9 Reasons to See a Chiropractor After a Car Accident
Car accidents can leave you with invisible injuries that only a chiropractor can diagnose and treat. To find out other reasons and how to choose the right chiropractor, read this article. Car accidents can be traumatic both physically and mentally. Sometimes even minor accidents can cause hidden injuries to your body. One of the most effective treatments to relieve these kinds of pains is visiting a chiropractor.
Many people don’t consider chiropractors as general medical practitioners and are hesitant to visit them. However, professional chiropractors can help relieve and prevent hidden or unforeseen injuries, possibly saving you thousands of dollars worth of medical treatment.
What Should You Do Right After a Car Accident?
The safest protocol after a car accident is to slowly and safely get out of the car. You should not leave the premise of the accident (unless there is an obvious danger in staying). Instead, quickly check whether you are uninjured then call 911 immediately for their aid.
Once the accident is cleared, you can contact the Accident and Injury Team who offers a range of services for people in auto accidents. They provide healthcare services and even legal representation. Accidents can be traumatic and these organizations try to alleviate any trauma by providing the right services.
Why You Should Visit a Chiropractor
If you have internal bleeding, broken bones, fractures or any severe conditions from an accident, you should receive immediate attention from doctors. Medicine and treatment can save you from several detrimental situations. However, the downsides to painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications are that they can cause side effects. However, even if you do not have severe injuries, visiting a chiropractor is still a valid option because you might be suffering from minor and invisible strains. Here are nine reasons why you should visit a chiropractor after a car accident.
1. Treats Invisible Injuries
Lacerations, broken bones, and fractures are much more obvious to detect, but muscle strains and soreness are not that easy. Most of the time, the pain affects the lower back and neck area. These pains do not cause an immediate effect but can be long-lasting if not treated properly.
The best way to deal with invisible injuries is to visit a chiropractor. They can diagnose your body and then provide treatments before the pain can become long-lasting.
2. Reduces Need for Medication
Taking pain relievers is common after a car accident. They temporarily relieve you from the pain but do not stop the root problem. Pain relievers can also become addictive and cause side effects. Long-time prescribed painkillers can create dependency and reduce the pain tolerance of your body. If you suddenly stop taking painkillers, you may also suffer from withdrawals.
Chiropractic treatment does not mask the injury. If you go for a comprehensive treatment, they will find the root of the pain and treat it without medication.
3. Reduces Chronic Pain
Invisible damage can cause long-time chronic pain if you leave them unchecked and untreated. Muscle pain and strains can sometimes ache for years without proper treatment. These pains take time to become chronic so, it is best to visit the chiropractor soon after a car accident.
They can diagnose any hidden injuries and prevent them from causing long-term pain. Medicine can only temporarily mask these pains, but a chiropractor can perform the hands-on treatment to solve them internally.
4. Restores Motion
Lack of motion is extremely common after a car accident. If you have ever been in an accident, you might notice that some parts of your body are not moving as smoothly as they used to. This can happen to any joint such in your arms, shoulders, hips, legs, spine or even neck.
This lack of motion can disrupt the natural flow of nutrients and blood and cause inflammation. Chiropractors can find these injury spots and adjust them back to their prior state. It restores the motion of your body and allows it to internally heal itself.
5. Offers Budget-friendly Treatment
Checkups and ongoing medication can quickly drain your wallet. As mentioned before, if you do not have broken bones, fractures, or internal bleeding, you can visit the chiropractor for a comprehensive look-over. Most chiropractors accept insurance payments, but even without the coverage, the expenses are reasonable and budget-friendly.
6. Improves Muscle Tone
The spine and neck suffer the most in car accidents. Even minor accidents can damage these areas. The sudden shock may disrupt your muscle strength and tone, causing the areas to become sore. Some chiropractic adjustments can get you up and running in no time.
7. Helps Recover Whiplash
Whiplash is a common yet complicated condition. The most common symptoms of whiplash are pain and soreness in the neck, shoulders, and back. However, there are several underlying complications as well, such as dizziness, weakness, headache, hearing, and vision impairments.
Accident chiropractic treatments focus on resolving whiplashes. They have specific treatments and adjustments to fix those sore muscles and areas. This releases the trapped tension in your body and allows you to relax. Some chiropractors even perform tissue manipulation to help regain motion.
8. Reduces Inflammation
There are two types of inflammation: acute and chronic. Acute inflammation is a type of swelling that helps fight internal injuries. It is part of the natural healing process. Chronic inflammation is the other type that is unhelpful and far from ideal. Chronic inflammation occurs when the process of inflammation takes too long to heal. It can cause a variety of diseases and disorders, such as arthritis, atherosclerosis, asthma, blindness, diabetes, or cancer.
Chronic inflammation occurs when a specific pain is constantly triggered. For instance, if you somehow strain your ankle, that part will get swollen. That is acute inflammation. Your body will try to prevent further injuries and heal itself internally. But if this process gets disrupted, the inflammation process might not stop. This prolonged process causes chronic inflammation.
Accidents can lead to inflammation that takes a long time to heal and triggers various side effects. Chiropractors are trained to prevent chronic inflammation. They can diagnose micro-tears that x-rays might miss. These micro-tears often cause chronic inflammation. With a comprehensive chiropractic adjustment such as spine manipulation, your body will naturally release IL-6, an anti-inflammatory substance that prevents chronic inflammation.
9. Reduces Scar Tissue
Scar tissue forms when the normal tissue is destroyed due to accidents, injuries, or surgeries. They form internally and are very common after a car accident. Scar tissues make the injured spot stiff and uncomfortable to move. The muscles get scarred and cause soreness. The scar tissue takes a long time to heal. Chiropractors can identify the specific damaged areas and help break up the tissues so they can heal faster on their own. This makes the healing procedure easier and faster. Fewer scar tissues ensure a faster recovery.
How to Choose a Chiropractor
Some chiropractors do not have a legal license. This makes finding a legal and professional chiropractor a bit difficult. Also, chiropractors use hands-on treatment on your spine, neck, and other injured areas, so you must make sure you are going to the right one. Here are a few ways to ensure you find a professional chiropractor.
1. Consider Recommendations
Ask your friends, neighbors, family members, and other health care providers if they ever visited a chiropractor. Take their recommendations and compare them to find a suitable one. Make sure your chiropractor has experience dealing with car accident victims too.
2. Check Credentials
A licensed chiropractor will have the right set of skills, knowledge, and experience to deal with your problems. Do a background check to make sure the chiropractor has a clean background with no disciplinary actions or malpractice claims. Also, check their medical school and training certificates.
3. Consider Gender and Communication Style
Since chiropractic treatments are completely hands-on procedures, you must be comfortable with your chiropractor. Otherwise, you might tense, even more, making the procedure more difficult. Even the chiropractors themselves might have a gender preference. So, ask before making the final appointment.
Their communication style is also important to consider. You have to be comfortable talking to your chiropractor and he/she also should respond to all your queries. A friendly and trustworthy chiropractor should welcome your questions so you can be free from confusion and hesitation about the treatment.
4. Analyze Patient Reviews
You can gain more insight by seeing what other people have to say about a certain chiropractor. Patient reviews reveal a lot more than just credentials. They can give you a better idea about their entire experience with the chiropractor, the wait times, staff friendliness, and the environment. You can even learn whether the patients like the treatments or trust the chiropractor.
5. Consider Prices and Payment System
Look for a chiropractor that falls within your insurance coverage. That way, your insurance plan will cover most of the costs. Although this is not a deal-breaker, finding someone that fits your plan will make the treatment cheaper.
Final Thoughts
Accidents can cause invisible long-term injuries that medical professionals may not find. A visit to a chiropractor is a safe and budget-friendly option that you should definitely consider. A chiropractic treatment might make all the soreness and stiffness vanish without a trace.
