If you have recently been in an auto accident, you might have began noticing neck pain that wasn’t present immediately but now has appeared and is staying persistent. Sometimes the amount of pain that you are noticing may not match the amount of damage to your car if it was a minor fender bender.
The reason that most people don’t notice neck pain immediately following an auto accident, is because most soft tissue injuries settle in with the inflammatory process. This process can take days or weeks for the swelling to occur which is why symptoms are normally not felt at first.
Whiplash is the sudden forceful neck movement forward and backward that occurs during an accident that strains/sprains the tendons, ligaments and muscles that support the spine. Symptoms can range from stiffness, pain upon movement, blurred vision, headaches, referred pain into the shoulder/arm, numbness/tingling, and lack of mental clarity. Because the soft tissue supports the alignment of the spine, it is important to have your spine evaluated by a licensed auto accident chiropractor to ensure that your spine is healing correctly. Failure to do so can lead to chronic headaches, stiffness, degenerative joint disease and can affect your overall quality of life.
Exercises and movements to avoid after suffering whiplash from an auto accident include any activity that can damage the neck further such as contact sports, gymnastics as well as jobs that require ongoing sitting or standing in one place for over 1 hour. While soft tissue injuries can take up to a year to heal, most take 6-8 weeks depending on the severity. Cold compresses of ice are usually recommended for the first 7-10 days followed by moist heat. After pain has improved, usually specific exercises and stretches help the injury heal with minimal scar tissue.
If you have been looking for chiropractors in Charlotte, NC to evaluate your soft tissue injury, make sure you find one that specializes in auto accident injury relief. Many times, Chiropractic treatments for auto accidents are needed help align the spine while the soft tissue heals. Chiropractic adjustments should help restore the nervous system’s ability to control the body and help relieve pain associated with whiplash.
Before chiropractic treatments can begin, an evaluation, examination and diagnostic testing can provide a diagnosis as well as recommendations including:
- Time for relief
- How much relief is expected
- What types of treatments are need such as isometric exercises, stretches or a chiropractic adjustment to the spine.
While the cost of auto accident injury cases varies, many auto insurance companies cover chiropractic care for soft tissue injuries.
Call us at 980.406.3862 for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Bob Mason.