When you are involved in a car accident, it is very important that you follow up with your chiropractor or medical doctor for a detail check up at a timely manner. You might feel neck pain, back pain, headache, body soreness, tightness, fatigue, sleeplessness, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, changes in your daily routine, or more. You might only experience some of these symptoms or just minor changes but a thorough evaluation of your body and review the mechanism of injury will help you return to normal daily activities as soon as possible and prevent future chronic problems. [1]
Often time it is the minor problems that cause chronic issues later in life or cause more problems when you are in a second accident. Patient prognosis post motor vehicle accident (MVA) is related to age, number of days to reporting the collision, neck pain intensity, low back pain intensity, pain other than neck and back pain, headache before collision and recovery expectations. [5] Detail history taking regarding the speed of impact, types of car involved, direction of impact, driver’s hand, arm, leg, body and head position, aware or unaware of impact, seat belt fastened or not, road condition, weather and more are needed to determine the mechanism of injury due to motor vehicle accident.
Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) may result in intractable disability. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be as a potential cause. [2] Some patients experience afraid of driving on the road and gets nervous pretty easily. It is important to follow up with a medical doctor or a psychotherapist to evaluate and treat this condition. Cognitive-behavioural intervention and antidepressants may improve coping, ease fear, and reduce the impact of pain. [2] Patient should keep a detail record of their daily activities after the accident such as their sleep pattern, work, hobby, taking care of their child, and driving [3], [4]. Keeping good records of your improvement in daily activity level is a good way to monitor your progress.
At Active Spines Chiropractic we offer Chiropractic care, massage therapy and exercise rehabilitation therapy for our patients. Plus our newest diagnostic tool: Myovision DynaRom Motion sEMG, DynaROM, a functional test that measures muscle guarding and range of motion at the same time as the patient moves. We also are up to date and thorough in our record keeping and documentation. With personal, detail and evidence based treatment plan we are here to assist you getting back to your healthy life. You can reach us at (425) 818-0086.
1. Clapp JD1, Masci J, Bennett SA, Beck JG Eur J Pain. Physical and psychosocial functioning following motor vehicle trauma: relationships with chronic pain, posttraumatic stress, and medication use. 2010 Apr;14(4):418-25. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2009.06.007. Epub 2009 Aug 11.
2. Kuch K1, Cox BJ, Evans RJ. Posttraumatic stress disorder and motor vehicle accidents: a multidisciplinary overview. Can J Psychiatry. 1996 Sep;41(7):429-34.
3. Friedland JF1, Dawson DR. Function after motor vehicle accidents: a prospective study of mild head injury and posttraumatic stress. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2001 Jul;189(7):426-34.
4. Duckworth MP1, Iezzi T. Chronic pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms in litigating motor vehicle accident victims. Clin J Pain. 2005 May-Jun;21(3):251-61.
5. Bohman T, Côté P, Boyle E, Cassidy JD, Carroll LJ, Skillgate E. Prognosis of patients with whiplash-associated disorders consulting physiotherapy: development of a predictive model for recovery. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012 Dec 29;13:264. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-13-264.