Navigating Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident: Legal and Health Considerations

By Mila Rapp

The motorcar may be one of the human race’s greatest inventions, but creating a high-velocity hunk of metal and fuel is bound to have its downsides. Chief of those dangers are the debilitating roadway accidents that have remained a significant risk, even with numerous inventions for safer transport. As of 2022, a whooping 2.38 million people were injured in road accidents.

The impact of a car accident on one’s life can be devastating, and navigating the aftermath on your health and finances might be one of the worst parts of the experience. Chiropractic therapy can help lessen your pain, reduce the impact of injuries on your daily life, and–when well-documented–contribute helpful information to your personal injury claims.
In this article, you’ll find out how a car accident can affect a person’s health, how chiropractic care can help with recovery, and how best to wield the evidence from your care in your claim. Keep reading!

What Are the Possible Injuries From a Car Accident?

Vehicle accidents generally cause trauma – no, not the emotional kind from movies. Physical trauma is the force exerted by an external energy source that stretches the body’s tissues beyond their healthy limits. Trauma is a very broad term, and in a car accident, it can cause different types of injuries depending on the type of vehicle, type of accident, the state of your health, and your position at the time of the accident, or even your age, gender and weight.

Front-row passengers in a car accident have the highest risk of injury to their upper body, including the head, neck, and abdomen, because they collide with the dashboard and steering wheels. Not wearing a seatbelt or getting hit from the back can also put everyone in the car at risk of a lower-body injury. A hit from the side, like from items inside the vehicle, could injure your organs, fracture a bone, or even penetrate your body.
The common injuries from car accidents are:

Limb Injuries: Ankle dislocations, foot fractures, pelvic fractures, and amputations.
Facial injuries: Eye injuries, facial bone fractures, Skull fractures, Face lacerations
Traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injury
Chest Injuries: Rib fractures, Lung damage, Sternal fractures
Neck strain (Whiplash injury)
Abdominal organ damage
Burns
Excessive internal or external bleeding

Do You Need Chiropractic Therapy After an Accident?

Yes, you need chiropractic therapy after an accident. Chiropractic care focuses on improving joint health by manually realigning your muscles, bones, joints, and tendons (Abrahamson Chiropractic). As experts on spinal decompression, chiropractors can also improve your nerve health and control the pain from an injury to get you up and going as early as possible(Spinal Decompression).

Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of chiropractic therapy in treating neck pain, shoulder and neck trigger points, sports injuries, soft tissue injuries, and lower back pain. If you have joint pain, stiffness, swelling, numbness, or any trouble moving after a car accident, consult a chiropractor as soon as possible.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help You After an Accident

Managing the fallout of injuries from automobile accidents is a core part of chiropractic therapy. The first step in chiropractic treatment is carefully assessing the patient’s body through clinical examination, X-rays, and imaging tests. By evaluating you after an accident, a chiropractor can discover any overlooked injuries that would’ve worsened over time.

After assessment, the managing team will document your results, draw up a comprehensive treatment plan, and refer you to any other medical professional you may need. Chiropractic treatment uses manipulation techniques with different intensities to keep the therapy pain-free, even if you’re a pediatric or pregnant patient, or you have a disability from the accident. These techniques include:

The Gonstead 5-step system for spinal disc treatments.
The Thompson technique, a treatment where the chiropractor rolls and rocks your spine with a low force to improve posture and balance.
The Webster technique for stabilizing the sacrum in the sacroiliac joint and rotating breech babies.
The Diversified technique that thrusts the joints of the spine to correct deformities in the backbone.
The Activator method that also aligns the backbone, but with a handheld Activator Adjusting Instrument.
Dry needling and stim, an electrical therapy that involves inserting needles into muscle trigger points and stimulating contractions to reduce pain (Abrahamson Chiropractic).
Flexion distraction, where the spine is gently stretched to reduce the pressure between the spinal discs.

Through these techniques, chiropractic treatment can immediately reduce inflammatory symptoms like redness, swelling, heat, and pain from the sites of your injury. With less pain and discomfort, you can move better while healing from your injuries without worrying about long-term complications from overlooked injuries.

The Importance of Chiropractic Care in Personal Injury Claims

If your accident was due to accidental harm or negligence from someone else, you will need medical documentation to state the extent of your injuries and how much treatment you have needed since the accident. A chiropractor's medical report is excellent evidence to stake your claim against the insurance adjustor or defendant in your lawsuit.

Many personal injury lawyers work alongside chiropractors, physiotherapists, and medical doctors. If you did not see a medical professional immediately after your accident, your lawyer will direct you to see one, but it pokes a hole in the argument of how severe your injuries were. You may also have forgotten crucial details of the accident that would’ve strengthened your case and increased your chances of getting a good claim.

You should see a chiropractor right after your accident for the best legal outcome. In the best-case scenario, your claim will cover the medical expenses from treating your injuries, any income you’ve lost, compensation for severe physical injuries, and compensation for emotional damages.

How To Find the Right Chiropractor

Chiropractic therapy is a non-invasive yet highly effective treatment when done by a professional. In the hands of a quack or novice, manipulation could worsen your injuries. Here are steps to find a trusted professional after your accident:

Cross-check the chiropractors near you against the list published by your state’s chiropractic licensing board. If you can’t find what you need on their website, send an email for clarification.
Look up the chiropractor’s credentials to confirm that their institutions are licensed by the United States Council on Chiropractic Education.
Research the chiropractor’s reviews to find any medical negligence or malpractice claims.
If you’re going to a new clinic, ensure that experienced chiropractors are there.
Ask for first-hand reviews in your vicinity to confirm your research.

Chiropractic Care When You’re Not Injured

Chiropractic isn’t only for accidents; it should be an integral part of your wellness plan before and after any injuries. Routine chiropractic care can help improve your mobility with daily life, prevent backaches before they start, or relieve pain you didn’t know you had!
Scheduled check-ins with your chiropractor are never a bad idea, particularly to forestall any long-term complications from your accident.

Bottom Line

Now, you have all the information you need to bounce back seamlessly from a car accident! Armed with well-documented chiropractic therapy and proactive decisions, you can get back on the road with a healthy body and handsome compensation from your personal injury claims in no time.