For many people, chiropractic care is safe and appropriate option after a car accident—but the examination comes first.
After a collision, we don’t believe the first question should be:
“How should we adjust you?”
The first question should be:
“What happened to you, and what did the accident affect?”
That’s why we take such a thorough approach before recommending chiropractic care.
Safety Starts With Understanding Your Injuries
A car accident can affect different people in very different ways.
Before recommending care, our doctors want to understand the accident, your health history, your symptoms, and what we’re finding during the examination.
Depending on your individual situation, that may include:
- Range-of-motion testing
- Orthopedic testing
- Neurological testing
- Muscle and spinal evaluation
- Evaluation of areas of pain or restriction
- Digital X-rays when clinically appropriate
We want as complete a picture as reasonably possible before deciding what type of care is appropriate.
We don’t want to guess after an accident.
Why Might X-Rays Be Important?
When clinically appropriate, digital X-rays can give our doctors additional information about the spine and help us evaluate findings that may influence our recommendations.
We take the time to carefully review those images alongside your examination and health history.
Sometimes that information supports moving forward with chiropractic care.
Sometimes it tells us we need to modify how we care for you.
And sometimes it tells us we need more information before proceeding.
All three are valuable answers.
What If Chiropractic Isn’t the Right Place to Start?
We’ll tell you.
If your history, examination, imaging, or symptoms suggest that additional testing or another healthcare provider should be involved, we’ll make that recommendation.
That could mean an MRI or other advanced imaging.
It could mean evaluation by an orthopedic specialist, neurologist, pain management provider, or another healthcare professional.
Sometimes chiropractic care can still be part of your overall recovery while you’re working with another provider.
Other times, another provider needs to take the lead.
Your safety comes before our desire to provide chiropractic care.
Chiropractic Care Can Be Modified After an Injury
Being appropriate for chiropractic care doesn’t mean every patient should receive the same adjustment.
Someone who has just been involved in a collision may need a different approach than someone coming in for routine care.
Our doctors can modify adjusting techniques, positioning, and the overall approach based on your injuries, comfort level, examination findings, imaging, and response to care.
When appropriate, your plan may also incorporate physical therapy, rehabilitation, massage therapy, or other supportive approaches.
We adapt the care to the patient—not the patient to the care.
The Right Care Begins With the Right Evaluation
Chiropractic care can be an appropriate conservative option for many musculoskeletal concerns that occur following an auto accident.
But we don’t determine that simply because someone was hit by another vehicle.
We determine it by listening.
Examining.
Investigating.
And understanding the individual patient sitting in front of us.
If chiropractic care is appropriate, we’ll explain what we recommend and why.
If something else is needed, we’ll explain that too.
That’s what safe chiropractic care after a car accident should look like.
