If you have been in one, you know that back and neck pain from car accidents is no joke. I actually became a chiropractor due to back and neck pain from a car accident. The biggest problem with back and neck pain from car accidents is that due to the traumatic nature of the accident causes a chemical inflammation pathway to become activated that doesn’t end quickly.
After twenty three years of being a chiropractor and treating back and neck pain from car accidents, it is my experience that you don’t know the true scope of an injury for a month. Often the patient feels much worse before they begin to feel better. That is because your body continues to produce inflammatory chemicals that make you feel horrible for the first 4-6 weeks.
Other that seeing a chiropractor, my best recommendations are to walk and ice. The ice calms the inflammation from the injury down and gives you relief from the pain. The walking stimulates your body to produce natural pain killers and also keeps you limber and flexible. It’s only natural to feel like curling up in to a ball after an injury like this and waiting for the pain to stop. This is the worst thing you can possibly do, it will only cause you to be stiffer and create more pain.
Your chiropractor will be able to decide what spinal adjustments, exercises, stretches or taping methods are best for you to heal. They will also be able to tell you what further imaging or referrals to physical therapy or other doctors that you need to feel better.
With car accidents, once you are sure that nothing is broken, get to the chiropractor. The longer you wait, the more pain you will have. As always, you are welcome to call my office with any questions about your back and neck pain from a recent (or not so recent) car accident and talk to me about the best course of action. You can also book online at https://www.activefamilychiropractic.com/booking-calendar