You are sitting at the stop light waiting for the light to change. If you are like many people, you may even take that time to quick check your phone. You hear the screech of tires a split second before you feel the impact. Luckily, it wasn’t that bad of an accident. Your bumper is a little banged and dented but you feel okay.
A few days later you notice that your neck feels stiff and a little sore. You take some pain relievers and go on your way. You may even think that maybe you should have it checked out. But who would you go to? And how long would it take? So you wait and see and in a week or two you are feeling ‘better’ so you put it out of your mind.
I don’t know if this situation sounds familiar to you or not. But as a chiropractor in Colorado Springs I have heard similar stories recounted to me many times. Often I hear about this months or even years later when someone is in my office with back and/or neck pain.
In this post I wanted to give you some of the reasons that I think after any kind of car accident you should get checked by a chiropractor, even if it was a low-speed accident.
First, let’s talk about low-speed collisions. It makes sense that in a low-speed collision you are less likely to get hurt than a high-speed collision. However injuries or even death can occur in a low-speed car accident.
In a report from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in the year 1999 alone there were over 500 fatalities and over 50,000 injuries from low-speed crashes. A low-speed crash being defined as no vehicle traveling over 10 mph and not involving bicycles or pedestrians.
I mention this information because you can be injured even in a low-speed accident. In fact, it is not uncommon to be injured in a low-speed crash. The question that remains is how extensive is the injury?
Going back to the story at the beginning, often people know there is some injury but think it isn’t that ‘bad’ because the pain wasn’t intense or didn’t last very long. I can tell you that even if the pain goes away quickly there can be injuries that change the way you move and, in turn, can have significant consequences months to years down the road!
Now the reason you should see a chiropractor after a car accident even if you were checked out in the emergency room or by another doctor is because chiropractors are looking for different injuries. In the emergency room or at the doctor’s office they are mostly looking for life-threatening and debilitating injuries. As a chiropractor, I am looking for much more subtle changes in the movement of the spine and muscle tone that can affect how you function in day to day life and that could lead to problems in the future.
I often see patients who were injured years ago and that injury has contributed to their current pain and stiffness. Because when you change how a joint moves it changes the stress on the joint as well. Also specifically with the spine, when the bones of the spine are not moving properly or are misaligned it can put extra stress on the nerves. This leads to the body not being able to function as well as it could and hinder healing, even if there isn’t pain.
So yes, I recommend that everyone that is in any kind of car accident should be checked by a chiropractor. If there isn’t any injury affecting the movement and alignment of the spine, that is great! But seeing a chiropractor would be the only way to know since chiropractors are one of the only doctors that are even looking for it.
If you would like to know more and are in the Colorado Springs area feel free to contact our office. If you are other areas talk to a chiropractor near you.
