Chiropractors and Whiplash – Why an Adjustment May Be Needed After Your Car Accident

Have you been suffering from neck pain and stiffness after your car accident? You’re not the only one. Whiplash is one of the most common injuries after a car accident , but it’s also one of the most treatable. If you’ve been struggling with your symptoms, you don’t have to any longer. A chiropractor can help you regain your mobility and overcome your pain. Here’s everything you need to know about whiplash and how a chiropractor can help you treat it.

What is Whiplash?

Whiplash occurs when your head moves rapidly back and forth and you sustain injury to the soft tissue in your neck. It can strain your neck muscles and also potentially damage nerves in the area or discs at the top of your spine. Depending on the severity of your whiplash, it can range from a sore neck to immobility. However, whiplash is very treatable, and in the hands of a professional chiropractor, you can target the root cause of the pain and regain full movement in your neck.

How Does Whiplash Occur?

While a seatbelt protects you from sustaining worse injuries, and you should always wear it, its design can leave your neck susceptible to whiplash. Your body is restrained, but your neck is not. That means the force of the crash can cause damage to your neck. With that said, it’s possible to experience whiplash in any kind of car accident, but it’s most likely to occur in rear-end collisions and high-speed crashes. There isn’t many ways to prevent whiplash, but there are many treatments to help you recover from it.

Symptoms of Whiplash

After a car accident, it may be difficult to determine if you have any signs of whiplash. Adrenaline and shock may mask your symptoms. You might not even feel pain for up to two weeks after. For insurance purposes and proper care, we recommend seeking a diagnosis from a medical professional. Whiplash is best treated early to prevent any chronic symptoms. If you suspect that you have whiplash, here are some of the signs you should watch out for after your car accident.

Short Term

headache, neck pain, neck stiffness, shoulder pain, ringing in the ears, numbness or tingling in arms, hands, or fingers, limited mobility, dizziness, ringing in the ears, fatigue, blurred vision.

Long Term

chronic headaches, chronic neck pain, stiffness in neck and shoulders, vertigo, ringing in the ears that comes and goes, jaw pain

If you have any long-term symptoms, it’s not too late to seek treatment. Chiropractic care can help treat short-term symptoms or alleviate long-term symptoms.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help You Recover

The primary purpose of chiropractic care is to locate and treat sources of pain to help you increase your mobility and comfort. Chiropractic care includes a variety of treatments to adjust, realign, and heal the body. When it comes to whiplash, chiropractors focus on the nerves and soft tissue in the neck to relieve pain and stiffness. Chiropractors can treat symptoms of whiplash to prevent it from affecting your health long-term.

Chiropractic Services We Offer for Whiplash Treatment

When you come to us at Essential Chirocare, we offer a range of services to help you recover from your car accident. To treat whiplash, we include a combination of our chiropractic services to create a custom treatment plan for you. These services include:

Refer You to X-rays or CT Scans

to locate the source of damage in the neck.

Chiropractic Adjustments

to reduce pressure and realign discs.

Manual Muscle Therapy

to target the source of pain and improve the range of motion.

Exercise Therapy

to increase strength in the neck, back, and shoulder muscles.

Spinal Decompression

to relieve pressure in the spine and reduce tightness and pain.

We designed our whiplash treatment to help you overcome your neck pain and stiffness, so you can move forward after your car accident. Your pain is only temporary, and we can not only help you through it, but to overcome it.

What We Can Do For You

Whiplash can be an injury with long-term consequences, but it doesn’t have to be. At Essential Chirocare, we can help you overcome your symptoms with the right professional care and tools to eliminate pain now and in the future. If you’re ready to learn more about what we can do for you, don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule your consultation.