How Chiropractors Can Help after a Motorcycle Injury

Motorcycle accidents are much different than car accidents in terms of how much riders are exposed during the crash in comparison to people driving or riding in an automobile. Simply put, when you’re on a bike, there’s nothing between you and the impact to protect you from injury. No windshield. No thick car doors.

If something hits your motorcycle, it’s going to hit you.

Not surprisingly, this greatly increases not just the risk of injury, but also the severity to which people tend to be injured – even in relatively minor accidents. Also, just riding a motorcycle can take a toll on your body, so it’s possible to get out of alignment or sustain soft tissue damage simply by being a frequent rider.

Luckily, getting chiropractic care can help to alleviate a number of these issues.

Common Motorcycle Injuries and How Chiropractic Care Helps

Hip/Pelvic Misalignment. The pelvis has three major joints: the pubic joint on the front of your body, and two sacroiliac joints on your back, connecting the pelvis to the spine. It also connects to many different muscles, including the hip and pelvic floor.

When you fall on your hip or it sustains another crash-related impact, your hip or pelvis can become misaligned. This type of misalignment is a leading cause of back pain, and can be excruciating. It can keep you off the road, and even make you unable to work.

A chiropractor can help adjust pelvic misalignment using chiropractic manipulative therapy. A series of at-home exercises may also be recommended to help restore pelvic alignment.

Whiplash. This is a type of neck injury that occurs due to a forceful, back-and-forth motion, similar to a whip cracking. It often occurs upon impact in crashes, or with a sudden stop.

Whiplash is a soft tissue injury wherein the tendons and muscles of the neck are stretched or torn. Although whiplash can be very painful, it also has a good prognosis, especially if you seek treatment to help heal the injury.

You may experience pain, tingling, stiffness, or a limited range of motion with a whiplash injury. A chiropractor can help alleviate these symptoms. A gentle adjustment can help realign your neck, and muscle stretching can help loosen tense muscles, restoring your range of motion. Your chiropractor may also recommend a series of at-home exercises to help you recover.

Other Neck Injuries. In addition to whiplash, you may suffer misalignment or fractures of the vertebrae in your neck from another impact, such as from the side. If you think that you may have sustained a fracture, seek emergency medical attention, as any fracture to the neck is considered a medical emergency.

A chiropractor can also help you to recover from neck injuries and restore the range of motion to your neck. Procedures such as gentle chiropractic manipulative therapy and intersegmental traction may help to realign your neck.

Back Injury. The spine and its muscles are quite prone to injury in a motorcycle accident. The spine may also become misaligned with the impact of long hours spent on the road.

Common injuries include fractures, herniated or slipped discs, spinal misalignment, soft tissue injuries and more. As with the neck, fractures of the spine are considered to be a medical emergency, so if you suspect a fracture, seek immediate medical attention.

A chiropractor can help with herniated or slipped discs or spinal misalignments. Common therapies for these conditions include intersegmental traction treatments and chiropractic manipulative therapy. For soft tissue injuries, massage therapy or hydromassage may help alleviate pain and facilitate healing of soft tissue.

To prevent back injuries or damage during normal use of your motorcycle, learn to practice good posture. Your chiropractor can guide you in proper posture, and in preventative exercises to improve your posture.

Leg or Foot Injury. Injuries to extremities, particularly the legs and feet, are common in motorcycle accidents. Common injuries include sprains, strains, road rash, and fractures. These injuries can be extremely painful – and in some cases debilitating. If you think that you might have sustained a fracture, seek medical attention from a doctor as it will need to be reset.

A chiropractor can help you with soft tissue injuries such as muscle or tendon damage using techniques such as massage therapy, hydromassage, or a recommended series of at-home exercises to help restore your range of motion.

Biker’s Arm. Biker’s arm, or rider’s arm, is an injury specific to motorcyclists and in some cases bicyclists. This occurs when a cyclist instinctively draws the hand in front of them in an attempt to lessen impact when falling down.

Unfortunately this can lead to a host of hand, wrist, arm and shoulder injuries. The bones, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and nerves may be damaged in a biker’s arm injury, and they can be quite severe.

Your chiropractor can help to heal soft tissue injuries using massage or hydromassage therapy. Adjustments can help to restore your range of motion, as can a recommended series of at-home exercises.

Want to learn more? Reach out to our office today.

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.