Quality chiropractic treatments could aid you on your path to recovery. Contact our clinic for an appointment at (609) 799-8444.
Car accidents can lead to serious injuries for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. However, minor collisions could also trigger injuries resulting in chronic pain and soreness unless you receive prompt treatment. Chiropractic care from qualified professionals helps accident victims overcome many forms of physical trauma without surgery, pain medication, or long-term complications.
After an accident, you might search online for “how long should I go to a chiropractor after an accident.” Align Health & Wellness provides West Windsor, NJ, chiropractic services. With our decades of experience, we answer questions about chiropractic treatment timelines below.
Should You Visit a Chiropractor After an Accident?
Some car accident injuries require medical assistance from a hospital or physician. For instance, if you break a bone or have cuts on your body from broken auto glass, you’ll need a doctor to set your fracture in a cast and treat wounds with antibiotic jelly, stitches, and gauze.
However, some accident injuries aren’t noticeable immediately following a collision. It’s always a good idea to visit a hospital, urgent care center, or primary care physician following an auto accident, depending on the severity of your injuries. It’s not wise to wait too long to seek medical attention because you don’t want to prolong your recovery by not receiving treatment.
Most minor auto collisions result in body aches and sore muscles. Muscle strains also commonly occur, but sometimes, muscles sustain damage that requires more than time to heal. In those cases, it’s best to visit a chiropractor if you still experience back, neck, knee, or shoulder pain or headaches days or weeks after the incident.
How Can a Chiropractor Help You Recover From Car Accident Injuries?
Qualified chiropractors help car accident victims by accurately diagnosing injuries using X-ray imaging and taking your medical history. Depending on their professional diagnosis for chronic pain, migraines, headaches, and other pain stemming from the accident, chiropractors will create a treatment plan that doesn’t include medications or surgery.
Soft tissue injuries contribute to the pain people feel after a vehicular collision. Through chiropractic adjustments, chiropractors can help alleviate that pain without requiring you to take medication. Instead of using prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs to relieve pain temporarily, chiropractic treatments address the source of the issue to provide long-term relief.
Chiropractors can also help reduce painful inflammation, which can develop in the neck and back muscles after an accident. Inflammation is the body’s way of healing, but it can be uncomfortable. Chiropractors can also restore your body’s range of motion and alleviate stiffness from inflammation, joint misalignment in the spine, and scar tissue development.
When Is the Best Time To Schedule an Appointment for Chiropractic Treatment?
The severity of your symptoms provides the best indication of when you should visit a chiropractor. Critical injuries usually receive prompt attention from paramedics at the accident scene, with additional treatment at a local hospital. However, car accident injuries don’t always appear immediately following the incident.
You should seek medical attention immediately following an accident to ensure you don’t have critical injuries. However, if you don’t have severe injuries and your aches and pains do not subside after several days, it’s likely time to schedule a chiropractic appointment.
One of the most common injuries from an auto accident is whiplash. The condition affects the muscles in the neck, and its symptoms often delay for 24 hours or longer after the accident. Going to a chiropractor days after the car collision could help you receive a whiplash diagnosis and immediate treatment to avoid additional injuries and neck pain in the future.
Even minor car accidents can lead to whiplash and prolonged body aches. If you don’t immediately feel the physical effects of the incident, you should still schedule a chiropractor appointment to receive a clean bill of health.
How Often Should You See a Chiropractor?
Many ask themselves, “How long should I go to a chiropractor after an accident?” The question is reasonable because people often assume their chiropractors will require frequent visits.
However, you need to remember that healing takes time, and different injuries require specific chiropractic treatments to aid recovery. Chiropractors manually correct joint and spinal misalignments and provide soft tissue treatments to address muscle pain. You would likely need several treatments to see long-term results.
Your chiropractic treatment plan and the frequency of your visits will depend on your condition and its severity. People often start with several weekly appointments before tapering off to one weekly or biweekly meeting as they heal. Chiropractors usually recommend at least one follow-up visit to ensure their patients don’t experience other problems as their bodies recover.
When Is the Right Time To Stop Care?
It’s not possible or advisable to answer “how long should I go to a chiropractor after an accident” without a thorough physical evaluation and treatment plan. As such, this post cannot give you a direct answer as to when you should stop receiving chiropractic care. Some patients with chronic back or neck pain may see chiropractors for life after a car accident, but not everyone requires continuous treatment.
You’ll likely recover completely with regular chiropractic care if you have a typical auto accident injury like whiplash. You could continue visiting your chiropractor weekly or monthly to keep your spine aligned and avoid chronic pain. However, if you intend to stop treatment at some point, you can work with your chiropractor to determine what a full recovery entails for you and work toward that goal.
Start Your Healing Journey Today
Instead of asking, “how long should I go to a chiropractor after an accident,” allow the professionals at Align Health & Wellness to create an individualized chiropractic treatment plan for you.
Our state-of-the-art facility and experienced healthcare specialists provide several services to enhance our patient’s health and well-being, including chiropractic care, acupuncture, and physical therapy. Our chiropractors accept PIP (personal injury protection), no-fault, and other insurance plans.
Request an appointment with West Windsor’s trusted chiropractors at Align Health & Wellness by calling (609) 799-8444.