A special thanks to Michael Putman, DC, C.F.M.P., CErg, a Roseville, CA Chiropractor, for providing this article.

Roseville, California: You may not be aware of this, but many chiropractors specialize in treating people who have been injured in car accidents. So you may be wondering what is the difference between treating someone with injuries resulting from an automobile accident versus someone who comes in because their back or neck hurts, and that is a great question.

Back pain is one of the leading causes of missed work in the United States. In recent years as more and more people spend their time sitting at a desk on a computer or looking down at their cell phone, neck and shoulder pain has been increasing in frequency and has become much more prevalent.

Chiropractic care is one of the most safe and effective approaches to treating conditions that cause pain, numbness, weakness of muscles, and tingling sensations. Most of these conditions are related to injuries (whether acute traumatic injuries, or chronic overuse syndromes) to spinal joints and musculature and the peripheral nerves that have their origin in the spinal cord.

Treating traumatic injuries is vastly different than treating chronic or non-traumatic injuries. Not only are the nature of injuries different, also the triaging and type of care is also different. When a traumatic injury (such as a car accident) occurs usually more than one area of the spine and consequently the associated peripheral nerves are involved. That means that the treating chiropractor must triage the patient to determine the order of significance of each injury and the order of importance in treatment.

Triaging refers determining the degree of injury and the ordering of treatment. Most people are familiar with concept when there is multiple injured in one event (like battles in war or major accident) but it also refers to an individual with multiple injuries. In auto accidents, an evaluation of the patient must be done to determine all the injuries (both known or unknow) and determine the order and extent of treatment.

If you have had an auto accident, the doctor must also determine how much active treatment the patient can handle. Some chiropractors specialize in treating auto accident cases. Those doctors are very familiar with the signs and symptoms of more severe injuries related to trauma, when to order specialized tests and imaging (like MRIs) and how best to manage the case.

Our first goal after accident is reducing inflammation in the injured tissues and slowing down scar tissue formation. A lot of people come to our Roseville Ca chiropractic clinic within days after the accident and they come in very inflamed. It only takes about 6 hours after an injury for inflammation to settle into the tissues. Inflammation leads to pain, stiffness, and ultimately scar tissue and adhesions.

In our clinic the first order of treatment for auto accident injuries is to reduce inflammation. Many times, the inflammation is so bad, we can’t even touch the patient. The doctor and clinic must have the tools to deal with inflammation if they are going to address the injuries in the most effective and safe way. In our clinic we use tools like Cold Lasers, Ultrasound, and Electrical stimulation to reduce inflammation, increase regional Blood Flow, and reduce muscle spasms.

So what does this have to do with treatment for “TINGLING AND NUMBNESS IN ARMS AND LEGS” following an car accident. When someone complains of peripheral symptoms like numbness and tingling in the arms and legs following a car accident, there are a number of significant injuries that can cause these symptoms.

These include significant soft tissue injuries like tearing of ligaments and tendons, disc injuries like herniations and bulges, nerve injuries that can occur anywhere along the length of a nerve from the nerve root to the distal end of the nerve. All of these injuries must be diagnosed with special tests like MRIs, and nerve conduction studies, etc. A chiropractic trained in triaging injuries should be able to determine when these test are necessary, how to interpret the results, and how best to treat the patient, and when the patient should be referred out to specialists.

The other common cause of these symptoms is inflammation. Inflammation of injured tissue in the neck and lower back can mimic some of these more severe injuries and cause numbness and tingling, and PAIN in the extremities. A chiropractor trained in treating auto accident injuries knows that inflammation is present in any injury and is the first and most important way to SAFELY TREAT all of these injuries.

So if you have injuries from a car accident, make sure you seek treatment immediately from a chiropractor who is trained and experienced in auto accident injuries to quickly and effectively manage the appropriate treatment.

By Dr. Michael Putman, DC, C.F.M.P., CErg
https://www.twincreekshealth.com/