Blogging for Anyone Ever Involved in an Auto Accident

There were nearly 6.5 million auto accidents in the United States in 2005. 2.9 million people, in those accidents, were injured. Did you know that the majority of the car accidents that happen in the US are accidents in which the cars were traveling under 12 mph? Motor vehicle accidents, of all forms, are very serious issues. Did you also know that it is imperative that all types of accidents are dealt with as soon as possible? The hidden injuries of auto accidents are sneaky, potentially debilitating, and due to ignorance and/or inappropriate care, many car accident victims will suffer for the rest of their lives from osteoarthritis, damaged muscles or ligaments, and/or nerve damage! That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is help available to you. Here at Heuser Chiropractic we see patients that are involved in all kinds of car accidents. Anywhere from 5 mph bump to a 65 mph head on collision. Regardless of what type of accident you or someone you know are in, you need to seek care as soon as possible!The Majority of our MVA patients will seek care right after the accident. A small percent won’t make it in until months afterwards. Those patients that decided wait, tend to be in chronic pain for years to follow. If we can work with and treat a MVA patient right after the accident, they will be better off, faster and sooner, not allowing the inflammatory process to take over their body. Many MVA victims will suffer some type of “whiplash” injury. Approximately 1,000,000 people are exposed to whiplash injury in the U.S. every year. Whiplash is caused by any sudden acceleration and or deceleration of the human body that snaps the head in any direction, causing serious soft tissue problems. Other common names for whiplash are hyper-flexion/hyper-extension injuries. Hyper-extension/flexion of the cervical spine at any speed can cause the ligaments surrounding the neck to sprain, maybe even snap apart in certain scenarios. Whiplash can be diagnosed with a simple physical examination or using x-rays. X-rays will also be used to see if there are any fractures of the vertebrae and the extent to which the alignment of the neck has been altered. After a whiplash injury your neck's natural curve may be reversed, which unevenly distributes the weight of your head and may further misalign the vertebrae. This condition can lead to arthritic degeneration and recurring pain in the future.Just goes to show, it doesn’t take much for a MVA to cause you or someone you know serious spinal problems if they not checked out as soon as possible.