As you may know from experience, being involved in a car wreck can be an incredibly traumatizing experience to go through, causing those who were involved to recover physically and emotionally. Chiropractic care is one way to speed up car accident recovery time.

Minimizing Car Accident Recovery

Due to the physical stress that a wreck can put on someone, many people look to a chiropractor when they have a sore body after a car accident. Here are the top four chiropractic treatments that can help you recover from car accident injuries:

Whiplash Treatment

A common injury that individuals suffer after a wreck is whiplash. In the acute stage of whiplash, the chiropractor will focus on reducing the inflammation within the neck. The chiropractor will use therapy modalities such as ultrasound. Whiplash treatment may also involve manual therapy techniques and gentle stretching.

Not only will a chiropractor provide whiplash treatment, but he or she may also make recommendations to help speed up the recovery process. For example, the chiropractor may recommend that you use a light neck support or that you apply an ice pack to help reduce the inflammation. Once the pain and inflammation within the neck diminishes, the chiropractor will be more capable of relying on spinal manipulation and other techniques to help restore regular function to the joints in the neck.

Spinal Manipulation

While spinal rehabilitation or manipulation is a common treatment for whiplash, it is also performed to help treat other injuries. Spinal manipulation involves three different techniques: the flexion-distraction technique, the instrument-assisted technique, and the specific spinal manipulation technique. Here is some information about each of these techniques:

  • Flexion-distraction technique: This technique is hands-on and involves gentle spinal manipulation to treat bulging or herniated discs. A whiplash injury from an accident can aggravate a herniated disc. In order to reduce pain and inflammation, the chiropractor will use a slow pumping action on the herniated disc.
  • Instrument-assisted manipulation: This technique is also gentle and non-thrusting. In order to use this technique, a chiropractor will need to have a specialized hand-held tool. The chiropractor will use the tool to apply force to the spine without thrusting. This technique is most suitable for older patients who have been involved in a car accident yet also suffer from a degenerative joint syndrome.
  • Specific spinal manipulation: When it comes to specific spinal manipulation, the chiropractor will identify spinal joints with abnormal or restricted motion. The chiropractor uses a thrusting technique to restore normal motion to the joint. This gentle thrusting technique is effective because it stretches the soft tissue and triggers the nervous system to restore normal motion to joints in the spine.

Manuel Therapy

Besides spinal manipulation, chiropractors will also use manual therapy to treat injured muscles and ligaments to accelerate car accident recovery. Some examples of manual therapy techniques include therapeutic massage, trigger point therapy, instrument-assisted soft tissue therapy, and manual joint stretching and resistance techniques.

Electrical Stimulation

Interferential electrical stimulation, which involves the use of a weak electrical current to stimulate the muscles and reduce inflammation, is another common chiropractic treatment to help manage car accident injuries.

For more information about chiropractic treatments that will help you recover after an accident, Scott Chiropractic at Lake Loveland is here to help. Don’t hesitate to call us at (970) 889-1897.