What to Do After a Car Accident to Ensure Your Wellbeing
The windy mountain roads of Western North Carolina can be daunting for even the most seasoned drivers, no matter what the weather. Many of those who experience an auto accident here find that there is no prescribed routine of steps to take to ensure their health and safety after the glass is swept away and the insurance companies notified. If you find yourself in a car crash, whether it’s a minor collision or a totaling wreck, rest assured knowing that you can take your care into your own hands by following a few simple protocols.
While concussions, open wounds, breaks and fractures, and lacerations will require urgent medical care, the majority of car accident victims suffer from internal injury that is non-obvious. The effects of such a major impact on the body may not appear until months or even years later. After the musculoskeletal system has had time to settle back into place and recover from immediate sustained trauma, many people find that it may have not settled back into quite the right place, causing stiffness, chronic pain, a limited range of motion, and debilitation.
The soft tissues of the neck are the most vulnerable area of a body that was held securely in place by a seatbelt during the accident. The joints of the upper body, vertebrae of the neck, and the delicate discs of your spinal area are also likely to have been affected during the crash. Our bodies are not meant to have the false range of motion that they are forced into during a car wreck, and whether the impact came from the front, rear, or side, it’s possible that for a split-second, the alignment of your head, neck, and back was disturbed enough to put you in a lifetime of pain. According to The Journal of Whiplash and Related Disorders, over half of car accident sufferers experience long-term symptoms, many of which are corrected by re-aligning the neck via an Atlas Orthogonal treatment that properly re-balances the spine.
48-72 hours of stability and stillness, plus nourishing yourself with anti-inflammatory ingredients and nutrient-dense whole foods, is a great recipe for beginning the post-accident healing process. Don’t forget that the body’s natural and powerful way of healing itself is by swelling, inflaming, and sensitizing the areas that have been affected. You may experience muscle spasms around the sites of injury, alternated with throbbing or subtle pain. In the interim, before you can get to our office for a post-accident checkup, try using ice to cool the tender hot spots and ease the nerve and muscle pain you may be experiencing.
Going to get a chiropractic consultation, regardless of whether you feel immediate pain or swelling or feel nothing, is the best way that you can practice preventative medicine after a car wreck.
