3 min read
There's no doubt that car accidents are a common occurrence. If you haven’t been in one you probably know at least a few people who have. Even when there are no injuries, or only minor bumps and bruises, there can be pain and discomfort that lingers.
The good news is that chiropractic care can actually improve your quality of life after a car accident by helping you recover from injuries faster and reducing pain.
Examples of Common Car Accident Injuries
There are a number of different common injuries caused by car accidents. The length of time it takes to get back to feeling like your regular self will depend on which injuries you experienced and how severe they are. The types of injuries a chiropractor can most often treat successfully after a car accident are related to the neck and back as well as muscles, tendons and ligaments throughout the body.
You might be a good candidate for chiropractic care after a car accident if you experienced any of the following:
- Whiplash: Whiplash is actually a non-medical term, but we know it as a neck injury caused by rapid and forceful back-and-forth movement of the neck. Lots of people compare this motion to the cracking of a whip, which is where the name "whiplash" originated. Whiplash involves damage to the soft tissue in the neck; it may include harm to muscles, ligaments, or tendons.
- Herniated discs: Our spine is made up of vertebrae (bones) and discs filled with a jellylike substance. Combined, these help us to move in many directions. Sudden impact or abrupt movement can cause one or more of the discs to herniate. This means that the center of a disc pushes out through a tear in the disc's rubbery exterior. This can cause a lot of pain, but can be treated without surgery.
- Muscular sprains and strains: Muscle strains are often referred to as muscle pulls. They involve damage to a muscle and/or its attaching tendons (which attach muscle to bone). Undue pressure on a muscle has the potential to cause a strain. Muscle sprains occur when the bands of tissue that connect two bones together are injured. Any number of muscles can be strained or sprained in a car accident that a chiropractor can help with.
- Ligament or tendon tears: Ligament tears occur at joints during high-impact events. Ligament tears frequently involve the knee, thumb, neck, wrist, or back. Tendon tears are also common injuries in car accidents – typically near the kneecap or rotator cuff in the shoulder.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help After a Car Accident
Relieving Pain from a Car Accident
Any one of the injuries listed earlier causes pain. And sometimes that There’s no need to suffer with pain for weeks on end. Even if the pain starts days or weeks after the accident, it’s likely all related to the accident. Be sure to talk openly about where you’re experiencing pain and how bad it is. That helps with determining where to look for the cause and the treatments that would work best.
Restoring Mobility After an Auto Accident
There might be a few things causing you pain that are also restricting your ability to move like normal. If you have a torn ligament or tendon, joint pain, a herniated disc or an extremely tensed muscle, there are treatments that the chiropractor can offer to help you get back to a more normal range of motion. These treatments might include back or knee traction, massage therapy, spinal adjustment and other techniques that are proven to help you feel better faster.
Supporting Long-Term Healing
Your first concern after a car accident should be your long-term health. Car accident survivors who experience muscle weakness after a crash are vulnerable to re-injury. Chiropractic care can help improve your muscle strength which can reduce the likelihood of suffering from chronic pain after a car accident.
Have You Been in a Car Accident? Village Chiropractic Can Help
At Village Chiropractic, we're committed to offering our patients chiropractic services that change their lives for the better. Our office has helped car accident survivors reclaim their lives and improve their well-being.
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