26 June 2019
 Categories: , Blog

When you're in an auto accident, you may initially feel relief that you made it through with no injuries. That relief may fade fast the next day when your back is stiff and your neck is so painful that you can't move your head. Auto accident injuries don't always show symptoms right away. Pain and stiffness are often delayed, so you may not realize until hours later that you've injured your back or that you have whiplash. No matter when you first feel your symptoms, a chiropractor can often help after an auto accident. Here's how.

Treatments Might Prevent Chronic Pain

Before your chiropractor begins any type of treatment, they perform an examination and they may take x-rays to determine the nature of your injuries. Once your injury is understood, a treatment plan is developed and started right away. It's usually important to begin treating auto accident injuries soon after an accident to promote proper healing. Healing under the guidance of a chiropractor helps avoid complications that can lead to chronic back and neck pain. The goal of your treatments is to heal completely from the injuries and not have lasting back or neck problems.

Treatments Can Help with Current Pain

If your spine was jolted during the accident, a nerve in your back might be compressed. When your spine presses against a nerve, you can have a wide range of symptoms that include headaches, aches in your shoulder, numbness, and tingling in your fingers. By adjusting your spine, the pressure is relieved on the nerve and pain is reduced. You might feel a relief of pain during your initial treatments or your pain relief may come about more slowly. Multiple sessions during this time may help with your acute pain until the swelling has gone down and your spine is back in its normal alignment and not causing nerve irritation.

Treatments Help with Tissue Damage

An auto accident clinic usually has all the equipment needed to help you heal a variety of injuries. While spinal manipulations are an important part of chiropractic care, you'll probably have tissue damage and stiff muscles after an accident due to the jolting and twisting of your body. Muscle stiffness can be so bad that you can't work. Stiffness is a result of inflammation due to tiny tears in the muscles caused by your injuries. As these tears heal, they'll form scars that can interfere with your healing.

Your chiropractor may provide treatments that help reduce inflammation in your back and neck and then work on breaking up scar tissue. Scars can make movement painful and they can limit your full range of motion. By breaking up the scars, your full movement is maintained and you'll experience less pain.

When you've been injured in an accident and have stiffness, whiplash, or back pain, getting help from a chiropractor through resources like Dr. Keren H. Gomez Chiropractic Physician can be helpful during your recovery. Expect your healing to take time since swelling needs to go down and your muscles and nerves need time to heal from their irritation. With help from a chiropractor during your recovery, you can minimize the risk of developing a long-lasting back or neck problem and work toward the goal of resuming your normal activities as soon as possible.