How Soon After a Car Accident Should I See a Chiropractor?

Car accidents often cause injuries that, if untreated, can develop into severe complications that can cause pain. However, it does not have to be that way. Seeing a chiropractor can help avoid such situations. Read on to learn when you should visit a chiropractor after getting into a car accident.

Accident Injuries Sustained in Auto Accidents

An accident victim can sustain different kinds of injuries. The most common ones are bruises, fractures, concussions, strains, and sprains.

You can also get lacerations, broken bones, traumatic brain injury, or concussions. The severity of the injuries often depends on the magnitude of the impact of the auto accident. However, minor accidents can also cause significant damage to the body.

Symptoms You Can Have After an Auto Accident

The most common symptoms you should look out for after a car accident include:

• Dizziness

• Arm pain

• Neck pain

• Shoulder pain

• Back pain

• Lower back pain

• Neck stiffness

• Blurred vision
   

How Soon to Seek Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident

Most accident victims do not feel physical symptoms in the hours or days after the ordeal. However, see a chiropractor soon after the car accident. You should not wait for more than three days to seek chiropractic help. Your chiropractor can identify problems you may not have noticed, even if you feel okay.

Importance of Timing

• Diagnosing hidden injuries - Accident victims are often unaware of their injuries. An evaluation done by your chiropractor soon after the auto accident will make sure you have no harm that goes unnoticed.

• Quick recovery - Most people who get into a car accident want to resume their daily activities as soon as possible. You improve your chances of a quick recovery from any injury by seeing your chiropractor soon after the car accident.

• Legal action - Car accident victims who pursue personal injury in a court of law need documentation of their injuries. Chiropractors can give you the medical documents necessary to help you win your case.

• Insurance claims - Most auto insurance policies cover chiropractic treatment after a car accident. However, you can strengthen the claim if you receive the treatment as soon as possible after the auto accident. If you wait too long, your insurance company will argue that other factors caused your condition to worsen.

Chiropractic Treatment Methods That Could Help After an Accident

Your chiropractor will evaluate your condition to determine a suitable treatment method. Patients with muscle pain resulting from strains or sprains must get soft-tissue therapy. Employing soft tissue massage is better than prescribing painkillers.

Pain medications increase your risk for dependency. The method involves applying gentle massages to your connective tissues in some areas of your body. Your specialist can also stretch the affected area to strengthen the affected tissue.

A non-surgical spinal decompression treatment can help relieve neck or back pain by opening up the disc space, rehydrating the spinal discs, help with spinal alignment, reduce muscle spasms, and to alleviate related pain symptoms. 

Additionally, laser therapy can help to increase blood and lymph flow, decrease pain levels and inflammation and to increase the healing time and create new cells.   

Physical therapy can also help build muscle in some parts of your body. Your chiropractor will give you exercises suitable for treating your condition. They can also suggest lifestyle and diet changes to help your quick recovery.

For more about chiropractic care after an accident, call Elevate Life Health Center at 816 339 5900 to reach our office in Kansas City, Missouri.