Car accidents are the most common reason that people show up in emergency rooms, chiropractors’ offices, and pain clinics. More than four million people suffer moderate to serous injuries in vehicular crashes every year. What’s that mean for someone who is injured and isn’t sure what to do when the injury is not life-threatening? Chiropractic care is the single best way to deal with post-accident pain and discomfort. Not only can a chiropractic physician address immediate issues of pain, but a spinal adjustment can also improve the body’s ability to heal itself without medication and without invasive techniques like surgery.
What are the main benefits of seeing a chiropractor after you’re in a vehicle accident?
- Efficient Treatment With No Drugs or Surgery: For millions of adults who are allergic to various kinds of medications, and for those who prefer to seek non-surgical alternatives to injuries, chiropractic treatment offers a viable way to get relief. That’s because chiropractors don’t prescribe drugs and they don’t use surgical techniques to heal their patients.Instead, they employ techniques like spinal adjustments, physical therapy, therapeutic massage, and more. All these approaches can help the body heal itself and heal faster than it would on its own. Patients never have to worry about the side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs or long recoveries, or complications, from surgery.
- Pain Relief: Spinal adjustments alone can relieve pressure on nerves and bring pain to a halt, especially after car accidents in which people experience impact injuries that force the body into awkward, dangerous positions. Additionally, chiropractors use massage alongside a spinal adjustment to help the body’s own systems work faster, bring oxygen to injured muscle tissue, and generally feel better.
- Enhanced Range of Motion: Impaired range of motion of arms, legs, shoulders, and the neck are very common results of vehicular collisions. Chiropractors use multiple methods, including spinal adjustment, to increase range of motion and allow the accident victim to enjoy a normal life soon after an injury takes place.
- Prompt Referral Another valid reason to see a chiropractor after an accident in which you don’t suffer serious, life-threatening injury is to get a thorough examination. Chiropractic physicians are highly trained medical professionals who can spot all sorts of medical problems, including some that often go unnoticed by patients, like concussions, bone fractures, internal injuries or bleeding, and broken ribs.In cases where your chiropractor discovers one or more injuries that require the care of an MD or neurologist, you will be referred to the proper professional immediately. Concussions are an especially “invisible” injury that people often don’t notice until their chiropractor recognized telltale symptoms. One of the advantages of seeing a chiropractor is to uncover and screen out these kinds of problems and send you on your way to another medical specialist when the situation warrants it..
Common Vehicle Crash Injuries That Chiropractors Treat
Chiropractors do many things, but most of these highly trained physicians deal with a steady stream of accident victims on a regular basis. Here are some of the most frequent maladies that chiropractors deal with when injured people visit their offices:
- Head Injuries: The human head is incredibly strong and resilient, but a vehicle crash can cause all sorts of problems. Chiropractors can assess whether there’s been muscle and/or tissue damage around the neck area and whether the skull has taken a damaging blow. If there’s a danger of concussion, the doctor can refer you to a head-injury specialist or and MD. Abrasions and lacerations on the head can be treated right in the chiropractic clinic, but it’s essential to have a full examination after a crash.
- Whiplash: Anytime the head swings side to side or front to back quickly and forcefully, it’s possible to sustain a whiplash injury. Chiropractors specialize in treating whiplash and getting the muscle tissue back in good form as quickly as possible.
- Swelling and General Body Pain Sometimes the non-specific physical problems after an injury are the most bothersome. Treatment for body bruising and large-scale aches is often achieved via a spinal adjustment, which works to relieve nerve impingement and help the body heal itself.
- Disc Injuries For disc injury diagnosis and treatment, there is no more qualified professional than a chiropractor, whose training focuses on spinal health and wellness. Herniated discs and other kinds of disc injuries are common after car crashes, and chiropractors can treat them by adjusting the spine and working to realign the discs.
- Abrasions Chiropractic offices are fully equipped to treat skin abrasions, one of the most frequent after-crash complaints. It’s important to attend to these relatively minor injuries because they can easily become infected if ignored.
Know the Telltale Signs of Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most frequent problems people suffer in car crashes, or even when there is no crash but the car is forced to come to a sudden stop. That’s because whiplash typically happens when the head is moved forcefully and quickly, either from front to back or side to side.
Car accidents that involve rear-end collisions are the most typical causes of whiplash because they force passengers’ heads to thrust back and forth very quickly. One thing that makes these injuries especially troublesome is that they often don’t show up until many days after a car crash, fall, sports accident, or other forms of head trauma. Common symptoms include:
- Poor, or no, range of motion in the area around the neck
- Headaches of all kinds, primarily ones that begin near the skull base
- Arm tingling, stinging, or numbness
- General dizziness
- Upper back, arms, or shoulder tenderness and/or pain
- Neck pain and discomfort that becomes worse over time
- Constant fatigue and/or grogginess
- Neck stiffness and/or pain
- Trouble sleeping or falling asleep
- Ringing in the ears
- Vision problems including double-vision and blurred vision
- Generalized emotional depression
- Problems with short-term memory
- Concentration problems
- Irritability
Getting the Right Kind of Help When You Become Injured
It’s true for virtually every type of injury, disease, or physical problem: it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible. Getting to a chiropractor as soon as possible after a car accident means you’ll find out exactly what’s wrong, what type of treatment you need, and how long the healing process can be expected to take.
Spinal Health & Wellness at Pike Creek is the best place to be after you’ve been injured in a vehicular accident. Dr. Tim Ciolkosz specializes in post-crash injury treatment for all types of injuries, including whiplash, herniated discs, and muscle pain. Call our office the moment you need help or walk-in. We treat emergencies without appointments and do a full physical exam to make sure nothing goes unnoticed. Car accidents are very traumatic experiences. There’s no reason to let injuries go unattended.
Quick help means you have a much better chance of having a full, rapid recovery. Feel free to phone us anytime or visit our office. The number is 302-993-9113 and our clinic is located in Wilmington, at 3105 Limestone Road Suite 303. Don’t let an accident interrupt your life. Get the help you need and start the healing process under the care of a trained, experienced chiropractic physician
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