If you have recently experienced a car crash, you may want to move on with your life and feel hesitant to seek treatment; or you might think that medication and rest will be all that’s needed for your recovery.
When deciding whether to receive post-accident injury care from a chiropractor, Wichita residents should understand the basic argument behind this form of healthcare.
Why prioritize chiropractic care after an auto accident?
According to Houston chiropractor Dr. Philip Cordova, the urgency to get a chiropractic appointment after a wreck isn’t primarily about pain relief. Rather, if you have suffered a vertebral subluxation in which your nerves have become impinged, your health will suffer if you don’t take action to correct your body’s alignment.
“You may not be in a lot of pain immediately following the accident,” explains Cordova, “but research indicates that most people will experience a bulk of their symptoms after a few days.”
Typically when you experience pain from a car accident injury, you are suffering from a sprain or strain. In other words, some of your soft tissue is torn. Paying close attention to the intensity of the sprain or strain, your chiropractor will develop a therapeutic plan.
Outpacing scar tissue
The reason that time is so important to healing a car accident injury is that you want to minimize development of scar tissue. After three weeks or so have passed, scar tissue will have had time to fully form. Then, recovery will be considerably more challenging. Spinal manipulation performed by a chiropractor will guide your vertebrae into ideal alignment prior to the appearance of scar tissue. If your spine is shifted into its proper natural position, you will greatly increase the likelihood of complete recovery.
Since time is of the essence, it’s important to realize early in the process that medication and rest will be insufficient if you have indeed suffered a subluxation. The medication will alleviate your pain, which can help to keep yourself functional following the crash; but if you are out of alignment, medication is a Band-Aid solution that is only masking the symptoms.
Beyond spinal manipulation, chiropractors will also typically offer or recommend other therapies to expedite soft-tissue recovery.
“The additional therapies also help with pain, swelling, and inflammation and can be a big help in the speed of your recovery,” says Cordova.
Getting help
As you can see, chiropractors are essential to car accident injury recovery.
Following a crash, when it’s time for a chiropractor, Wichita residents who visit Advanced Wellness & Rehab can benefit from our New Patient Offer.
