Auto Injury Treatment | St. Louis | Whiplash Treamtment

Even “fender-benders” can cause hidden injuries that can develop into pain, headaches, and arthritis. Even worse, most people who have been involved in an auto accident may not even know that they’ve been hurt. Most doctors give pain killers to hide these injuries. The chiropractic approach to these types of injuries is to use specific chiropractic adjustments to help return spinal and joint function. After a thorough case history and examination, the doctor will recommend any necessary care to help restore proper motion and position of spinal bones. If caught early enough, inflammation can be reduced and scar tissue can often be minimized.

Whiplash

Whiplash is a non-medical term used to describe neck pain following an injury to the soft tissues of your neck (specifically ligaments, tendons, and muscles). It is caused by an abnormal motion or force applied to your neck that causes movement beyond the neck’s normal range of motion.

Sprains and Strains

The body is meant to move. Muscles allow that movement to happen by contracting and making joints flex, extend and rotate. Muscles attach on each side of the joint to bone by thick bands of fibrous tissue called tendons. When a muscle contracts, it shortens and pulls on the tendon which allows the joint to go through a range of motion

Strains occurs when the muscle tendon unit is stretched or torn. The damage may occur in three areas: The muscle itself may tear. The area where the muscle and tendon blend can tear. The tendon may tear partially or completely (rupture).

Sprains occur when ligaments are stretched or torn. Joints are stabilized by thick bands of tissue called ligaments which surround them. These ligaments allow the joint to move only in specific directions. Some joints move in multiple planes; therefore, they need more than one group of ligaments to hold the joint in proper alignment. The ligaments are anchored to bone on each side of the joint.

Shoulder and Neck Pain

Most shoulder and neck pain results from injury to muscles and ligaments. The spinal cord, heart, lungs, and some abdominal organs also can cause neck and shoulder pain.

Headaches

Many times after a car accident a person may start to have headaches, even if they have never had headaches before. Those with a history of headaches will find their headaches are getting worse. Most of the time the headache will dissipate over a week or two and everything will be fine. However, some people find that the headaches do not go away or continue to get worse.

Numbness

Numbness and tingling down the arms and legs, also known as paresthesia, can also include symptoms such as pain, burning, pricking, or creeping along the skin. These symptoms generally indicate a malfunction of sensory nerves and a more serious condition that should be checked out immediately. Failure to do so could cause a progression and worsening of the condition.

Dizziness | Vertigo

Vertigo and or dizziness is a complaint that has been documented as a finding after car crashes. This is especially true in the case of rear impact collisions. The feeling of dizziness may be very familiar to you, yet difficult to describe.

Vertigo is a medical term to describe the feeling of spinning, whirling, or motion either of yourself or your surroundings. This is the same feeling you might have after getting off a merry-go-round or spinning in place. Often after an auto accident injury people experience this as a symptom of the injury sustained

Lower Back Pain

Car accident back pain is one of the worst and most prevalent types of chronic pain seen in St. Louis. The tremendous forces created during a car accident are enough to tear apart soft tissue and shatter bone. Life altering spinal injuries are often the result of serious automobile wrecks and even minor fender benders can create some significant back ache complaints.

Spinal injuries are commonly seen in St. Louis when serious automobile accidents occur. The spine is the most important part of our skeletons. Vertebral fracture and spinal instability can result from the nightmarish force of a high speed collision. Occupants who are ejected from a moving vehicle face an even greater risk of spinal fracture, serious injury or death.

Pain in Legs or Arms

After a car accident you may experience pain, numbness or tingling in your arms and legs. This can be either due to a direct trauma such as your arm hitting the door or your knee hitting the dashboard or an indirect trauma such as an injury to the spine, collar bones or hips.

Seat Belt Injury

Although lifesaving, the seat belt can cause misaligned ribs and vertebrae which in turn pinch and pull the nerves which are connected to these affected areas. This can cause pain in the chest, back and shoulders that may get worse when breathing, sneezing, coughing and laughing.

When Should I Get Treatment?

Pain intensity does not measure your need for treatment.  Injury often occurs long before pain is experienced.  The goal of chiropractic care is to return the injured joints, muscles and nerves to complete, healthy function to reduce increased risk of degeneration. You should seek chiropractic treatment immediately. Typically the sooner you seek care the less you will suffer and the less care you will need. When a patient waits a couple of weeks to seek care then their symptoms progress which makes it harder to get results and ends up taking longer to treat them.