The sound of crashing metal is enough to terrify even the bravest among us. The first thought most people have as the car accident is ensuing is what if any physical harm will befall them. Unfortunately, a lot of car accident victims do suffer some kind of injury. If they are lucky, their injury or injuries will only be minor.

If you haven’t put regular visits to a chiropractor on your list of health maintenance options, you should. However, having gone through a car accident should serve as motivation for you to definitely make a visit to a chiropractor as a preventative measure or to address pain/discomfort issues.

The Timing Matters

The moment you walk away from a car accident is the very moment you need to start addressing the possibility you have incurred injuries. If something serious is amiss, you need to go to the hospital or see a medical professional before you do anything else. Time is always of the essence when you are injured.

If by chance your injuries seem minor to moderate in severity, you might want to consider a visit to a chiropractor. This would certainly be the right thing to do if you were to find yourself experiencing pain or discomfort issues in your neck, back, or soft tissue areas around your joints.

As a “rule of thumb,” the first 72 hours after a car accident is the optimum time to make that first visit to a chiropractor. This is the timeframe within which the body will realize it’s been injured and will attempt to start healing itself as the body was designed to do.

As the body starts healing its injuries, the healing process will target the actual injured area. The problem at hand is it will do this with no regard for the collateral damage that might occur during the healing process. To keep this from happening, a visit to a chiropractor would seem prudent.

Reasons to See a Chiropractor After a Car Accident

Prior to discussing how long you should go to a chiropractor after a car accident, it seems important to clarify why you would want to go in the first place.

There are two primary reasons you should go to a chiropractor. First, you should go as a precautionary measure. It’s quite possible that you suffered no injuries whatsoever, at least on the surface. A precautionary trip to a chiropractor would serve to have the chiropractor “check under your hood” to make sure you indeed have not incurred any injuries.

The second reason would be to address actual physical issues related to the injuries you did incur during the accident. Remember, the sooner you can start chiropractic treatments, the sooner you can get your body realigned and start managing and eliminating your pain issues.

As a point of reference, here are the types of health issues that can occur if a car accident were to throw your body out of alignment:

  • Moderate to severe pain in your neck, back, or joints
  • Suppression of your immune system
  • Tingling and numbness in your hands and feet
  • Bone fractures
  • Impaired mobility – loss of range of motion
  • Disc, tendon, and ligament damage in your joints
  • Headaches
  • Breathing and blood pressure issues

How Often Should You Go to a Chiropractor After a Car Accident?

It’s understandable that you might want a general idea of how long you will need to visit a chiropractor after an auto accident. To be very clear, the frequency of your chiropractic treatments would likely depend on a number of factors, including:

  • The number of injuries you incurred
  • The severity of your injury or injuries
  • The location of your injury or injuries
  • Your ability to commit to the process

At an absolute minimum, you should make that first visit. That would serve as a precautionary measure and give your chiropractor a chance to assess the existence of possible injuries. If no injuries seem apparent, there is nothing wrong with seeking some minor adjustments since you would already have the chiropractor’s attention.

Assuming you would be dealing with pain and or injury issues, it would be incumbent on your chiropractor to come up with a treatment plan. In some cases, they can give patients a general idea of how many treatments will be necessary to successfully address the issues at hand. However, most chiropractors would prefer to simply lay out a treatment plan and let the pieces fall where they may.

Your role in determining how long you will need treatments will be focused on your willingness to do exactly as your chiropractor prescribes. That includes showing up for each appointment. If by chance your attendance record were to be poor, you can expect that it would only serve to extend the length of time you have to keep reporting for treatments.

Here’s the bottom line regarding how long you would need treatment. It’s in everyone’s best interest to get your body back to health as soon as possible. This is important to note because injuries have a habit of getting worse the longer they linger. Your chiropractor will have a plan of attack. That plan will include a timeframe within which they believe they can get you back to health. If you do your part, the amount of time you would need treatment would be minimal.

Before you worry too much about how long you might need treatment, we would ask that you contact Apex Chiropractic just up the road from Broomfield about an assessment appointment. You can reach us by phone at 720-328-1790 or email us.