How Chiropractic Can Help with 3 Common Car Crash Injuries

Did you know that nearly three million people are injured in car accidents every year here in the United States?

It’s difficult to imagine getting anywhere without a car, especially here in South Florida, but the high number of car accident-related injuries might make you an extra cautious driver the next time you’re on the road.

If you are or have been involved in a car accident, though, your injuries don’t necessarily have to impede your life. You should always go to a hospital and get checked out by a doctor after a crash, but you should also consider going to a chiropractor to treat your injuries.

What Chiropractors Can Do to Help with Your Injuries after a Car Accident

Chiropractic care can help with back injuries, neck injuries, and headaches as a result of a car accident.

Back Injuries

The sudden impact of a car crash can cause a number of back injuries, including sprains, fractured vertebrae, herniated disks, and even spinal cord damage. Instead of relying on painkillers to get you through the worst of it, a chiropractor who specializes in soft tissue damage can help you recover without drugs or surgery.

For any car accident injury, you will first need to have x-rays to determine what and where the source of your pain is. From there, a chiropractor will be able to decide the best course of action specifically for you. Spinal manipulation, muscle relaxation or stimulation, and certain exercises can help relieve your back pain and heal your back injury.

Neck Injuries or “Whiplash”

Whiplash – when the head and neck are forced forward and then backward suddenly – is one of the most common car accident injuries, and it usually happens to people who have been rear-ended by another car. These quick motions put the neck through extreme stress, which causes the severe pain you feel after.

With a neck injury, you might experience tingling, stiffness, numbness, limited range of motion, and a slew of other symptoms. Chiropractic care can help alleviate those symptoms.

A chiropractor might use slower, more mobilizing movements instead of forceful thrusts during an adjustment, since neck injuries can be especially painful. Muscle stretching can help loosen tense, contracted, or inhibited muscles along with applying pressure to specific trigger points. In addition to in-office treatments, a chiropractor might also give you “homework” – exercises, stretching, stress relieving methods, everyday activity adjustments – to help you on the road to recovery.

Most people recover from whiplash completely within three months, but if the pain is severe or left untreated, the symptoms can linger.

Headaches

Headaches are not only a common car accident injury, but they’re also a common side effect of other car accident injuries. For example, if you’re experiencing whiplash after a car crash, besides the neck pain, you might also have headaches due to muscle tension or the neck pain radiating to your head. The same goes for back pain, shoulder pain, or any kind of pain, really.

A chiropractor will employ similar treatment methods for headaches as with back and neck injuries, focusing on spinal adjustments and muscle release techniques to relieve headache pain and lower the incidence of headaches.

Car accidents can be extremely stressful for both you and your body. With the help of a chiropractor, though, you can rest assured that your stress will melt away, your pain will be reduced, and you’ll be back to normal in no time.

About the Author:

Dr. Singer has been a practicing chiropractor for more than 20 years, and USA Health & Therapy has been around since 2004. Over the course of his career, Singer has helped tens of thousands of people with all kinds of issues by using a wide variety of treatment strategies. He has extensive knowledge of chiropractic modalities, including Gonstead, Diversified, Thompson Drop Table, and Activator, and in 1997 he earned a special adjunctive Chiropractic Certification in Spinal Trauma (CCST) to better provide care for car crash victims. Dr. Singer is licensed to practice chiropractic medicine in both Florida and New York.