Car accidents are widespread, and they can happen to anyone. So, you’ve to know about Melbourne car towing. It is a sudden and traumatizing experience that you cannot foresee. One minute you are safely driving on the highway, and the next you know, the car slams into another. When people are in car accidents, they are surprised. They usually have no idea what to do next.
In-car accidents, it’s essential first to note the safety of drivers and passengers. Check if everyone is alright, whether any person has minor or major injuries. Call-out an ambulance so that the paramedics can diagnose or treat. In auto accidents, the injuries can be minor or severe depending on the impact and force of the collision. Thus, seeing a chiropractor for an injury would be a great way to fully recover your body and prevent it from more severe damage in the long run. Most of the time, the driver is not injured, while the passengers may sustain severe injuries and vice versa. So it’s necessary to consult a doctor immediately after an accident.
Many people do not care about themselves post-accident. They worry about their car, finances, and insurance. However, the priority should be them. Likewise, in-car accidents, people do not realize how severe their injuries can be. They may choose to ignore the minor symptoms they experience. People dismiss headache or stiff muscle as not harsh enough. But this should not happen.
In most cases, the patients ignore the initial symptoms. These early systems are an indication of something serious. Later, the symptoms develop into severe disorders and permanent injuries. Hence, if you or anyone you know was in an accident recently, get them checked by a doctor.
Types of Injuries
In car accidents, patients sustain different types of injuries depend on the force of the collision, the position of the crash, and the impact. Some common car wreck injuries observed in patients are brain injuries, spinal cord and back injuries, fractured bones, burns, neck injuries, and whiplash.
Auto accidents can lead to traumatic brain injuries (TBI). This occurs when the head receives a blow or piercing damage in an accident. In accidents, any loose object in the car can hit the head or drill through it. It causes the brain tissues to rip and tear and results in severe bleeding. TBI leads to around 50,000 deaths yearly. It is a crucial injury where even if patients survive, they suffer long-term paralysis.
In-car wreck injuries, a common injury is to the spine. The spinal cord injury affects the muscle, ligament, and tendons. This leads to partial or complete disability in many patients. The spinal cord is a crucial part of our body; it has nerves going out to the whole body. Slight damage to the spine results in loss of movement and altered sensation in patients. Accidents affect the backbone of the patient due to the sudden impact and collision.
Along with spine injuries, back injuries also occur as a result of car accidents. Due to pressure on the bones in the back, they collapse and crush each other. The ligaments and tissues tear away, removing the bones from their original position. It causes extreme pain and difficulty in movements at medical escort .
Broken legs, arms, ankles, ribs, and wrists are common car wreck injuries. Some car accident patients suffer a broken pelvis. The severity of injuries ranges from simple fractures that require a cast to severe breaks or compound fractures that may require surgery to repair.
Whiplash Injury
Whiplash is one of the standard car wreck injuries. It occurs in auto accidents, where the neck of the driver/passenger jerks back and forth rapidly. It is a ‘to and fro movement’ like a whip, hence its name. The injury occurs in rear-end collisions when a car crashes in the back of another. The severity of the damage depends on the force with which the vehicle collides. However, even at a slow speed, the injury can be severe. Whiplash is often associated with a neck sprain, but these are different conditions. In whiplash, the damage occurs to ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Specifically, there is damage to the strength or the tendons, bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones.
Symptoms
In whiplash injuries, the common symptoms are neck pain, stiffness, limited neck movement, and headaches. The patient may experience tenderness in the neck and upper arms as the areas become sensitive to touch. There also may be numbness in the arms or other parts of the body due to nerve damage. Additional symptoms include dizziness, fatigue, and blurred vision, and sleep disturbance. If the injury is severe, the patients may also feel irritability, difficulty in concentration, depression, and memory problems. The symptoms show the severity of the damage. So it’s essential to get checked by the doctor immediately after an accident or experience initial symptoms.
Treating Whiplash
When treating whiplash, doctors take a variety of things into consideration. If the whiplash injury is mild, doctors treat it using over-the-counter medication, pain killers, and wearing a collar. If you take pain killers recommended by your doctor, the injury will heal itself. Plus, the use of a neck brace or collar can provide support to your neck. Along with adequate rest, minor whiplash injuries will heal over time. However, if you keep experiencing the symptoms, then the injury is serious.
If you still experience symptoms like pain or stiffness in the neck that goes away and then return or severe neck pain, consult a doctor. Prolonged symptoms like pain, numbness, or tingling in your shoulders, arms, or legs signal serious injury.
The doctor will diagnose the injury by running lab tests like X-rays, CT scans, and MRI. Likewise, he will do a physical examination to check the range of motion in the neck and shoulders to analyze the degree of movement, reflexes, strength, and areas affected by the injury. In treating whiplash, the initial diagnosis will help the doctor decide the severity of the condition. The following treatment will depend on the diagnosis.
The doctor aims to control pain, restore normal range of motion and help the patient get back to normal activities. The doctor may treat the injury in many ways. Firstly, they may recommend rest. Rest allows the body to relax and let the bones back to their original location. Secondly, the doctor may prescribe pain killers. The dosage will vary according to the severity of the injury. The medicine will relieve pain and provide relief to patients. Next, the doctor may inject muscle relaxants to allow the muscles to let loose. This will relieve any tension in muscles and soothe the pain.
Apart from this, when treating whiplash, the doctor may also recommend physical therapy and exercise. In such conditions, the best option for a patient is chiropractic care. Chiropractors specialize in drug-free treatment. They provide optimal care for patients with car wreck injuries. Chiropractic care aims at realigning the body and brings it into its natural position.
Final Words
After an injury, the body can be misaligned, and doctors need to perform chiropractic procedures to return the range of motion to normal. Chiropractors perform spinal alignment, which cures neck and back injuries. They will sometimes use tools to find out where the pain is originating or to adjust to more complex areas. Just a session or two with the chiropractor will ensure improvement in the whiplash injury.
