Despite the most careful of driving and all of the numerous safety features that are now available on cars, accidents do happen. Although it is tempting to cross your fingers and just hope that you will never be in an accident, superstitious gestures are unlikely to offer much protection. You of course insure your auto to protect you from financial loss if your car is damaged or you damage someone else's, but do you know what to do for yourself to prevent permanent injury if you are in an auto accident?

Assuming that there are no life threatening injuries that require transport and Emergency Room care, and you have everything sorted out after your accident, take time to assess yourself. Do you have any pain, stiffness, loss of consciousness, dizziness, tingling, numbness, feeling of vagueness or inability to concentrate, bruises or other trauma? These are all symptoms of injury from your accident. These are all signs that you should seek attention now.  The worst thing that you can do is wait to see if it gets better, as most of the time it just gets worse, and will continue to get worse. Injuries treated promptly are much more easily resolved than those that are allowed to continue for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes, the problems seem to be slowly dying down only to flare up again.  This can become chronic if not treated.

There are many factors that influence the outcome of your accident. Some of the more common factors include the speed at which you were traveling (yes, you can be injured in a low speed fender bender with little or no damage to your car!), whether you were wearing a seatbelt and/or shoulder harness, did the airbags deploy, whether you saw the accident happening, and whether you had time to react and brace for it, where on the car the impact occurred, and many others. While there is no formula for predicting what injuries you will suffer in an accident, there are injuries that commonly occur with various types of accident. 

In low speed accidents, injuries are most likely to be the result of unexpected, rapid movement of the body at the moment of impact.  These injuries can include muscle strain and bruises from the seat belt or air bag, however, more serious injuries can occur.

Accidents that occur at speeds greater than 10mph involve more rapid body movements and possible impact with objects inside the car, such as the steering wheel, windshield, or dashboard. Common injuries in these situations include shoulder, head, or knee bruises and injuries, back sprains, disc injuries, fractures and concussions. People with these injuries usually know where and how badly they are hurt right away, but in some instances, shock will mask the symptoms.

There are important reasons to seek chiropractic care immediately after an accident if you have any indication that you may have some injury.  First and foremost, you have to make certain that your injury is not more serious than you believe. There can be a lot of relief for the person who knows that they have not been injured seriously.  Most apparently minor injuries, however, can become chronic if not treated in a timely and effective manner. Taking pain medications only cover symptoms and do not treat the problem!  Appropriate attention to your traumatized body will insure that you heal fully and in the correct way. Many studies show that untreated sprains and strains become tomorrow’s chronic back pain that changes your ability to lead a normal lifestyle.

The doctors at Florida Center for Back and Neck Pain have a proven history of treating Auto Accident Injuries very successfully. We will work with patients whether they have chosen to use the services of an attorney or not. Even people who caused an accident can have injuries that need treatment.