.com/7-benefits-of-chiropractic-treatment-after-a-car-accident/
[vi] http://physmedi.com/benefits-of-mls-laser-pain-therapy/
If you have any questions regarding chiropractic care after an auto accident, contact us today at (954) 973-0710.