The fact you are reading this information after your involvement in a car accident is really good news. Even if you sustained injuries, you need to feel fortunate that something far worse did not occur. Now, you need to think about addressing any injuries that you did sustain.

When you feel able to get up and get around, you’ll want to think about where you want to go for treatment of the injury or injuries you did sustain. If your injury or injuries involve your back, neck, muscles, or soft tissues around your joint, it’s very possible you can address such issues with chiropractic treatments.

Of course, the indication of a very significant injury (broken bones, organ distress) should be addressed by a medical doctor. Short of a very significant injury, you would likely be better off with the non-invasive treatment methods a licensed chiropractor would employ. To that end, there are five (5) chiropractic treatments that a chiropractor could employ to help accelerate your injury recovery.

1. Spinal Manipulations

Most injuries that occur during a car accident are directly inflicted on the neck or spine regions. These types of injuries will typically result in the accident victim suffering pain or having to deal with nerve issues in the extremities. The best way to address these types of health issues and expedite the healing process is through spinal manipulation.

A chiropractor will initiate spinal manipulation treatment by using their hands to put pressure on certain areas of the neck or spine. In theory, they are attempting to realign the spine back to its proper position. By doing so, the pressure being put on nerves and other soft tissues should lessen. More frequent and additional treatments will usually result in the pain issues going away quicker, also allowing all injuries to heal faster.

Of the available spinal manipulation techniques, many chiropractors prefer a spinal decompression technique. With this technique, a chiropractor would use a decompression table (harness and pulleys) to gently separate the patient’s vertebrae. The stretching of the spine serves to release pressure on nerves that are being damaged. During the process, the increased blood flow to the treatment areas will facilitate faster healing of any present injuries.

2. Manual Therapeutic Options – Massage Therapy

When muscle injuries occur, chiropractors will employ certain manual treatment techniques. The most common manual treatment method is massage therapy.

There are about a half dozen different massage techniques a chiropractor could employ. They would choose the technique they are going to use based on the location, type, and severity of the injury they are targeting. By kneading or massaging the right muscles or muscle group, chiropractors can increase blood flow to the injured muscles or surrounding soft tissues. Healthy blood flow promotes faster healing.

Some of the other benefits that might come from manual treatment would include:

  • Decrease of inflammation in the injured area
  • improvement in the patient’s range of motion
  • Pain relief
  • Improved overall immune response
  • Improved appetite and sleep habits

3. Whiplash Treatment

Whiplash is a very specific neck injury that occurs when the neck is violently sent backward and then recoils forward. Since whiplash is painful and restricts movement, chiropractors like to employ a combination of whiplash treatment protocols to accelerate the healing process. Some of the available options include:

  • Stretching exercises
  • Using of ice and heat packs
  • Massage techniques
  • Spinal adjustments and manipulations after a sufficient amount of healing has taken place
  • Wearing of neck braces

4. Corrective Exercise

When chiropractors are dealing with whiplash injuries, they have two objectives. First, they want to facilitate an accelerated healing process, something they do with the aforementioned whiplash treatment techniques. After a whiplash injury has had sufficient time to heal, the second objective is to strengthen the patient’s neck and shoulder muscles. This is facilitated by the employment of corrective exercises.

Corrective exercises combine physical therapy and fitness training. These types of treatments are used to strengthen muscles and restore the patient’s ability to move normally without pain.

5. Electrical Stimulation

Electric Muscle Stimulation or EMS relies on the use of an electronic device that sends out low-frequency electrical currents. Chiropractors use these devices to stimulate injured muscles. The muscles will react with rapid muscle contractions that approximate the muscle activity one would experience with muscle resistance exercises.

Beyond promoting faster healing of muscles due to better blood flow to the injured area, EMS provides other health benefits such as

  • Improved muscle tone
  • Pain relief
  • Reduction of swelling and inflammation
  • Improvement in immune response
  • Improved strength and overall fitness

Prevention of Possible Car Accident Injury Escalation

Here’s an additional thought. Sometimes, injuries from a car accident can take a little time to become apparent. If you want to address potential injury problems before they become big injury problems, you might want to consider seeing a chiropractor as a preventative measure. They wouldn’t proceed until they have imaging they can use to identify the possibility that an injury exists. If they were to see any evidence, they might choose to go ahead and start employing any of the above treatment options.

If you have recently been in a car accident and need chiropractic care, you can contact us at your earliest convenience by calling our facility at (720) 328-1790 you are welcome to visit our website.