Let’s face it, unless you are the type of patient who seeks holistic and alternative approaches to healthcare, you end up in the Chiropractor’s office due to some kind of injury. Often, you wind up in our office due to injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Regarding the injuries you may sustain in a motor vehicle accident, I would like to explore what can happen to the human body as it absorbs the impact of another vehicle. Today we will cover headaches and neck pain.
Here is the scenario: You are sitting at a red light, minding your own business, when all of a sudden, a large SUV driving very fast collides with the rear-end of your vehicle. OUCH!!! In a split second, your body absorbs an attenuated amount of force. I say attenuated because newer vehicles are engineered to absorb some of the force of the collision, by the use of crumple zones.
Immediately, your body, as it absorbs the force of the collision. Your head and neck will move forcibly in a forward direction; then as the seat belt recoils and pulls you into the seat, your head and neck will be move in a reverse direction. This type of injury is called an acceleration / deceleration injury.
Lets discuss the injury in it’s totality from head to shoulder. What is happening to the brain while all this is occurring. The brain is bathed in a fluid called cerebrospinal fluid, and is well protected by the calvarium (skull). But, the brain can be injured as it moves inside the skull backward and forwards, striking the inner walls of the skull. Usually, this injury is minor, and will present with a headache, and possibly dizziness. However, depending on the amount of force, it can be very serious, leading to unconsciousness, concussion, or at worst coma or death.
What happens to the neck as all this is occurring. The neck has a very specific and important purpose. It holds the head up in the air. In order to do this, seven very specialized bones in the neck need to work with multiple layers of muscles, and very specific ligamentous attachments in unison to help the body remain pain-free. Then of course, an accident happens. The neck is very strong, but can be injured quite easily. Most patients experience this type of injury as stiffness and pain, making driving a car, sleeping, and normal functioning difficult.
These two injuries often lead you to the Chiropractors office. So how can we as Doctors of Chiropractic help you with these injuries. Doctors of Chiropractic are specifically trained for many years in the biomechanics and treatment of spinal injuries. The restoration of normal function is paramount in the recovery process, only a Chiropractic Physician can help in this process. As a society, we have become so inclined to seek therapy in a pill bottle. What you will inevitably find, this is the wrong path to follow. Unfortunately, medication usage usually leads to more medication usage and doesn’t fix the problem, it actually creates another problem.
In future blog entries, we will explore other injuries to the human body, and other disease states. If you have any questions for our Physicians, please feel free to leave them for us.
