Car accidents cause your muscles and ligaments to tear. The proteins released from your damaged muscle cause irritation and soreness. When the muscles and ligaments are torn, the joints in your spine are also damaged. This happens because the muscles damaged create tension on the joints they are attached to. Your joints may also get damaged from being compressed, or “jammed” when your body crunches to one side or is whipped too quickly, which ultimately makes your muscles spasm more to protect the injured joints.
The treatment /recovery process:
To treat your injuries, I start off gently with light massage and slow movement of the joints. When your soreness lessens, I use light pressure to check which joints are injured most. Adjustments are only done on a few levels in one direction during the first few treatments. This is done to avoid the most painful directions to minimize your post-adjustment tenderness and also to avoid causing more muscle spasm.
Eventually, stretches and exercises will be added to your treatment over time to help strengthen your injured areas and heal you fully.
I may also recommend the following to help improve your recovery:
- Physical therapy if you need one-to-one exercise care.
- Massage, Acupuncture and physical therapy are excellent therapies to combine with chiropractic.
- In some cases, it will be necessary to use medications and/or injections to lessen your pain and inflammation.
