Injured in an Auto Accident?
You've seen the billboards. "Such and such got me $800 billion dollars." They always portray the client smiling. The sad truth is that person had to suffer immensely, losing significant quality of life, to "win" that settlement. They are left with huge medical bills and lifetime pain management. What they don't have is correction to the damaged parts of their spine as a result of the trauma. Why? Because they went to pain management — not health care.
Health is More Than Just Feeling Good
"Feel" is a dangerous 4-letter word. You can feel good and be dying of cancer. When you have been injured in an auto accident, it is usually the spine that suffers the most. Ligaments get sprained. Tendons and muscles get strained. Those structures scream the loudest. But you know what doesn't always have immediate symptoms? Damage to the spine, its alignment, and its supportive structures.
You can pursue all the massage and physical therapy you want. Those modalities never correct the spinal alignment issues that create a lifetime of degeneration and loss of quality of life. Subluxations formed after an auto accident are some of the most destructive because they were formed under trauma. That trauma has affected more than the bones — it has created weakness in the foundational structures of the spine.
Why is chiropractic best for auto accidents? Because chiropractic corrects the subluxations and helps the body heal the underlying weakness. That healing restores alignment and motion. Think of it like having an alignment done on your car — except what we're aligning is the structure your entire nervous system depends on.
You Can Never Start Too Early
In this case, we saw a 64-year-old female who was involved in a rear-impact MVA. The challenge when treating someone older after an MVA is that underlying spinal degeneration already exists. That subluxation degeneration creates weakness — and when you traumatize existing weakness, that area is injured far worse than the stronger, healthier areas of the spine.
By God's grace, she had been receiving sporadic chiropractic care before the accident, so she was in decent shape before suffering the injuries. Looking at her before and after X-rays, the improvement in alignment is significant. She gained 13 degrees of better curvature. Her forward head posture was reduced, taking significant pressure off her neck muscles. Because we corrected just these 2 factors, she gained better neck movement than she had before the accident. Yes — the neck pain, paresthesias, and headaches resolved. At her age, with advanced degeneration already present, the improvement in spinal alignment is a testament to the innate healing ability of the body.
The Moral of the Story
You should be checked for subluxations as part of your regular health plan. Don't wait for a health emergency. Correcting subluxations ensures a strong brain–body connection, promoting perfect expression of your Innate Intelligence. That prepares you to deal with the trauma of an accident. When the spine is in good alignment, it is far better prepared to adapt to stress — and recover from it.
That's why principled, subluxation-based chiropractic is the best care after an auto accident — and the best prevention against the long-term consequences of one.