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Overview of Auto Accidents and Injuries
Auto accidents can have a lasting impact on the physical and mental well-being of those involved.
Headaches, dizziness, neck pain, back pain, and anxiety are common symptoms experienced by
individuals after an auto injury. Seeking prompt and appropriate care is crucial for recovery.
Chiropractic care has been shown to be an effective treatment option for auto accident victims,
helping to alleviate pain, improve range of motion, and promote overall healing. This comprehensive
guide will explore the importance of chiropractic care for those who have been injured in auto
accidents, and provide valuable insights for individuals seeking recovery and relief.
Ligaments and muscles are most commonly damaged after a car accident. Ligaments connect bones to bones and cover joints, tendons attach the muscles to bones. Upon collision the ligaments, tendons, and muscles are rapidly pulled resulting in multiple degrees of injury ranging from a mild pull to a complete tear. After collision, inflammation sets in and causes pain. Within one day after the collision scar tissue starts to form and slowly builds every day there after. The building scar tissue causes decreased motion in the vertebrae of the spine and a loss of flexibility in the muscular system. The combination of these two factors ultimately can lead to spinal degeneration otherwise known as arthritis, and this can happen years after the automobile accident.
Many people are unable to describe chiropractic to someone who has never had any experience with it. They simply say that they are going to the chiropractor to get “cracked.” It is true that a chiropractic adjustment often produces a popping or cracking sound due to Nitrogen gas being released from the joint, but this is not the full story. Joints go through wear and tear over the years and start to break down and form scar tissue that interferes with how a joint moves. This lack of motion causes irritation that can result in pain, stiffness, and ultimately lead to the joint’s demise. The lack of motion or stuck joint can also put pressure on the nerves that control every cell, tissue, and organ in the body causing a decrease in their function and pain. The adjustment restores motion to these joints allowing them to re-lubricate so they don’t further break down, it also relieves nerve pressure to allow the body to function optimally, and ultimately feel better.
TENS, an acronym for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation is a small portable device run by a 9volt battery that delivers an electrical impulse to the skin. The impulse penetrates the muscle helping reduce spasms. It also affects the nerve endings causing a release of endorphins (a natural pain reliever).
At the Accident Recovery Center, we pride ourselves on the latest state-of-the-art equipment to aid in our patients’ recovery after a car accident. We want to help as many people as possible get better without the use of dangerous drugs or surgery whether they have been in an accident or pulled their back lifting something heavy. Natural pain relief happens in the office and outside of the office. Patients of the Accident Recovery Center are instructed on the proper technique and execution of home exercises, and they are often given a pain-relieving support system to be used as a natural, non-habit-forming, means of pain relief. The system includes an ergonomic cervical pillow, an ergonomic lumbar pillow, Biofreeze, and an ice/heat pack.
Medical Payments also known as MedPay is additional insurance coverage. It is added to a person’s car insurance policy for the sole purpose of helping to pay medical bills in the event of a motor vehicle accident. MedPay is generally cheap and can be had for under $100 per year giving the person anywhere from $1000 to $25000 in medical coverage. It can be used for hospitals, chiropractic, dental, orthopedic, neurological, general medical, and funerals.
Most of us minimize our problems, I see it every day in my practice. A new patient comes into the office with complaints of migraine headaches, they have had them for years and learned to live with them, they have a “high tolerance for pain” and the headaches are “not that bad”. After a little coaxing from a family member who is tired of seeing their loved one suffer every month they come into the office. After talking for a bit we get to the truth, this person misses work 2-3 days a month because the headaches get so bad they can not tolerate noise or light. The headaches are often accompanied by nausea and occasional vomiting. The patient still states that at least this is not every day, or every week, just every month, and once in a while the migraine will skip a month. My response is that 3 days a month, almost every month, is approximately ten percent of their life spent incapacitated. It not only affects them directly, but it affects everybody around them, from the co-workers who have to do more when time is missed, to the boss having to decide to keep this employee, to the family losing this person for 3 days every episode. Medication sometimes dulls the pain allowing this person to work or socialize, but they are unable to enjoy anything when the headache is present even though dulled.
As a Chiropractor here in Charlotte NC I see all types of conditions and problems. One of them is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome characterized as pain and or numbness in the hands and fingers. The condition is best described as pressure to the median nerve. The median nerve runs from the spinal cord in the neck area down to the fingers of both hands. Pressure from this nerve can stem from the wrist, the neck, or a combination of both. Wrist pressure on this nerve comes from a tightening of the forearm muscles causing inflammation to the tendons that enter the hand through the carpal tunnel thus compressing the nerve. When the pressure comes from a pinched nerve in your neck it is usually because of a vertebrae that is not positioned or not moving properly. When the median nerve becomes compressed, it causes the person to feel any variation of numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or pain.
80% of the American population will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. For the majority of these people, the pain will become chronic, meaning it will be long-term pain that will affect their activities of daily living and despite multiple attempts with multiple doctors, the pain will persist.
Most of us spend most of our time sitting, sleeping, a combination of the two, or both simultaneously. Most of us do these two activities incorrectly. When it comes to sitting, one needs to be mindful of proper posture. Ever think of how hours, days, months, years, and decades of poor sitting may affect your muscular-skeletal system?