Contracting injuries are an unavoidable part of life, and something equally unavoidable that serves as a cause for injuries in a car accident. Although you can be as careful as you can be on the road, there still is a chance that someone’s neglect would catch you in a bad traffic collision. In other words, car accidents are unpredictable.
When you are a car crash victim, it is possible for you to have different injuries; they can be mild or severe, depending on the nature of the accident. What makes matters even worse is that some injuries show themselves instantly while others don’t. If you have cuts, bruises, abrasions, or broken bones, you’ll immediately feel the pain and get help. However, there can be spinal injuries as well, and they usually don’t show their symptoms until after a few hours, or even a day. After some time, your back or neck will start paining badly, hinting that something did actually go wrong in the car crash that you didn’t see through instantly.
Due to the nature of such complicated injuries, it is best if we stay aware of them, know whatever we can about them, and make ourselves educated about the ways to get them treated.
Below are 3 of the most common injuries usually caused by a car accident, along with the usual way to get them treated.
1. Whiplash | Car Accident Injury
Whiplash is on top of injuries that are caused by rear-ended car accidents. And it is more than just neck pain. Whiplash is an injury that you contract after you are hit from the back and your body goes through a sudden jerk with the rapid back and forth movement. This instant movement messes up the torque of your neck – the place where your spine connects to your skull through your neck.
When your neck suffers a shock, the natural position of the spine gets disrupted and causes whiplash. Apart from rear-ended car accidents, other common causes of whiplash are sports injuries, physical traumas, and falling.
Unlike visible injuries, whiplash has a chance of not showing its symptoms immediately after it is contracted. It can take a few hours or even a day or two to fully develop and start showing severe symptoms at once. This complication can delay the process of treatment because the patient doesn’t realize in the first place that they have an injury that isn’t surfaced yet.
Therefore, it is recommended that you make an appointment with a whiplash doctor right after the car crash. That way, you can be sure about your injuries and get proper treatment.
Treatment:
Whiplash can be treated with the help of medicine, a lot of rest, gentle stretching, and physical therapy. OTC medications can relieve pain, but if the case is severe, a doctor could prescribe special drugs. A doctor might also recommend exercise and physical therapy to restore the range of motion in your neck and gradually normalise the movement.
Chiropractic treatment – spine manipulation – can improve the symptoms of whiplash in just a few weeks. This treatment is the best alternative if you are looking for a way to improve without drugs and muscle relaxers.
2. Back Pain | Car Accident Injury
A car accident takes a toll on your body, even if you don’t realise it fully. When your body goes through an emotional and physical shock, gets compressed, and pushed into different unordinary positions, it becomes unstable and weak. And your back is the first place to show the symptoms of weakness and disability in the body.
That is why back pain occurs after a car accident. The human body isn’t simply capable to go through a car accident and still come out okay. Of course, your body would be impacted. The case becomes complicated if your body goes through more than it can take, like a car accident, that is when the pain starts. Your back hurts the most in such accidents because your body goes through what they were not ready for.
Treatment:
If the accident has caused some spine injuries, they can make your back hurt even worse, and it will only get worse with time.
Therefore, it is important not to shove back pain under the carpet, but get it checked to make sure there is no serious complication. In order to get the treatment, don’t make the mistake of going to your primary care physician and take drugs in order to start your treatment just for the sake of formality.
Instead, you should make an appointment with a car accident injury doctor who is specialised in treating the issues caused by a car crash.
Gentle stretching, exercise, staying hydrating, fixing your posture and routine, and physical therapy are perfect remedies to make the back pain go away.
Herniated Disc | Car Accident Injury
A herniated disc is one of the most common spine injuries, and they are usually caused by a car accident. Spine injuries simply occur when your body takes more force than it can handle. A car crash affects the torque of your body, which messes up the spine.
Your spine is made of individual bones, which we call vertebrae, and between these individual bones, there are rubber-like cushions known as discs. The tougher, rubbery shell of the disc contains soft, jelly-like stuff, known as the nucleus. If due for any reason, the nucleus gets pushed out of its exterior, it causes herniated disc. It can happen if your spine gets compressed or shocked, which mostly happens in car accidents, resulting in slippage or rupturing of the disc, causing a herniated disc.
Your spine goes through your whole back to your skull, and herniated discs can occur in any part of the spine. As a consequence, a herniated disc can irritate any nearby nerve, which can create further complications, including numbness in different body parts, weakness, and immense back pain.
Similar to whiplash, you might not feel the symptoms of a herniated disc, and you might not even need surgery. However, it still would be a problem, and if goes untreated, would eventually weaken your body. Therefore, getting a full-body check after a car crash should be your priority.
Treatment:
Treatment of herniated disc usually involves rest and OTC pain medication. These are usually enough to make the symptoms go away, unless the case is very severe, then the surgery might be in order.
If the pain is too stubborn to go away with medications, the cortisone injections around the spine usually help. For further relaxation and pain relief, it is recommended that you use muscle relaxers, but it has side effects, including dizziness and sedation.
If the case is moderate than mild, some doctors recommend opioids, but it is a prescribed drug and has harsh side effects.
If you want to opt-out of artificial treatments and drugs, you can choose a natural way and visit a chiropractor clinic. A chiropractor would manipulate your spine and align all your discs right into the correct position, making the pain go away. The positive impact will be visible within a few weeks.
Visiting a car accident doctor would definitely help, who could recommend exercise and physical therapy for further improvement.
