Auto Accidents and Personal Injuries

When should I see a chiropractor after a car accident or other injury?

Whether or not pain is present, it’s a good idea to seek treatment from a chiropractor within three to seven days of an accident. A minor accident might not warrant a trip to the emergency room, but it can lead to unseen injuries, and pain and minor injuries can surface within hours, days or, in some cases, months after an accident! Failing to seek care can result in chronic conditions that may take months or years to fully heal. Regardless of how long it takes for symptoms to present themselves, they need to be addressed immediately after an accident. Without a quick and accurate assessment of your potential injuries, you could end up paying thousands of dollars in medical treatment. Further, insurance companies can and will use your failure to seek immediate treatment as a way to reduce or deny compensation for your injuries.

Types of Personal Injuries that We Treat Include:

• Automobile accident injuries
• Slips, trips, and falls
• Twists, sprains, and tears
• Impact injuries
• Struck by or against an object injury
• Repetitive use/motion injuries

What are the benefits of chiropractic care after a personal injury?

Chiropractic care is a less invasive alternative to traditional medical treatment after a car crash, slip and fall or workplace injury. Remember stiffness, pain, soreness or discomfort may take days or weeks after an accident to surface. Seeking treatment from a chiropractor immediately after an accident can catch and prevent these types of injuries from worsening.

• Non-Invasive Treatment
  Getting immediate treatment after an injury can lower your risk of having to undergo surgery to correct a problem. Surgery is a costly expense and while it is unavoidable in some cases, for many it can be avoided through non-invasive chiropractic adjustments.
• Reduce Inflammation
  An accident can lead to micro-tears in the ligaments and muscles. Unfortunately, x-rays don’t catch these types of injuries. These tears are why people wake up with soreness or stiffness the day after a car crash or slip and fall even though there are no visible injuries. A chiropractor can use certain techniques to manipulate the spine or other body parts to reduce inflammation and pain symptoms in the body.
• Pain Reduction or Relief without Drugs
  When a part of your body is injured, your nerve endings send pain signals to your brain to alert you of an injury. Painkillers interfere with these messages at either end of the injury, the spinal cord or the brain. These drugs are usually derivatives of aspirin or opiates—with the latter being extremely addictive. Pain medications only mask the symptoms of an injury. In fact, they don’t actually heal the damage itself. In addition, these medications can lead to addiction.
  On the other hand, chiropractic treatment addresses the source of the pain. Chiropractic care promoted the healing of the actual injury and doesn’t just enshroud the pain to give a false sense of healing. Further, chiropractic adjustments reduce pain in the entire body.
• Restore Range of Motion
  Your range of motion is an important part of being able to get up and move around. Joints have to move freely in order to complete daily activities such as brushing your teeth or standing up and sitting down. This is especially true if you have limited range of motion in your spine. Issues with your spine can lead to conditions such as headaches and back pain. Spinal alignment is crucial for free and easy range of motion. Vertebrae can become misaligned in a number of ways. For these reasons, after an accident visiting a chiropractor is necessary even if you feel OK.

Insurance

Whether you are covered by an automobile insurance policy or a general health insurance policy, your claims for chiropractic care may be limited by policy provisions that limit the number of approved visits. If this is the case, you will be liable for all charges related to visits that exceed the limit stated in the policy.

Litigation

Expenses for chiropractic treatment are recoverable in a personal injury lawsuit as long as you can prove that they are reasonably necessary and appropriate for your particular injury. To better your chances of getting your medical bills covered, you must seek treatment immediately after the accident and adhere to your treatment plan. You may also need an independent medical exam or seek treatment from a traditional doctor in order to provide additional medical documentation. Chiropractors provide valuable treatment to millions of people experiencing a wide range of ailments, but issues related to insurance coverage and personal injury lawsuits mea that patients should be fully-informed before embarking on a course of treatment for your accident-related injury.

Content courtesy of Aligned Chiropractic & Physical Rehabilitation