Personal Injury & Sports Medicine
Being in a car accident can be one of the most terrifying and overwhelming experiences a person lives through. One moment everything may seem fine, the next moment you are involved in a serious collision. Many people who survive automobile accidents must deal with both physical and emotional damages following their accident, and treating these injuries can be a difficult process.
While no one ever wants to be in an automobile accident, it is important to know how to proceed with treating your injuries should you ever be involved in one. Visiting a chiropractor for professional chiropractic care is always one of the first things you should do, as these healthcare professionals specialize in treating many of the most common automobile accident-related injuries there are.
Chiropractors are able to treat neck and back injuries, whiplash injuries and help with soft tissue pain and injuries. Many times, individuals who have been injured in a car accident have so much muscle pain and stiffness that they simply cannot function normally. This discomfort, on top of other injuries, can be a serious issue.
The first step on the road to recovering from these injuries is to make an appointment with your chiropractor. First, your chiropractor may want to take x-rays to determine if there are serious injuries in the neck or spine. You may not notice the signs or symptoms of this type of injury, so it is important that you consider x-rays.
You may also be suffering from headaches, pain or general discomfort as a result of a whiplash-related injury. Most people assume that whiplash injuries only occur during high-speed accidents, but a change in speed of just 2-3 miles per hour during an accident can cause them.
Some individuals experience indicators of whiplash injuries right away, such as blurred vision, headaches, shoulder pain, dizziness, reduced range-of-motion and arm pain. Whiplash can also result in minor back injuries, muscle injuries, ligament problems and disc damage. Other individuals may not experience any serious injuries right away and may think they are just “stiff” or “sore” after the accident, when serious injuries could be forming.
If left untreated, these issues can go on to cause other additional serious health problems. In fact, you may not think you have been injured after a car accident, and then start to experience discomfort or headaches several months after the fact. This is why you should always visit a chiropractor for an evaluation, even if you think there may not be a serious injury to blame.
When you treat an injury like this right away, you are putting the body in the best possible position to heal and recover quickly. This is why you need to visit a chiropractor right away. They can help put the spine in line and help the body start healing right away. Chiropractors can help relieve pain, provide exercises that can act as physical therapy for injuries and give you nutritional advice that can also help with the healing process.
The first step in healing after an accident is taking the initiative to go visit your chiropractor. With professional help, you can start recovering after a traumatic automobile accident and put yourself on track to fully recover.
5 Ways Athletes Benefit from Chiropractic Care
1. Undo the punishment the body takes in sports
Many athletes swear by the positive effects of chiropractic when talking about their personal successes. Two notable names like Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Dan O’Brien and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to name a few, swear by their chiropractors. Athletic performance is affected by a combination of strength, flexibility, speed and coordination. Participating in sports is encouraged because of the many benefits. Not only is a person getting exercise when playing, but they are also developing fine motor skills, learning about teamwork and fair play and of course building friendships. But their bodies are also taking impacts no matter what sport they are playing.
When the spine exhibits imperfections in movement and/or alignment, the resulting vertebral subluxations can create focal areas of irritation in the nervous system, which subsequently interfere with the optimum functions of all other systems. As a result, athletic performance suffers. When athletes are adjusted regularly, they will often attribute their success to regular chiropractic care.
2. Chiropractic care treats a variety of sports injuries
Athletes can experience many different benefits from receiving chiropractic care. Not only can adjustments help when treating injuries from high-impact sports such as wrestling, football, and hockey, but they offer other benefits as well. It’s been shown that high-impact sports can place the same amount of strain on the body as an auto collision. Athletes getting routine adjustments may notice improved athletic performance, improved range of motion (especially in endurance athletes), better flexibility, increased blood flow, and may suffer from fewer injuries. Because spinal adjustments will reduce the irritation of the nerve roots between the vertebrae, the healing time from minor injuries can be shortened, improving performance.
Both high-impact and low-impact athletes can benefit from routine spinal adjustments. For high-impact athletes, it increases performance and flexibility and lowers the risk for injury; for low-impact athletes (golfers, tennis players, and bowlers), routine adjustments can help relieve the strain that is being placed on the body. Chiropractic care offers a natural way to treat and prevent many different ailments that often plague athletes.
3. Non invasive/drug free treatment
While seeking chiropractic care for back and neck pain caused by injuries suffered in sports like football and rugby would normal, injuries to other parts of the body can also benefit from a visit to the D.C. In fact, many studies have shown that chiropractic treatment helps athletes recover from injuries without the need for painkillers or invasive surgery.
While there are many different types of treatments that chiropractors perform on their patients, Ellen Sonnino’s report in US News and World Report discussed four methods that are often used to treat athletes:
- Myofascial Release Technique where massage and stretching are combined with moving the effected joint through a range of motion.
- Graston Technique that uses stainless steel tools to break down scar tissue.
- Functional dry needling where deep trigger points are focused on to release tension in the muscles through stimulation.
- Electrical muscle stimulation to release tension towards the surface of the muscle using contraction caused by electricity.
4. Injury Prevention/Performance Enhancement
Any DC who specializes in treating athletes should be prepared to treat the whole person, and tailor a comprehensive program aimed at injury avoidance. Initial evaluations should include not only traditional orthopedic tests, neurological examinations, and consideration to supplement physical exam findings with any additional diagnostic evaluations, if appropriate or a referral if indicated. Numerous studies support the fact that chiropractic care helps athletes achieve an optimal level of performance. A Canadian research team included chiropractic care in the rehabilitation program of 16 injured female long-distance runners. The runners recovered quickly; seven of them actually scored “personal best” performances while under chiropractic care, although there may be other contributing factors.
5. To Decrease Pain
The spine is an important physical structure that contains many pain-sensitive tissues: Most notably, joints, muscles, nerves, discs and ligaments. If there are any abnormal alignment patterns in the spinal column, this can place an abnormal amount of stress and strain on any one of these tissues. In a recent article reviewing the effectiveness of spinal manipulation, chiropractic adjustments were consistently better than other medical options in reducing the intensity of acute low back pain, plus restoring normal function, both for short-term and long-term effects.