Are you the victim of a recent car accident? If you are, you may be surprised to learn that you could have sustained serious injury to your musculoskeletal system — even if you were in a minor fender bender. In fact, accidents at speeds as slow as 5 miles per hour can lead to whiplash injuries. The force of even a minor impact can “whip” the neck backwards and forwards, pushing the cervical spine beyond its natural range of motion. This can lead to chronic neck pain, upper back pain, headaches, migraines and even difficulty concentrating.

Natural Healing for Car Accident Injury Patients

If you suffer from a whiplash injury, it is natural to be frustrated with traditional treatment options. Many medical doctors will prescribe prescription painkillers, which can temporarily relieve pain. Unfortunately, this relief is fleeting. As long as a misalignment of the cervical spine exists, patients will continue to experience pain.

If you have sustained auto injuries, you don’t have to suffer; our Woodbury chiropractor is here to help! Our chiropractor uses chiropractic adjustments and spinal decompression to restore alignment to the cervical spine. This relieves pressure on the nerves, correcting the underlying cause of neck pain, back pain and headaches.

We also offer complementary treatments to help restore a full range of movement to the upper body. Physiotherapy is an important part of whole body wellness. These treatments promote internal healing. For example, during an auto accident, the muscles and soft tissues in the upper back can also become strained. Many patients may have difficulty looking from side to side or nodding the head up and down. Physiotherapy helps the body recover range of motion and increases flexibility. Our treatments reduce inflammation and accelerate soft tissue healing.

If you have sustained an accident injury, we urge you to seek prompt treatment. The earlier we can diagnose the extent of your injury, the more we can do to help your body heal and avoid the buildup of scar tissue. However, it is never too late to heal. Our wellness team can help patients who were injured in an accident six months or even several years ago. Chiropractic care can benefit everyone.

Are you struggling with pain or stiffness in your neck and upper body? Wondering if chiropractic care is right for your injury? Post a question for our team below.

While spinal manipulation may seem too intense for infants, it’s actually quite safe. Chiropractors take special care and precautions with babies, and many believe proper chiropractic care can help infants grow more healthfully and even reduce the likelihood of colic and middle ear infections.

In fact, chiropractic care is sometimes used to treat colic, as well as pain, sleep problems, and musculoskeletal concerns. Chiropractic care can also be preventive. As children are very active, there can be a great deal of stress placed on certain parts of the body. Regular chiropractic appointments can help ensure a properly aligned spine as the child grows, resulting in better functioning and less risk of injury.

It is important to know when to go to a chiropractor and when to go to an allopathic doctor. Viral and bacterial infections, for example, are best treated by allopathic doctors. Chiropractic treatment is usually best for musculoskeletal problems, as chiropractors are specialists in the musculoskeletal system. Chiropractors are also a good choice when you want to avoid drugs or surgery, as they are committed to medication-free, surgery-free treatments.

Just as with allopathic doctors, the quality of care may vary and you need to shop around for a qualified and well-respected practitioner. Some are more competent than others. The best way to ensure you get a good chiropractor is to investigate their training, other patient and parent reviews of their services, and when possible, peer-reviews of the chiropractor. Have an interview with the chiropractor before bringing your child in for treatment, and see how comfortable you are with him or her. Don’t be afraid to move on to another practitioner if you are not completely comfortable.

It’s best to find a chiropractor who specializes in pediatric chiropractic for your child. Your pediatrician, local hospital or the Internet can help you find specialists in chiropractic child and infant care. Don’t worry about asking your pediatrician for a referral; both chiropractors and allopathic doctors are used to working together with other health professionals to ensure your child gets the best care and treatment possible. In fact, the best health care professionals available are the ones that are willing to work together with others, and who don’t disparage other kinds of care. Take the time you need to select the best team of professionals to meet your child’s or infant’s particular needs.

References

• http://www.wisegeek.com/is-infant-chiropractic-care-safe.htm
• http://www.chiropractor-finder.com/chiropractors-for-babies-and-children.html

Pain is a useful indicator that something is wrong with the body that requires attention. Acute pain tends to occur suddenly, often in response to an injury or a change in mobility or function. For example, if you run into a door and hurt yourself, or awaken with a stiff neck that was not there before, that is acute pain.

Chronic pain may also start suddenly, but what differentiates it from acute pain is that it persists; it extends beyond the normal range required for healing. Accidents and diseases can result in pain that lingers long after the event that caused it. The problem is that the longer we feel a chronic pain, the more our bodies and brains compensate and change to accommodate it. This can lead to not only a decreased sense of well-being but actual degradation of our physical health. Medical treatment of chronic pain tends to rely on drugs to mask or reduce the pain, but rarely addresses the root cause of the pain. Chiropractic treatment has been found to be a safe, drug-free, non-invasive treatment for many types of pain, but may be most effective when dealing with chronic pain.

We can define chronic back pain as pain that has persisted longer than three months. The pain may be neuropathic (caused by actual nerve tissue damage, and usually experienced as a sharp pain or burning sensation), or nociceptive (caused by an injury or a source outside the nervous system, experienced as a constant dull ache). This type of chronic pain commonly occurs in adults between the ages of 30 and 50, but may also appear in other age groups as a result of lifestyle practices or injury.

Chronic pain due to nervous system irritation or nerve injury can lead to a number of corollary symptoms – lower back pain, changes in posture or stature, lack of mobility, problems with balance, and over time, actual muscle loss. Chiropractic can be very effective in treating these conditions. Because the long-term goal of chiropractic is to create a healthy spine as the basis for general wellness, it can also help to reestablish normal functioning and eliminate the root causes of chronic pain. Many chiropractors are also trained in methodologies such as trigger point therapy and massage, which have been shown to alleviate chronic pain. Your chronic pain treatment may also include some form of exercise plan, either on your own or under the supervision of a physical therapist, to help you rebuild your strength in the affected areas.

If you are experiencing this kind of pain, consult with your chiropractor to assess whether it may be successfully treated with chiropractic adjustments and/or related therapies. Chiropractic care can be very effective in treating chronic pain on its own, but also integrates well with traditional medical care, without the risk of drug side effects or surgery. Chiropractic treatment may be an effective therapy for you to help with long term pain management, and possibly achieve the elimination of the pain itself.

Resources:

http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Chiropractic-and-Chronic-Pain

Chiropractic is recognized as one of the safest therapies you can use to treat joint pain, back and neck pain, headaches, and other conditions. Because no type of healthcare therapy is completely free of potential side effects, however, some adverse effects may occur.

Many patients feel relief immediately following a chiropractic spinal adjustment, but some experience mild aching or soreness in the spinal joints or muscles. This feeling is similar to muscle soreness after exercise. If this occurs, it is usually within the first few hours post-treatment and for most patients (74%) does not last longer than 24 hours after the treatment. An ice pack often reduces the symptoms of this more quickly. Spinal adjustments pose few serious risks, although rare complications include the possibility of a herniated disk or compression of the nerves in the lower spinal column.

Some headaches and neck pains can be treated through cervical manipulation, which are also known as neck adjustments. These treatments improve joint mobility in the neck, restore the normal range of motion, and reduce muscle spasm to relieve pressure and tension. Neck manipulation is known to be a safe procedure, but some patients may experience side effects for a few days after treatment. These side effects include headache, fatigue, or continuing pain.

At the extreme end of risks associated with cervical manipulation, there have been reports that have associated it with a certain kind of stroke: vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke. The best evidence indicates that the incidence of such injuries associated with neck adjustments is extremely rare – about 1 case in 5.85 million manipulations. To put this risk into perspective, this type of injury usually occurs spontaneously, or it happens as a result of everyday activities such as looking up to watch fireworks, turning your head while driving or having your hair washed in a hair salon.

Chiropractic adjustments are safe when performed by licensed professionals trained and to deliver chiropractic care. When you visit your chiropractor, you should be very specific about your symptoms, and about any concerns you feel about any risks. This will help the doctor to offer the safest and most effective treatment for you. Depending on your condition and the specific problems being treated, the chiropractor can sometimes forego manipulation, and instead can recommend a treatment regimen of joint mobilization, therapeutic exercise, soft-tissue techniques, or other therapies.

Resources:

• http://nccam.nih.gov/health/chiropractic/
• http://www.acatoday.org
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chiropractic-adjustment/MY01107/DSECTION=risks
• http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/reactions-following-a-chiropractic-adjustment