Accidents and Injuries

Numerous scientific studies have indicated that when an individual receives early treatment for their auto injuries, they have better outcomes than those individuals who chose to wait.

During a collision, whiplash injuries, the most common type of injury resulting after an accident, results when the complex tissues of the neck are stretched or torn by the force of movement. It’s also common for individuals to not feel pain and other symptoms soon after the automobile accident but as the structures of the neck become irritated, swollen, and inflamed, the symptoms of neck pain and stiffness can become present a couple of days after the initial event.

When the body suffers direct trauma, it responds to the injury by restricting movement and sending white blood cells to the affected region to begin healing the tissues. In this process, the body will then continue repairing the injured area by developing scar tissue. The issue with scar tissue involves the joints in the neck, which already have a moderately limited range of motion. Scar tissue reduces the neck’s limited mobility even further and, without proper treatment, this can lead to chronic pain, and permanent limited mobility, including spinal degeneration on the joints.

Early treatment from automobile injuries can help avoid complications by increasing the movement of the injured area and by preventing the development of scar tissue. If you’ve been involved in an auto collision resulting in neck pain and other symptoms, it’s essential to seek immediate medical attention to prevent the symptoms and other complications from developing and/or worsening.

The fundamental element for protecting yourself from whiplash injuries involves your head restraint. A wide variety of studies have found that a majority of individuals have an improperly adjusted head restraint, more commonly known as a head rest, and their incorrect use could be the key to whiplash-associated disorders. Whiplash can put hundreds of pounds of force on the complex muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other structures that surround the cervical spine, causing damage and/or injury.

A good head restraint position can be obtained by eliminating or reducing the amount of space from which the head can move. In doing so, the strain which is placed on the neck can be greatly reduced. The head restraint also needs to be positioned where the back of the head will be leveled directly with the middle of the head rest while the seat will need to be positioned where the head is placed very close to the head restraint. There should be a maximum of 2.5 inches between the head and the restraint.

Properly adjusting the head restraint of your car can help reduce the chance of neck injury during an automobile accident. If you’ve been involved in a car collision, seek immediate medical attention to diagnose any other possible injuries or developing conditions, such as whiplash, to begin medical treatment as soon as possible. Chiropractic care can provide effective treatment for many individuals with whiplash-type injuries through the use of spinal adjustments to the cervical spine as well as manual manipulation to relieve muscle pain and soreness. Additionally, a chiropractor may also recommend following a specific routine of stretches and exercises to promote faster healing for your whiplash symptoms. 

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that may alter the normal function of the brain. Concussions aren’t only caused by a direct impact to the head but occasionally, sudden acceleration or deceleration of the head, such as that during an automobile accident, or violent shaking of the head and upper body can also cause a head injury. The level of severity of a concussion can range from minor to severe injury but they can all temporarily interfere with the way the brain functions. These can affect memory, reflexes, coordination, judgment, speech, and balance.

The signs and symptoms of a concussion may include: confusion, amnesia, headache, dizziness, ringing in the ears, nausea or vomiting, slurred speech, and fatigue. Other signs and symptoms include: memory or concentration problems, sensitivity to light and noise, sleep disturbances, irritability, and depression. After being involved in an accident it’s essential to seek immediate medical attention for a proper diagnosis of any further complications. The signs and symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and, while concussions can cause a loss of consciousness, a large majority do not. Due to this, many people might have experienced a concussion as a result of an auto accident or other type of accident and they might not even be aware it occurred. 

Properly healing head injuries require time, patience, and plenty of rest. A large majority of concussions resulting from automobile accidents or sports injuries, are considered mild and individuals who’ve experienced them can usually recover fully from them.

When Prince reached out to Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a California-based chronic pain and addiction specialist, Kornfeld wasn’t immediately available to go see him. Instead, the doctor put his son Andrew on a plane to Minnesota to deliver the singer’s buprenorphine, a drug used to treat opioid addiction.

The majority of people who suffer a whiplash type injury as a result of an automobile accident are instructed to wear a neck brace but, an abundant amount of research suggests that neck braces, also known as cervical collars, may actually cause more harm than good.

 A new study shows that individuals who experienced whiplash have a better chance of recovering from their injury and symptoms without the use of a cervical collar. In addition, these findings, together with previous studies, also suggest that individuals may have better recovery results with active treatments such as chiropractic care and exercise.

Other studies have also demonstrated that the use of cervical collars can prolong pain and disability in individuals with whiplash injuries. A 2008 meta-analysis of recent studies on whiplash treatment found that cervical collars are fundamentally meant to be used in cases of spinal fractures for it to be beneficial. It’s use in other types of injuries or conditions can actually prevent recovery. The function of cervical collars is to immobilize the spine in order to prevent further damage or injury. Nonetheless, the neck’s inactivity resulting from the use of cervical collars can eventually cause muscle degeneration and decreased function. 

Chiropractic care for treating this type of injury includes neck adjustments and manual manipulation, followed by gentle stretches and exercises to help speed up the rehabilitation process. By re-aligning the cervical spine and correcting tissue damage as a result of the injury, a chiropractor can help restore the affected individual’s normal mobility and decrease their pain and other symptoms.

Whiplash refers to a soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine, or neck, caused by a strong, abrupt, back-and- forth movement of the head, typically caused by an automobile accident, although this type of injury can also be the result of a sports accident or other trauma. Several studies suggest that up to 43% of individuals generally suffer from long-term symptoms following a whiplash injury. Further studies also suggest that of those individuals whom still experience symptoms after three months of the injury, almost 90% of the time, they will develop chronic whiplash symptoms. 

Although conventional treatment can be used to treat whiplash, chiropractic treatment is notably recommended to treat many automobile accident injuries and the improvement results are quite significant, according to research. The authors of a study researched the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment in 28 individuals who had been previously diagnosed with chronic whiplash pain and other symptoms. Each person had been referred to a chiropractor in between a range of 3 months to almost 4 years after their accident, with an average of 15.5 months. After following the appropriate chiropractic treatment, 26 of the affected individuals, in other words, 93% of the people with chronic whiplash symptoms, had improved considerably: 16 individuals had improved by one symptom group while 10 individuals had improved by two symptom groups. 

For whiplash, a chiropractor often uses spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to correct cervical spine misalignments in order to minimize the stress and tension on the surrounding neck muscles. Chiropractic treatment can also include a set of stretches or exercises to continue rehabilitating whiplash symptoms.

Individuals involved in automobile accidents are frequently accused of pretending to suffer from pain and other symptoms in order to earn a profit from insurance companies, but the truth is that in the majority of the cases, people involved in an auto collision are actually hurt and injured. Another large percentage of those individuals also refuse to follow through a legal process after their auto accidents despite suffering from chronic pain.

 In the U.S., if an individual develops chronic neck pain or other type of symptoms after an automobile accident, it’s not uncommon for them to be viewed with great suspicion by others, as if their symptoms were not real. However, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine conducted a study where the medical records of 948 auto injury patients were analyzed to evaluate their musculoskeletal pain after an auto accident. Of those patients, about 70% of the individuals reported ongoing musculoskeletal symptoms six weeks after the automobile accident. Also, more than one third of the individuals experienced pain in four or more areas of the body.

Whether or not you plan on proceeding with legal processes after an automobile accident, it is essential to seek medical attention as soon as possible to prevent chronic pain symptoms from developing. Chiropractors can help diagnose any possible injuries or underlying conditions that could be causing your pain and discomfort as well as effectively helping to relieve acute and chronic symptoms after an auto injury. Hopefully the results of this study will contribute to helping doctors and the public understand that these symptoms are common, including among patients who don’t pursue litigation.

Being involved in an automobile accident can be a stressful situation for any individual and, for those who suffered an injury or aggravated a previous condition as a result of the collision, taking immediate action becomes a priority.

The majority of auto injuries are not severe and, if there is no clear indication of a bone fracture or other type of serious wound, a visit to the hospital might not even be necessary. However, automobile accident injuries can often cause pain and soreness. Whiplash is the most common type of injury resulting from an auto collision, characterized by a sudden back-and-forth jolt of the head in any direction, where the force of the motion strains the surrounding muscles and tissues of the cervical spine. The symptoms associated with this type of injury may usually not develop instantly but can take up to 24 hours to appear. Before the pain and discomfort of an automobile injury occur, a person should first pursue care for their injuries.

Before seeking medical care, an individual experiencing symptoms of an injury or condition from an automobile accident can begin by applying ice therapy on any painful and sore areas. Ice therapy is not an actual treatment and therefore, further diagnosis and treatment for your automobile accident injuries should be pursued. A chiropractor can effectively diagnose an injury or underlying condition and begin a treatment plan according to the individual’s level of injury to gradually restore a person’s normal health. A physical therapist may also help recommend a proper set of exercises together with chiropractic treatment to speed up the rehabilitation process 

Chronic stress, is a response to an emotional pressure that occurs for an extended period of time which an individual is unable to control. On a daily basis, people are constantly exposed to situations that could trigger a stress response on their body, whether it’s from a long, hard day at work behind a desk or an upcoming test. For some individuals, the stress on their body becomes overly constant and eventually, they begin to develop chronic pain symptoms.

First of all, the position of the body while sitting at a computer is usually that of an incorrect posture. By spending long periods of time in front of a computer screen, a person will gradually start to bend forward from the natural sitting position, creating strain throughout the spine and its surrounding muscles. Also, the incorrect seated position causes the hip flexors to chronically contract, causing low back pain. Any additional stress after this point can often add tension to the shoulders, further straining the muscles around the upper back and neck. Through time, the body recreates this cycle over and over again, leading to chronic pain.

Chiropractic care can also help relieve chronic pain caused by chronic stress. Chiropractic adjustments can help break the pain cycle by realigning the spine to help improve posture, decrease the tension on the muscles, and help prevent chronic stress from accumulating in the body.

After suffering from whiplash or another injury as a result of an automobile accident, many people frequently ask themselves, “How long will I need to recover from my injury?”

 While the time of recovery for each individual can greatly depend on the severity of the injury, the speed of the healing process can also be largely influenced by individual characteristics such as age, mental health, and even occupation. Many people who have experienced grade I or grade II whiplash injuries may begin to show significant relief of their symptoms within a year of their injury. Nonetheless, many people whom have also experienced whiplash can develop chronic complications.

The term chronic is medically used to refer to a variety of uncomfortable symptoms that are experienced for longer than three months. If not treated, the lingering effects of chronic whiplash can last up to a decade after the injury. Early studies have shown that PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting after a traumatic auto accident, can often increase the probability of individuals developing chronic symptoms.

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Pain management following a car crash.

An automobile accident can occur suddenly and without warning. Often times, the symptoms of pain and discomfort may not occur instantly but could take up to 24 hours or more to develop. As the victim, it's important to learn how to deal with post-accident injuries and the first action to take is seek medical attention. 

Whiplash is one of the most common injuries resulting from an automobile accident. Whiplash is a result of damage to the soft tissue in the neck, causing symptoms of pain and discomfort in the region. Headaches may also be a common symptoms after a car crash as well as numbness in the area surrounding the neck. 

Over the last 10 years, new research has found that TMJ and its well-known symptoms resulting after an auto accident could actually originate from neck complications. After a neck injury, the pain signals travel from the spine to the brainstem. In this process, the nerves from numerous areas of the body also travel into the brainstem where they will gather together before being transmitted to the pain centers of the brain. As the nerve signals converge, the various signals can become crossed and confused.

The nerves found on the jaw connect through the neck with pain receptors from the spine. As chronic pain signals from an automobile injury trigger an over-stimulation, an individual suffering from a neck injury such as whiplash can also experience pain in other areas of the head, including the jaw. The jaw then reacts to the constant symptoms of pain by tensing up the muscles surrounding the jaw, causing even more pain and discomfort.

Chiropractic care is an effective treatment option for individuals who’ve experienced damage or injury as a result of an auto accident. With the use of spinal adjustments, manual manipulation, and occasional stretches and exercises, a chiropractor can help a person with temporomandibular joint disorders and other neck complications recover from their injuries. By getting to the root cause of your pain, a chiropractor can get you back on the road to health.  

Dizziness is a word used to describe a feeling of false sense of motion or spinning, lightheadedness, and disorientation, an uncomfortable feeling that continuously affects approximately 11-28% of adults.

Cervicogenic dizziness originates from complications on the cervical spine or neck. The neck, as the rest of the spine, has an important function in the body’s postural control. The neck is surrounded by muscle spindles, sensory receptors that primarily function to detect changes in the length of the muscles but also convey a variety of nerve impulses and reflexes to stabilize the head, and posture as well as sustaining the proper function of the eyes. For individuals who suffer from chronic dizziness, getting a diagnosis for possible neck complications and starting treatment can help restore the body’s sensory transmissions and reduce their symptoms of chronic dizziness. 

In a 2008 study, researchers analyzed the results of individuals who experienced chronic dizziness as a result of a neck complication, who received chiropractic treatment such as spinal adjustments and manual manipulations. The study showed that individuals receiving chiropractic care for their symptoms experienced improvements in reduced dizziness frequency. These individuals also showed significant decrease in the severity of their dizziness and neck pain. In addition, two other studies showed that spinal adjustments and manual manipulations improved blood circulation in the arteries of the neck, while another two studies also found that chiropractic treatment improved an individual’s balance.

After being involved in an automobile accident, whiplash is the most frequent type of injury commonly diagnosed by medical specialists. The common symptoms associated with whiplash are most often misdiagnosed and, as a result, the auto injury is generally not treated at the source but, recent studies have found a possible reason behind the chronic symptoms of whiplash.

Over the past couple of years, various studies have found that whiplash injuries can cause hyper excitability of the central nervous system, otherwise known as the peripheral nerves. A team of researchers conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review of 27 different trials, analyzing the connection between whiplash and the central nervous system dysfunction. Hyper excitability refers to an excessive reaction to stimuli, in this case, the peripheral nerves are altered, often presenting a variety of symptoms leading to other peripheral nerve hyperexcitability disorder syndromes and further complications. The researchers concluded that there is compelling evidence pointing to central hyperexcitability in individuals who’ve suffered from chronic whiplash. In fact, these changes in the central nervous system could potentially make people with whiplash type injuries more sensitive to other types of pain.

Through chiropractic adjustments and manual manipulation, a chiropractor can gradually treat your whiplash injury. Because spinal adjustments can soothe oversensitive nerves, chiropractic care can be a potentially effective treatment for whiplash to effectively ease pain and nerve hyperexcitability.

Thoracic outlet syndrome, or TOS, is a medical term used to describe a group of disorders which frequently occur when the nerves or blood vessels in the space between the collarbone and the first rib, known as the thoracic outlet, become compressed.

Thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms can vary according to which structures are compressed. If there is an impingement of the nerves in the thoracic outlet, the signs and symptoms usually include numbness and tingling sensations in the arms, hands, and fingers, pain and soreness in the neck, shoulder, or hands, a weakened grip, and wasting in the fleshy base of the thumb, also known as Gilliatt-Sumner hand. If there is a impingement of the blood vessels in the thoracic outlet syndrome, the signs and symptoms usually include arm pain and swelling, discoloration of the entire hand, a single or multiple fingers, weak or no pulse in the affected arm, cold fingers, hands, or arms, upper extremity fatigue, and numbness or tingling sensations in the fingers.  

most commonly, thoracic outlet syndrome is often diagnosed as a result of an automobile accident. Individuals who are involved in auto collisions frequently experience injuries. Whiplash, defined as a neck injury resulting from an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head, is a common injury resulting from auto accidents. Because whiplash type injuries involve damage or injury to the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the neck, the irritation from the trauma to these structures often leads to compression of the nerves and blood vessels around the cervical region of the spine, resulting in thoracic outlet syndrome.

If you suffered an auto accident and you’ve been experiencing symptoms of pain and discomfort, make sure to seek immediate medical attention to diagnose any possible complications and begin treatment as soon as possible. A chiropractor can often help determine the root cause of your symptoms and develop a treatment plan to help regain your health.

Several studies suggest that individuals with previous symptoms of neck pain were more likely to develop chronic symptoms after suffering a whiplash injury. But the true question was whether people who received medical attention for any neck or back injury or condition before being involved in an automobile accident reflected on their constant symptoms as compared to people who never received medical attention for another complication and only then did they seek treatment after the accident.

Researchers conducted a study where the medical records of 1.2 million people were analyzed, from those, 1,443 individuals were identified to have whiplash. The individuals who suffered from whiplash were tracked for three years after the automobile accident injury, while researchers also examined their medical data three years prior to the injury. Throughout the six years, the people with whiplash were recorded to be more than twice as likely to seek constant medical attention from their symptoms. However, people with higher rates of medical care before the injury were recorded to be more likely to report more sick days and greater rates of medical attention as compared to individuals with lower rates of medical care before the injury.

Therefore, according to the study, people who had a previous neck injury or condition prior to experiencing the whiplash-type injury were at a higher risk of developing chronic symptoms as compared to those whom didn’t present prior injuries or conditions. Regardless of the findings, seeking and continuing medical attention for your injuries is crucial towards alleviating any impairing symptoms, ultimately helping the individual reach a full recovery without developing chronic problems.

Up to 50% of individuals who’ve experienced a whiplash, a neck injury most commonly caused during an automobile accident, often develop chronic symptoms. Medical diagnosis demonstrate certain people can have a higher chance to develop chronic whiplash symptoms from others. A recent study shows a possible explanation suggesting the reason for this percentage of chronic pain in a particular percent of individuals: cytokines.

 Cytokines are proteins released by the cells found within the immune system which help with cell communication. Soon after experiencing an injury, the immune system generates what is known as pro-inflammatory cytokines, or cytokines responsible for fighting off infection. Although whiplash is an injury resulting from physical trauma, inflammatory chemicals secreted from the cells in the body actually serve an important function during whiplash type injuries.

Whiplash-researcher Michele Sterling of the University of Queensland in Australia and her colleagues conducted a study to show how cytokine levels change in individuals who’ve sustained a whiplash injury. The study showed that individuals who recovered more quickly from this type of condition generally demonstrated particular changes in the cytokine levels within their body as compared to individuals experiencing symptoms of chronic whiplash.

If this research is confirmed in future studies, tracking changes in inflammatory biomarkers using serum blood tests may offer insight into determining an individual’s risk of developing chronic symptoms after suffering from an automobile injury, such as whiplash.

After being involved in an automobile accident, spinal injuries, such as whiplash, can commonly occur. While it’s important to seek immediate treatment for any possible injuries or complications, exercising can also be a treatment option for recovering from minor auto injuries.

As a matter of fact, individuals who have experienced injuries as a result of an automobile accident can greatly benefit from exercise treatments recommended by a medical professional, such as a chiropractor or physiotherapist. Chiropractic doctors can also use spinal adjustments and manual manipulation to help enhance the effectiveness of exercise therapies and speed up the rehabilitation process of whiplash or other spine-related injuries. Patients with chronic pain due to a previous whiplash injury can also benefit from chiropractic care and exercise therapies. Depending on the individual's severity of the injury, following the proper exercises recommended by a chiropractor or other medical specialist is important in order to avoid further injuries. Seeking chiropractic treatment after suffering an auto collision is essential to restore an individual’s overall health and wellness as well as to reduce symptoms of pain and discomfort in the future. 

Spinal injuries are commonly diagnosed in people who’ve experienced an automobile accident. In fact, auto accidents are the leading cause for spinal injuries on the thoracic, or mid back, and the lumbar, or lower back, regions of the spine.

In a research conducted between 1996 and 2011, the records of 4,572 individuals entered into the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network database were studied by doctors. The people experienced from moderate to severe auto accident injuries but they all shared one common factor.

The research compared the injury outcomes of people who were using a two-point belted seatbelt versus a three-point belted seatbelt at the time of the automobile accident. With people using the three-point seat belts, these protected them against neurological injury, fatality, and further complications but those wearing this type of seat belt were more than three times more likely to sustain spine fractures than those wearing the two-point seat belts. With people using the two-point seat belts, flexion-distraction injuries were most common. However, people who weren’t wearing a seat belt at the time of the auto accident had a higher risk of suffering spinal fractures in the thoracic and lumbar regions as well as dislocations.

An automobile accident can be a difficult situation for anyone to experience, regardless if the damage was not severe. Each individual undergoes different emotional and physical reactions after suffering from a car crash. From mental trauma and emotional disorientation, sometimes automobile accidents can cause trauma from physical injuries, although the symptoms might not always occur instantly.

The first couple of weeks after a whiplash type injury, an individual should seek medical attention for further diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible for other possible injuries. Headaches, as well as neck, shoulder, and back pain and stiffness can present themselves several days after an accident.