The answer would seem obvious – who would want their pain to continue? After a car accident, people often seek relief in medications, or believe that rest will help to relieve pain. So they let the pain continue for days or weeks. Even months.
Do they want to remain in pain? No. But they don’t understand that help could be a phone call – and a chiropractor’s visit – away.
Most people visit the emergency room of the hospital directly after a car crash, especially if a head injury is involved, or if the possibility of internal bleeding exists. In the event of a major accident, the emergency room visit is critical, if not life-saving. After the car accident, you may consider going straight home instead of allowing an ambulance to take you to the hospital. Good advice is to err on the side of the ambulance – always get to the hospital immediately. It will protect you in case you have extensive physical injuries that are not readily visible. Even if a hospital deems that your injuries are not life-threatening and do not require extensive care, you still may have problems. And your pain could persist.
Sometimes car accidents occur at low speeds and the ramifications could be ignored. Someone hits the rear bumper of another car driven out of a parking spot. A driver fails to move forward when the light turns green and is rear-ended. These types of accidents also cause pain but are not deemed critical in the same way as major crashes.
But the pain can endure, and whether major or minor, each car accident has the potential to riddle the person with afflictions that can be long-term or permanent. Soft tissue issues lead to chronic arthritis, which can be debilitating. A jerk of the body, arising from the intensity of the collision and the vehicle’s inability to absorb the full shock of the impact, results in injury and pain. And consider: Most cases of whiplash occur during low-impact car collisions, where the vehicle receives little or no damage.
So pain means injury. But what if there is no pain? Sometimes it takes a while for pain to surface and by that time, your injury could worsen, and you may have missed the deadline for filing a claim to receive compensation. Want to ensure that you are protected? Seek a chiropractor’s expert opinion within two weeks of the accident.
Chiropractors are skilled professionals and can detect hidden injuries by performing tests to analyze the amount of damage to soft tissues, as well as damage to muscles, how easily you bend, twist and stretch, along with the function of joints and nerves. Do you have numbness, tingling, back pain, headaches, stiffness? These are all tell-tale signs of injury that could be missed in the hospital, or by your primary care provider.
Any injuries – herniated discs, strained tissues or any misalignment of the vertebrae – can then be treated via an individualized plan that considers your unique set of circumstances, your overall health, your lifestyle, and your needs. A series of chiropractic adjustments, deep tissue massage or other kinds of specialized therapy, will help you to heal and rid you of your pain. The point is to restore health and function to your spine. You can’t do this alone and you can’t do it with pain relievers, nor can you do it with the help of any other medical professional. Only a chiropractor can help.
So if you have been the victim of a car crash, the next drive you take should be to the office of your Ft. Lauderdale chiropractor. The idea of living with pain should be just that – an idea – and not a long-term part of your life.