Car Accidents and Herniated Discs (Everything You Need to Know)

Car accidents can cause many problems, including unwanted pain and injuries. Often a herniated disc results in discs shifting and slipping out of alignment from the impact of a car accident. Herniated discs often result in ruptures, causing nerve injuries and pain, along with weakness and even tingling (the sensation of pins and needles).

To determine the cause of your pain, your chiropractor will first find the source of your injury and develop an effective, customized care plan. Often chiropractic care is the ideal treatment for a herniated disc injury, followed up by physical therapy if needed to strengthen the injury.

Auto Accidents and Herniated Discs

A bulging or herniated disc results from trauma to the connective tissue between your vertebrae. Your vertebrae are vertically aligned, separated by discs designed to absorb the force and friction of spinal movements. Because car accidents occur suddenly with unexpected force, the body is unable to maintain the proper position and alignment of the vertebrae and discs.

During an automobile accident, one or more disc may slip, resulting in a herniated disc, also known as a slipped disc. With the disc out of alignment, the nerves are under pressure from the herniated disc and sometimes leaking spinal fluid which causes pain. Herniated discs can occur at any point on the spine, from the neck to the lower back.

Chiropractic Care for Herniated or Bulging Disc Injuries

A Doctor of Chiropractic is trained and experienced in the treatment of back pain following an auto accident. Often, even minor accidents provide enough force to result in spinal injuries, disrupting vertebrae and disc alignment, resulting in pain and difficulty. Your chiropractor can diagnose your injury and develop a treatment plan to heal your back and relieve your discomfort with the goal to return the herniated disc into proper alignment, relieving your pain.

Chiropractic care for a herniated disc begins with a thorough physical exam to determine the location and severity of your injury. With the information gathered from the exam, a customized treatment plan is developed for you to decrease inflammation, correct the injury, restore alignment, and relieve your pain. Options for chiropractic treatment to help you recover quickly and completely include:

• Chiropractic Adjustment – Drug-free, non-surgical chiropractic spinal manipulation for herniated discs works to restore proper spinal alignment through strategically applied pressure designed to return your spinal vertebrae and discs to their proper positions.
• Spinal decompression – Spinal decompression works to improve alignment helping your nervous system to reset itself and eliminate or reduce pain through by relieving pressure on your nerve roots.
• Massage – Massage helps to stimulate or restore blood flow to injured areas as well as encourage lymphatic drainage, which improves mobility while reducing pain, swelling, and inflammation. Massage also helps to reduce stress following a car accident.
• Physical Therapy – Stretches, exercises, mobilizations are all techniques of physical therapy to help heal damaged tissue as well as restore mobility, flexibility, and strength to your shoulder area.
• Pain Management – Chiropractic treatment also includes several non-invasive pain management, like Electric Stimulation Therapy, which utilizes electrical currents to relieve pain and encourage healing without the use of pain medication.

County Line Services for Herniated Disc Injuries

Whether you feel pain or not following a car accident, you should immediately visit one of County Line’s five convenient South Florida locations. At County Line Chiropractic, our mission is to help our patients heal naturally through various treatment options.

Since we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution, we take another procedure:

1. Customized Care Plan – We combine your medical history, physical exam, and digital scans to create a customized plan. Our first step is to analyze the herniated disc injury and symptoms to correctly treat the injury in an all-natural way, and not mask the injury with medication.
2. Quick Pain Relief – Includes non-invasive pain relief through our effective chiropractic care: stretches, massages, and other adjustments.
3. Digital X-rays/ MRI – With our state-of-the-art technology, both X-rays and MRI’s can accurately diagnose the herniated disc. Both tests are pain-free and quick!

After a car accident, call on the team at County Line Chiropractic Medical and Rehab to find the ideal solution for you and your injury and get the pain relief you need.