Chiropractic Care for Better Headache Management After a Car Accident
Headaches after a car accident are very common. They are often a result of direct trauma to the head and neck or whiplash resulting in muscle stiffness and pain. Knowing what to do when you’re experiencing headaches can help you get relief fast instead of having to suffer through. If they are left untreated, they can become chronic and slowly degrade your quality of life. Seeking chiropractic care immediately after an auto accident can help you feel your best and prevent chronic long term issues with headaches and other symptoms related to a car injury.
Why am I experiencing headaches after a car accident?
There are a lot of possible factors that lead to experiencing headaches after a car accident. When the head and neck experience impact from directly hitting an object with your skull, or indirectly from whiplash, it causes strain and inflammation within the delicate tissues. Some of most common issues include:
- Neck, shoulder, and mid-back pain
- Excessive stiffness with normal neck and shoulder movement
- Tingling, numbness, sharp shooting pain or weakness in the arms
- Spine misalignment- often the key issue that needs to be addressed
Ultimately, these can all trigger the onset of headaches. Symptoms can also be exacerbated by less obvious issues such as stress and anxiety related to your recent car accident.
Additionally, if you were already dealing with issues like poor posture, insufficient diet, bad sleeping habits, dehydration, a sedentary lifestyle, an upper body injury, and other imbalances- a car accident may have just been the tipping point for the onset of your headaches. A car accident combined with any of the pre-existing issues can trigger migraines, tension headaches, and other chronic head pains.
How headaches are affecting your quality of life
If you’ve ever experienced a headache, you know that it’s no fun and they’re best to avoid if at all possible. Some of the ways headaches affect your normal daily routine include:
- Trouble concentrating and being productive
- Triggering depression, anxiety, and/or unnecessary stress
- Vision problems
- Unable to get restful sleep at night- exacerbating the issue in an endless cycle
- Upper body discomfort and stiffness due to compensatory movements
- Avoiding activities that you normally find enjoyable
- Lost work or recreational days
- Poor quality of life
Chiropractic care after a car accident
The sooner you seek proper medical care after a car accident, the better your chances are to quickly treat or even prevent nasty side effects like headaches. Seeking help from a chiropractor that specializes in car accident, expert-oriented field of ChiroPractic Biophysics (CBP) is your best option. The root cause of injury and pain, like headaches, following a car accident all starts in the spine. If the spine is misaligned, it blocks normal nerve energy and leads to pain sensitivity and trouble completing normal bodily functions. CBP practitioners are experts in restoring spine alignment to help you recover as effectively as efficiently as possible.
Spine alignment and CBP care
The spine is an intricate system that involves a lot of moving parts. A CBP expert can recognize small imbalances in the spine that might otherwise go unnoticed. When the primary goal is to realign the spine, neural health can be restored and the body can start properly healing itself. Good spine alignment taps into the body’s innate healing capabilities to promote true sustainable recovery. For you, that means fewer aches and pains so that you can get back to whatever it is that fulfills you. That’s why you should go to a chiropractor after a car accident.
Treatment options for addressing spine misalignment after a car accident include:
- Spine manipulation to restore balance
- Recommendations for home exercise and stretching to promote better spine stability and alignment
- Soft tissue massage to reduce pain, stiffness, and encourage spine alignment
- Lifestyle recommendations to optimize healing
- Modalities for pain relief such as ice, heat, traction, electrical stimulation, tapping, and more
Feel your best after an auto accident
Spine alignment is of particular importance to the neck and head. This delicate area houses the brain, brain stem, and cervical spinal cord. Any imbalances in this area can affect everything from simply breathing and digesting to more complex activities like operating a computer and participating in sports. Regardless, optimizing the function of the neck and minimizing or preventing headaches all starts with good spine alignment.
Don’t let any injuries or symptoms following a car accident have a long term effect on your life. Finding a CBP practitioner like the experts at Symmetry Health Center should be your first step after a car accident. Seek care immediately and get the relief and care you deserve. Get in touch with Dr. Cynthia Boyd and her entire team at Symmetry Health Center in Oakland and Alameda, CA to see what options are best for you to get started.
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