Injuries can be deceiving in the beginning. A car accident or a sports injury may not feel serious at first. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, or months before you start to feel pain. Especially if you have an injury involving your spine. That’s part of why it’s so important to take action right after your accident. Taking action involves seeking out a health care professional. An accident and injury chiropractor is the best place to start. Their diagnosis and treatment are minimally-invasive. They don’t prescribe addictive narcotics. Lastly, they’re trained in helping people who have just suffered from an injury or an accident. If you choose to go the route of a chiropractor for your health care needs, your recovery time is going to be much faster. 

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

If you have serious injuries after a car accident, such as broken bones or a head injury, you’ll need to go to the hospital first. After you’re treated for your serious injuries, you should see a chiropractor right away. A chiropractor will treat the source of your injuries and the source of your pain. They’ll work with you on your physical therapy. They will get you stronger. They can also find injuries that may be hiding in plain sight.  

If your injuries are not severe, or if you can’t feel anything yet, you’ll still want to see a chiropractor as soon as possible. Don’t wait longer than 3 days if possible. Call your chiropractor to set up an appointment right after your accident. The sooner you can get to your chiropractor, the sooner you’ll find out what’s going on, and the faster you’ll recover.  

Whatever you do, don’t wait. The force of any kind of accident can cause damage to your musculoskeletal system. The pain from that can be light and bearable in the beginning, so you may be tempted to “wait it out” and see if it heals itself. With these kinds of injuries, waiting only leads to more problems with your spine down the road. As the injury starts to set in, you’ll find it difficult to walk, sleep, or even stand up. Back pain often renders people immobile.  

Whiplash is something else to be concerned about, especially if you’ve been in a rear-end accident. Whiplash happens when your spine is pushed backwards and then forwards. You often won’t notice this because it happens so quickly in an accident. It can lead to pain/stiffness in your neck within days, and you may not be able to move it. Going to the chiropractor at the height of your pain isn’t as comfortable as taking the preventative measure to go sooner.  

What is Considered an “Accident”?  

Accidents come in many forms. Most commonly, people will see a chiropractor after a car accident or a sports injury. But there are many other things that can cause injuries in daily life, and those things need to be taken into consideration, as well. Things like falling off of your mountain bike, twisting your ankle, pulling a muscle (maybe your dog pulled too hard on his/her leash) etc. The main thing to remember is that an accident just means you did something that inadvertently put you in harm’s way. Something happened to cause a possible injury.  

Any time something like this happens, take stock of the situation. Is this something that could possibly involve the health of your muscles or your spine? Is it causing you pain or keeping you awake at night? Do you have any previous injuries that may prevent this injury from healing correctly? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, it’s time to make an appointment with your chiropractor.  

How Does Chiropractic Care Help After a Car Accident? 

Since car accidents are one of the most popular reasons to go to a chiropractor, let’s take a look at this first. After a car accident, your spine could be in danger. Getting to a chiropractor within a few days is necessary. But once you get there, how can they help? If you aren’t feeling any pain, what will they do? And if you are feeling pain, how will they treat your pain? 

The first thing any chiropractor is going to do is assess your situation. They’ll get your family history, the details about your accident, and they’ll ask you about the sensitive areas on your body. The next thing they’ll do is take an x-ray right away to rule out anything too serious. The x-ray will tell them how to treat your injury and where possible problems may arise. After the x-rays come back and your chiropractor has a chance to carefully review them, he/she will work with you on a treatment plan.  

What’s a Treatment Plan? 

A treatment plan is a way to lay out the question of “what’s next?” Your chiropractor will find the best treatment for you and you’ll follow that plan of action together. They will help you figure out which treatment method works best for you, and that treatment will prevent any further pain. The purpose of the treatment plan is to work on your injury at the source, bringing you back to full health. Here are some of the non-invasive methods that will be presented to you: 

  • Flexion-distraction – Your chiropractor will manually pump each affected area to slide things back into place.   
  • Pelvic blocking – Your chiropractor will place wedges underneath your pelvis. This helps with spinal alignment.   
  • Manipulation under anesthesia – Your chiropractor will take you to a hospital environment where they’ll put you under anesthesia for about 10 minutes while they stretch your spine into place. 
  • Physical therapy or light exercise.  
  • Regenerative therapy – Your Chiropractor will work with the replacement of tissues/muscles to bring you back to full-strength.  

Epic Healthcare offers all of these wonderful options and more. Their goal is to restore your body while working with you to achieve a completely pain-free lifestyle. Their chiropractors will be there from beginning to end, helping you every step of the way. Best of all – your progress will be carefully monitored. You’ll get the best personal care available.  

For questions or to set up a consultation with an accident and injury chiropractor, call Epic Healthcare at (972) 355-0083.