Motor Vehicle Crashes
Being in a car accident is a very difficult situation on a number of levels. Your pain is sometimes secondary to the aftermath of having your car at the mechanics or worse yet having to shop for a new car. Then you have to deal with the stress of an insurance company and being fairly compensated for your property loss. Finally, you may have to deal with missing work or going to work in a lot of pain.
While you are in a hurry to get your car fixed and back to normal activities, make sure you have an evaluation by a skilled physician who is experienced with like cases. Often times, you will be told your injuries are minor or that they do not require medical attention or a professional evaluation. More disturbing, the insurance agent or representative will often have no formal medical training or expertise in this area other than what they learned on the job. A car accident is a major event and the trauma that come from them could be significant. Therefore, do not take a stranger's word to assure you that you are not hurt. An evaluation that will include a formal orthopedic and neurological scan, as well as a comprehensive soft tissue and biomechanical abilities will allow you to make an informed decision reguarding your case.
So Why is This the First Time You Are Hearing About This?
What are the Common Symptoms Following an Accident?
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Jaw pain or TMJ syndrome
- Sharp, shooting pains in the arms or a pins and needles feeling in the hands
- Numbness and tingling in the forearms
- Painful headaches (usually at the base of the neck) or even dizziness
- Unrelenting muscle soreness
- Trouble getting to sleep or being able to stay asleep after the pain medicine wears off
So How Will This Effect You?
- Short-term to Long-term pain: although it happens in less than a second, your life may be turned upside down for two days to many weeks or even months
- Difficulty concentrating at work or at home
- Trouble sleeping or trouble staying asleep
- Stiffness in your neck or late afternoon headaches
Do these symptoms sound familiar . . . they are the symptoms of whiplash!
Whiplash or CAD (Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration trauma or syndrome):
- damage to your muscles and ligaments (soft tissues)
- alterations in the normal biomechanics (movements) of the spine
- alterations in your ability to turn or twist your body
- Need more clinical data? From the Journal of Joint and Bone Surgery, the following details were discovered: "Squires et al,16 following a much smaller group of 40 patients for a longer period of 15 years, found that 28 (70%) continued to complain of symptoms referable to the original accident; some had improved and some had deteriorated. It is difficult to explain the remarkable differ- ence in these two findings."
How Will Chiropractic Help?
Chiropractic and spinal rehabilitation will help to restore normal range of motion, improve muscle dysfunction and weakness, improve muscle performance, reduce injury time, and improve long-term results and reducing the chance of further degenerative changes of the spine.
