Every day people get into little fender benders and don’t realize the consequences of even just a 5 MPH bumper impact. They feel fine immediately after the car accident but weeks, months and even years down the road you can start to experience neck pain, shoulder pain, tension, numbness and tingling and even headaches.
Watch this video to see a demonstration of what happens at 5km/h which is just 3 miles per hour!
As you can see, at just 3MPH, the neck whips backward and forward. This amount of force causes misalignments or subluxations in the neck which will put pressure on nerves. You can also get strain and sprain injuries which are further signs of whiplash injury. Many people who suffer conditions like fibromyalgia can correlate their symptoms back to the time of an auto accident.
You can experience whiplash even after a low speed accident. If you wait, you can develop spinal and disc degeneration down the road. Some research shows if a joint is misaligned for just 2 weeks, arthritis starts to develop. Think of this like a cavity that forms and you don’t feel the pain for years when it has progressed and harder to take care of.
As a chiropractor in Freehold, NJ, I see many patients who come in with neck pain, headaches and migraines, numbness and tingling and they can’t figure out what caused the problem. After doing a thorough patient history, many times it can be matched to a past car accident. Be sure to get you spine checked after any accident, even if you don’t feel immediate pain, so you can prevent future problems and correct the underlying condition as soon as possible. An auto injury many times goes undetected and needs somebody who does a thorough examination and has experience treating accident victims.
It is also very important to report the accident to your insurance company in case you do experience any symptoms and need treatment. If you wait, then try and go back, they will most likely deny coverage. By having a thorough history and examination by a chiropractor with experience with these injuries, you will have the documentation to prove correlation to the accident.
If you live in Freehold or nearby towns of Marlboro, Manalapan, Howell, Colts Neck, Jackson, Morganville or other Monmouth County communities, contact our office, Hometown Family Wellness Center or go to our website for more information: www.ChiropractorFreehold.com. Let us know you were in an accident and looking for our special auto accident consultation and evaluation.