Chiropractic Services in Tacoma, WA.
Every single year in America, millions of people suffer from car accident injuries. Although driving is dangerous, there isn’t really an alternative for many people. The most common injury type caused by car accidents is soft tissue injuries. We aim to educate our readers about soft tissue injuries so that they can receive any medical treatment they are in need of. If you are dealing with pain or other symptoms after being in a car accident, don’t overlook the possibility that you could have a soft tissue injury. Wall Family Chiropractic knows how to treat car accident injuries.
First off: soft tissue injuries are injuries where the body’s ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, skin, tendons, or other soft tissues are affected. Car accidents involve sudden, strong forces that can easily cause soft tissue damage from tearing, blunt force, pulling, or compression. Some types of soft tissue injuries include contusions, whiplash, sprains, and strains. Depending on how serious the injuries you suffered are, it may take months to heal, or not ever heal completely. Without prompt treatment, soft tissue injuries can cause chronic issues. You may not experience symptoms immediately after the accident, so get examined by a medical expert as soon as possible to make sure that you were not injured.
Many of the patients that we treat at Wall Family Chiropractic come to us for whiplash treatment. Whiplash is a type of soft tissue neck injury that is often caused by car accidents. In an accident, the force of crashing or being hit can make the head violently jerk back and forth, which injures the tissues in the shoulders and neck. Whiplash injuries cause a range of symptoms, such as migraines and headaches, back and neck pain, stiffness, memory issues and mood changes, trouble focusing, and more. A person could start experiencing whiplash symptoms right after the accident, or it may take a few weeks. Reach out to our clinic so that we can treat your whiplash. Without proper treatment, you could develop chronic pain.
Another type of soft tissue injury that car accidents can cause are sprains. When someone is in a car accident, their ligaments can be stretched beyond their limits, injuring and even tearing them. Ligaments are tough bands of tissue meant to connect bones and joints and help your body move. Whiplash injuries can involve a sprain. Sprains are unpleasant injuries and can cause flexibilty, range of motion, and movement loss, inflammation, swelling, bruising, pain, and more. At the time of the injury, you may hear or feel a pop in the area.
Strains (not to be confused with sprains) can also occur because of car accidents. They are also known as pulled muscles, and affect tendons. Tendons are soft tissues that connect bones and muscles. One of the most common types of strains from auto accidents is lower back strains. Strains can cause similar symptoms to sprains, so without seeing a medical professional it can be difficult to know which you are suffering from. Some symptoms include inflammation, bruising, tenderness, muscle spasms and weakness, swelling, redness, pain, and loss of range-of-motion.
Another type of soft tissue injury that car accidents often cause are contusions. They are also known as bruises. When the body is hit with enough force, it can damage blood vessels and capillaries, causing them to break and leak blood into surrounding tissues. The blood spreading out under the skin is what you see when you are bruised. Contusion symptoms vary greatly depending on how serious the injury is and its location on the body. It could just be a small bruise that fades quickly, or a huge, painful, swollen lump. A bruise may be a sign that there is a more severe injury, such as a broken bone. In most cases, contusions heal by themselves.
Car Accident Chiropractor in Tacoma
However, the most common soft tissue injury people suffer from car accidents are lacerations (cuts). They can range from tiny cuts that heal in a matter of days to huge gashes that can cause severe bleeding and need stitches. Lacerations can occur in a number of ways; car accidents can cause glass to shatter, items in the vehicle could become airborne, debris from the road could enter the vehicle, or pieces of the vehicle could come off. Lacerations are usually identified and treated early on. Without proper treatment, they can become infected and cause serious issues.
The last soft tissue injury we will cover in this article is shoulder impingement. It happens when the tendons in the shoulder become inflamed. The force of a car accident can put stress on the shoulder, such as if your shoulder slams into an airbag, causing impingement. Shoulder impingement can develop into tendonitis if left untreated. The nature of a shoulder impingement injury can make it difficult to go about daily life. It can make it hard to lift your arms, restrict your range-of-motion, and cause weakness, stiffness, and pain.
In many cases, if there were no obvious injuries then a person may walk away from a car accident without getting medical attention. Even if you believe that you only got minor injuries, or none at all, it’s still smart to see a medical professional. Some car accident injuries don’t show symptoms right away, such as whiplash injuries. Wall Family Chiropractic can examine you for potential car accident injuries. We will document your injuries, which you can use if you end up filing a personal injury claim later on.
At Wall Family Chiropractic, we often treat soft tissue injuries from car accidents. During a new patient’s first appointment, we will carry out a full health exam. This includes asking the patient about what symptoms they are experiencing and their health history. We will identify the source of your symptoms so that your treatment plan addresses your specific condition. One of the treatment methods our clinic uses are chiropractic adjustments. These aim to realign the spine, which can take pressure off of the surrounding soft tissues. Many of our patients experience reduced pain and stiffness when they start receiving chiropractic treatment.
Reach out to us today to start on the journey of healing after being injured in a car accident. The sooner that you set up an appointment with Wall Family Chiropractor, the sooner you can start feeling better.
