Last Updated on June 6, 2023

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Car Accidents & Chiropractic: What You Need to Know

Car Accidents & Chiropractic: What You Need to Know

Is there anything worse than a car accident? Not likely! Those who have been involved in an auto accident know that it not only ruins your day, but it can feel like it’s ruined your entire life. A car accident immediately causes mental and physical stress. Not only are you obligated to figure out insurance and repairs while being inconvenienced by the whole ordeal, but you may be forced to deal with something even more life-interrupting. An injury!

If you’ve been in a vehicle accident and are wondering if chiropractic treatment can help with your automobile accident injuries, you’re not alone. It’s only natural to wonder about this following any sort of medical intervention or care, or other therapies, without obtaining long-term relief. If you’d like to learn how chiropractic therapy may assist you after an auto accident injury, keep reading.

The Stages of a Car Accident: During, Immediately After, and Long-Term Effects

There are three distinct phases of a vehicle accident. The initial stage is during, which sets the scene for injury and recovery. Then there’s right after. These minutes, hours, and days are critical to how the body recovers from any sustained injuries. Finally, there are the long-term consequences of a vehicle accident. This stage lasts for the rest of your life following a collision and for some people, it can influence them even in their remaining years.

What happens during a car accident?

Unless you’re readings this mid-car accident, the likelihood is that you’ve experienced one before. A car accident happens when your vehicle crashes into something else – another car, a wall, a tree, etc. The moment of impact jolts through the entire car and those inside it.

Although automobiles are designed to absorb as much of the impact of a collision as possible, this “absorptive quality” is rarely enough to prevent injuries among occupants. Cars frequently crumple in collisions for good reason: the crumpling effect is supposed to direct the shock of the collision away from your body!

Moreover, although you may not see it, your body likely feels the aftermath of a collision. In fact, some reports show that if your car doesn’t have as much damage, then your body probably endured more force from the impact!

A car is designed to absorb the shock of a collision by crumpling, but your body is not. The joints in your body need space between them so that the bones can cushion each other. The discs between joints are often damaged in even a minor car accident. Some of the most common types of injuries during a car accident include:

Whiplash

When you hear the term “whiplash,” you’re not wrong to immediately think of a car accident. Whiplash is one of, if not the most common injuries, to come from a car accident or other sudden impact injury.

When the head is shaken violently forward and backward on the neck by sheer force, it strangles the neck muscles and joints. Frequently, persistent neck pain in addition to numbness/tingling in the arms, wrists, and hands, headaches, migraines, brain fog, and muscular problems around the neck and back are caused by this.

Whiplash oftentimes goes untreated, which can result in injuries that worsen over time. This is due to the fact that the neck’s joints are commonly misaligned during whiplash, and this neck misalignment often leads to discomfort, pain, and an overall decrease in function.

Back Pain

Back pain is something that often follows a car accident. The jarring collision can send the bones and joints in your spine out of alignment, which then causes a domino effect of other issues.

The first step is to determine the source of pain. Nerves that have been inflamed, compressed, and in some cases, severed, can cause serious discomfort. What causes nerves to be damaged as a result of a vehicle accident? When the collision pushes the spine out of alignment, it can crush and irritate nearby nerves that would not normally be affected by the bones and joints.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is another frequent consequence of vehicle accident injuries. They may be caused by whiplash, which is the throttling of the neck forward and backward or side to side during impact, or they might be produced by the body’s response to the collision. When a collision’s impact is absorbed by the body, it can frequently smash or squash the soft and spongy discs in the spine. The cervical spine, which extends throughout the area of the neck, can hurt as a result of this.

Knee Pain

In certain vehicle accidents, the knees may absorb a large amount of impact. This is due to the fact that, depending on the sort of collision and where and how your knees are positioned and placed, they can be forced to rotate or twist during the accident. All kinds of injuries and residual discomfort might result as a result of this, leaving your knees feeling “not right” for months after the accident.

Headaches & Migraines

If you’ve been in a car accident, it’s important to pay attention to your body for any signs of injury, even if they don’t seem serious at first. Headaches and migraines are common injuries that people overlook after an accident. These can persist for weeks, months, or even years after the accident and can be debilitating. If you’re suffering from headaches or migraines following a car accident, seek medical help as soon as possible.

What is it about a vehicle accident that causes headaches and migraines to emerge? The first cause is anxiety. While scientists aren’t sure what causes migraines, stress has been shown to be a significant contributing factor. Car accidents are extremely stressful events, and the turmoil they create may linger for weeks or even months after the fact.

Spinal misalignment and inflammation can both cause headaches and migraines, as can car accidents. Spasticity, a subluxation (when the joints slide out of place in the spine), and other injuries that are beyond the range of sight may leave behind a migraine or headache lingering effect. People sometimes don’t realize that migraines and headaches may be the result of automobile accidents they sustained a few years before or even decades prior.

Sciatica

Do you ever think about where your sciatic pain came from? If you had a car accident in the past, then that might be your answer. Sciatica is when someone experiences sharp shooting pains from their buttocks all the way down to the back of one or sometimes even both legs. This pain can feel so strong and severe that it feels like whoever has it is going to collapse. Living with sciatica can be very hard and uncomfortable, especially because oftentimes, regular forms of care such as taking medication or stretching do not work.

Did you know that car accidents are a common cause of sciatica? When your body is slammed by another vehicle or object, it often tries to protect itself by absorbing the impact in the bones and joints. However, these bones and joints aren’t meant to take this type of force, so they end up moving out of alignment.

Joint stiffness caused by misalignment can be a nerve-rattling experience for the nervous system. When the joints move, the nerves that are tightly wrapped around the spinal cord are cut off. Nerve interference, inflammation, and most notably, pain are all possible consequences of this. Sciatica pain is distressing and may surge up without warning (even after periods of resting simply sitting down).

Chiropractic Care After A Car Accident

One of the finest things you can do for your body is to seek chiropractic treatment after a vehicle accident! It will enable your neuromusculoskeletal system to get complete and comprehensive therapy. Your neuromusculoskeletal system comprises your joints, muscles, and nerves. Each of these aspects of your body has an important impact on how effectively your bodily functions. If you want to assist with the healing process after a car accident in which the joints, muscles, and nerves are frequently harmed, seek expert chiropractic help right now.

When you come to Zen Care Physical Medicine, Dr. Jay Kang will give you a full assessment to see how we can help you recover from your car accident injury. We’ll create a care plan that’s tailored just for you so that you can start on your path to wellness and get back to living your life without pain! Contact us today to reserve a time for your first appointment.

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