Car Accidents & Neck Pain

I recently got into a car accident and my neck is killing me!

Motor vehicle accidents, no matter the speed or the perceived severity can be very damaging to your neck. It has been documented that being rear ended at speeds of even 5 miles per hour can give you a whiplash injury. The damage to your car does not measure the damage to your spine and muscles around it.

When you are hit, your body is projected forward because there is more mass there than your head. However, your head does catch up and is projected forward in a whip-like momentum. This happens so fast that a lot of times, people who are in car accidents do not realize they have a whiplash injury at the time of the accident. However a few hours to a couple days later, they start feeling the effects in their neck.

What happens from a whiplash injury is that during impact your neck is forced very rapidly into hyper extension and then hyper flexion. This puts extreme stress on the ligaments holding your neck vertebrae together. The ligaments and surrounding muscles get micro tears and pain and inflammation occurs. This all starts happening immediately and within 72 hours or your accident, you are already laying down scar tissue to repair the damaged tissues. That is why you may have a stiff, sore neck after your accident.

How to optimize your healing process

sooner after your car accident that you see your chiropractor, the better. They will fully evaluate your neck for any fractures, soft tissue injuries, and neck instability. Because scar tissue has already been laid down, chiropractic adjustments are extremely effective in reintroducing motion and proper function to the joints in your neck. When you have proper movement, the scar tissue is formed in a more organized way according to the stresses put on it. When scar tissue forms without any outside influence, it is very haphazard and not as strong as the original structures.

Ask your chiropractor about treating your neck pain with ice or heat therapies. They may also recommend ultrasound or cold laser therapy. The bottom line is that your body starts healing from a whiplash injury immediately and there is a four day window from the time of the accident where you can make big improvements towards your complete recovery. Do not let a car accident be a pain in your neck for long. Take action and get help from your chiropractor today

Dr. Visentin is a Denver Chiropractor of Care Chiropractic specializing in safe, effective and natural back pain relief.

Legal Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is intended for your general knowledge. It is not to be used as a substitute for professional advice, or for treatment for a specific condition. Always seek the advice of a professional Chiropractor or other qualified health care provider with questions you may have regarding any condition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 2:50 am and is filed under Neck Pain Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.