I was rear-ended, sitting at a stoplight. I had absolutely no pain, but all of the bones and my neck were aligned differently afterwards. I happen to be married to a chiropractor, so it was pretty easy for me to get my neck checked out.
I've seen tissue damage from auto accidents go untreated for 20 years. Yes, 20! We often get them when their hands are going to sleep or the headaches become so unbearable that they come into the office.
When we shoot x-rays on a person and we see damage that looks exactly like auto accident damage, we can generally guess the date of the accident within about five years.
So here's the deal about healing.
Accident - 72 hours =injury inflammation
72 hrs. - 14 weeks. = repair (scar tissue is being laid down )
14 weeks - 12 months = long term tissue remodeling
12 months + is chronic. We are going to be friends for a long time.
It is always to your advantage to get any potential injuries looked at, evaluated, and treated as soon as possible.
25 years of research has taught us a lot.
-Any accident over 5 mph has some soft tissue damage. You may or may not feel pain.
- 7.5 YEARS after an accident
48% of people had mild symptoms
21% had lifestyle altering symptoms
2% had severe problems
- It takes 2 years for whiplash injuries to stabilize
- 42% of whiplash injured people develop chronic low back pain 10.8 YEARS after their initial injury.
- Healing doesn't occur properly without good motion. Early, persistent motion is critical. The AMA knew this back in 1958.
- Chiropractic spinal adjusting has been shown to be significantly superior to physical therapy mobilizations. (Lancet, 1991)
- Manual manipulative therapy for the treatment of neck pain has been shown to be significantly superior to pain medicines and to exercise. (Annals of Internal Medicine, 2002)
If you are in an accident, don't wait to get it looked at, or expect it to go away.
Once there is tissue damage, your body will deal with it, the best it can. It will heal, but how it heals will be determined on what you do within the first year.
If you want to talk about any injuries, accident related or not, just call 801-896-3259. Or send me a quick email.
Docaltman (at) gmail (dot) com