Injuries from auto accidents can be quite deceptive. Whether you feel serious pain at the scene of your accident or not, you could have injuries that will impair your ability to go about daily life for several months. If you have been involved in a car accident, even if you are not currently in pain, there could be underlying damage to your spinal column and soft tissue that may not manifest itself as a serious illness for months or even years long after your opportunity to recoup lost wages and medical expenses have expired. Coping with an auto injury can be extraordinarily expensive and time consuming. Chiropractic care offers the most effective treatment for most back pain. Chiropractors specialize in non-surgical treatments for spinal injuries such as whiplash, sprains, herniated disks (a chiropractor can do nothing for a ruptured disk. A good one should send you to a specialist), and back other types of back pain from car accidents. When your head is hurled violently backward causing a (hyper-extension) and/or forward (hyper flexion) - whip lash occurs. This injury can be much more severe if your neck is snapped to the side when the accident occurs-for example if you are broadsided or if the car spins or fishtales. Whiplash is the most common auto accident injury, but there may be more underlying damage than a neck sprain or whiplash. Just because a condition is common does not mean it is not serious. After an accident you should go to an emergency room for documentation if nothing else, but remember Emergency Rooms are there for serious traumas. If you are not bleeding profusely, vomiting or screaming in agony, after waiting three or four hours you will be lucky to get a prescription for pain relievers and instructions to go to your family doctor if you don't feel better in three days. Your family doctor can give you medications and some guidance but GPs are not necessarily your best bet for back and neck injuries. Do not ignore symptoms such as being still and sore in the few days and weeks after your accident. Pain anywhere can indicate more serious problems. If symptoms are ignored, the pain may go away, but the shoulder, back or neck damage will not heal correctly. Untreated injuries can become a source of future pain, arthritis and radiating nerve symptoms. Permanent or long-term damage may lead to chronic pain, reduced productivity, and discomfort. The effects of whiplash injury can be short term or long term even in relatively minor accidents. Whiplash is also often accompanied by a concussion-even if you did not actually hit your head. Report any problems with memory, confusion, or attention to your doctor immediately. Often whiplash injuries can extend to shoulders, arms, and may cause injury to joints, spinal disc, ligaments, nerves and cervical muscles. It takes a minimum of three months to heal properly with treatment. Without proper treatment your recovery will drag on for a much longer period. In recent years insurance companies have recognized the advantages of chiropractic care, and chiropractic treatment and it is fully covered by automobile insurance policies, regardless of who is at fault or who was driving. Chiropractic care is much less expensive for insurance companies than back surgery. If you have reservations about non-traditional treatments you can relax. Chiropractors are well-educated medical professionals who go through a rigorous program that incorporates physiology, biology, chiropractics and physical therapy. Clinical trials support the supposition that chiropractics are as safe and effective as more conventional treatments. Rather than just treat symptoms, chiropractic treatment gets to the underlying issue--restricted movement in the spine--this is what causes pain and reduced function. Spinal manipulation unblocks the restrictions and restores the movement thus reducing or eliminating pain altogether over time. In 1999 the Journal of Orthopedic Medicine published a study that suggested that 26 of 28 patients (93%) with chronic whiplash benefited from chiropractic care and that "chiropractic is the only proven effective treatment for whiplash."
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