Chiropractic Treatment Following an Auto Accident

Automobile accidents are unexpected incidents that may occur anytime and anywhere without warning. While being involved in this situation can be confusing for the individual, after experiencing an auto accident, the first and foremost thing one needs to do is consult a doctor.

Visiting a healthcare professional is almost mandatory following a car wreck, even for a personal injury case. To build a proper personal injury case, seeing a physician is required simply because many lawyers will refuse to take a case without the proper documentation of the accident. Finding the proper care, such as chiropractic, will help the individual heal their injuries and help file a personal injury case is essential for those involved in an automobile accident.

According to recent studies, numerous car accidents occur daily in the United States alone. An auto accident can traumatize the victim’s physical and mental health. Various injuries or conditions may develop due to the unexpected forces from a car wreck. Most of these are classified as soft-tissue injuries, which may not be immediately visible after the collision. As a result, many individuals don’t seek medical attention to properly diagnose any underlying injuries or conditions, and doing so can have tremendous risks to the victim’s overall health. Thus, one needs to be conscious of these complications and see a healthcare professional immediately after an automobile accident to receive the necessary diagnosis and follow up with the appropriate treatment.

PIP or MED Pay

There’s no need to worry if there are financial concerns about visiting a doctor after being involved in an auto accident. Some states offer PIP or personal injury protection as part of their insurance plan. PIP was designed to pay for the necessary medical care considered reasonable and essential by the insurance company. Under PIP, insurance companies can additionally pay for lost wages after the individual’s missed work days due to injuries from an auto accident. Make sure to speak to your healthcare provider or insurance company to know whether or not PIP can help you in your case. If personal injury protection, or PIP, does not cover the individual, other options exist to help pay for medical bills following a car wreck.

MED pay may be available for individuals who don’t have the option to pay for their medical bills using PIP. The availability of MED pay is generally stated under the individual’s insurance policy, and it can be used after the individual has been injured in a car accident to pay their medical fees. MED pay can be used when the driver or any passengers in the vehicle are injured during a car wreck. Regardless of whether the incident was your fault or not, MED pay will pay for your personal injuries after being involved in an automobile accident.

Why Consult a Doctor?

It is a preliminary duty to consult a doctor immediately after suffering an auto accident. A car wreck can greatly affect an individual’s overall health if any injury or condition is left untreated. Regardless of how minor a car wreck may appear, the force from an impact can cause huge amounts of strain on the neck and shoulders, including the back. After an automobile accident, symptoms of pain and discomfort may not manifest right away, so consulting a doctor following the incident must be the individual’s first step.

Seeing a healthcare professional promptly diagnose the presence of any complication is crucial to follow the best treatments and restoring the individual’s original health. Since most injuries or conditions resulting from a car wreck are not visible at first glance, many people believe they didn’t suffer any harm after the incident, and delaying treatment can lead to further complications. Furthermore, while many doctors focus on treating various injuries or conditions, only a select few healthcare professionals specialize in auto injuries. Chiropractic care is a popular alternative treatment used to treat various soft-tissue injuries. Chiropractors specialize in musculoskeletal injuries and conditions, including nervous system complications, which are common during automobile accidents.

Chiropractic Care After an Auto Injury

Being involved in a car accident can be a terrifying experience. There can be a lot of internal physical damage from minor to severe collisions. If these internal injuries remain untreated, the individual may develop chronic symptoms which can greatly challenge their everyday lives. Chiropractors are some of the most frequently sought-out healthcare professionals after an auto accident, specializing in whiplash-associated injuries and treating neck and back pain and other symptoms. The victim’s strength, mobility, and flexibility can be restored through chiropractic care, eliminating symptoms and improving overall function and health.

A car wreck injury can occur internally and externally, causing pain and many other symptoms. If you are facing any symptoms below, you must immediately consult your chiropractor or another healthcare professional. Symptoms can include neck pain, shoulder, and arm pain, back pain, headaches, stiffness, numbness and tingling sensations, blurred vision, dizziness, and anxiety or depression.

A chiropractor can evaluate these health problems effectively and determine the presence of an injury or underlying condition which could be causing the symptoms. During a car accident, the body is placed under a sudden, extreme force which can cause its structures to stretch beyond their normal limit. Because of this, many tissues within the body can become overstretched or torn. The neck and head are especially more exposed to these types of injuries during car accidents, such as whiplash. Finding early care can do a lot to help you, carefully eliminating the pain and symptoms as well as gradually restoring the normal function of your body.

Chiropractic Treatments

Once a chiropractor has provided the individual with the necessary evaluation procedures to determine the source of their symptoms, appropriate follow-up treatment will be recommended to improve the individual’s symptoms. Chiropractic treatment primarily consists of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to slowly re-align the spine after a car wreck, helping to reduce the irritation and swelling around the tissues of the affected area. Chiropractic care may include massage, foam roller techniques, and even a recommended set of stretches and exercises to relieve pain and symptoms and speed up rehabilitation. To ensure that the body performs seamlessly, you must ensure the spine is in the correct alignment. Chiropractors are specialized in rehabilitating muscles, bones, nerves, and other connective tissues. The spine and spinal cord receive most of the impact and trauma whenever the body undergoes a car accident.

Whiplash Treatment

Whiplash is a common issue resulting in any car accident. When the neck is abruptly forced back and forth from the force of an impact, whiplash is most likely to occur. There may not be any pain or symptoms immediately, but these can generally appear after 24 hours after the original incident. The adrenaline rush during the accident postpones pain, headaches, and other symptoms. Eventually, these can begin to manifest; when it does, the neck pain, back pain, stiffness, and other symptoms may be unbearable. Whiplash is a type of injury that can quickly become a health hazard if left untreated.

Weakened Ligaments After Whiplash

Chiropractors may utilize chiropractic adjustments to treat whiplash and its symptoms. The cervical spine may have suffered a misalignment due to the car accident; therefore, careful adjustments over time can help slowly restore the original structure of the neck. Moreover, the pressure against the surrounding tissues will be relieved through the proper re-alignment, decreasing and eliminating irritation, inflammation, and swelling in the surrounding region. Chiropractic care may also include a therapy known as cranial sacral therapy to treat patients who have suffered whiplash. This treatment is continued for a few days or weeks based on the severity of the injury. Cranial sacral therapy is a non-invasive bodywork focusing on releasing compression along the head and spine to alleviate pain and stress.

Once the individual’s symptoms begin to improve, chiropractors may also recommend using heat or cold therapy to temporarily relieve the individual’s symptoms while at home to provide a more successful care relief. Soft-tissue injuries and other types of injuries or conditions resulting from an auto accident can be traumatizing and painful, often requiring effective care to heal and strengthen the body back to health. Time and patience are the keys to proper rehabilitation from automobile accident injuries.

Pain Management

Furthermore, an individual’s daily tasks and work can come to a standstill after suffering injuries from a car wreck. Many cannot function properly as they cannot sit or stand properly without experiencing symptoms before receiving treatment. With the help of chiropractic care, aside from various treatments and symptom relief techniques, the individual may follow a pain management treatment to continue feeling relief from their injuries throughout the rehabilitation process. Pain management procedures start with the first adjustments by a chiropractor.

Seek the Best Care

As soon as the accident occurs, it’s best to receive a proper evaluation. From the above points, it’s been emphasized that delaying treatment can and often will worsen the symptoms. Whether you or someone you know experienced the accident, visit a chiropractor for thorough medical care.

The El Paso, Texas, chiropractors are here to serve the people with the best possible treatments they deserve for their automobile accident injuries. Our chiropractic doctors are well-trained and highly experienced, offering special treatments and care for the victims of a car wreck. Many chiropractors are here to assist you with your different types of injuries and health problems through proper diagnosis using the necessary tests and evaluation methods. After a car accident, many small and minor injuries can occur internally. These injuries can be misdiagnosed without proper experience and knowledge, leading to other complications. During a car wreck, a majority of people suffer from whiplash.

Chiropractors don’t just focus on the single injury itself; they provide care to the whole body, ensuring the individual has healed completely and their original, healthy function has been restored. It’s understood that accidents can happen anytime, and medical care may be needed as well. Chiropractic treatments will help you to enhance your functions, reduce pain and swelling, improve postures, and offer many other benefits. If you or any of your close loved ones have been involved in an auto accident, contact a chiropractor immediately to receive the proper care you need and deserve to achieve overall physical and mental health.

Neck Pain