Chiropractors used to be highly under-appreciated for their ability to treat accident victims. In the past few decades, though, more people have been realizing the healing power of chiropractic treatment. Chiropractors offer a long list of services, many of which could help you heal after an accident.
Of course, the key to a healthy recovery is finding the right chiropractor. 1-800-Injured is attorney and medical service referral network that connects victims with highly skilled professionals located throughout Florida. Learn more about what the right chiropractor can do for you.
What Does a Chiropractor Treat?
When considering a chiropractor’s services, you need to look at the three major categories of treatment. There’s emergency care, rehabilitation, and maintenance. If you’re the victim of an accident, you’re likely to need all three services.
To better understand what chiropractors treat, you need to understand what that treatment involves. They use spinal manipulation and other treatments to fix the alignment of your body. By maneuvering your joints and spine, they can improve the mobility lost after you experienced a traumatic event.
For that reason, victims of car accidents, slip and falls, and other personal injury accidents will often benefit from this type of treatment. With 166,612 Florida car accidents involving injuries in 2017, there are thousands of people each year who should seek treatment through a chiropractor.
Generally, chiropractic treatment is used as a pain relief method for muscle, joint, bone, and connective tissue injuries. It’s often used with more conventional methods of medical care, such as physical rehabilitation. Despite the fact that they’re trained to treat many issues throughout the body, chiropractors are best known for their treatment of back and neck pain.
Whiplash
One of the most common complaints made by car accident victims is whiplash. The injury usually results in chronic and extreme neck pain. However, a chiropractor could give you some relief. An adjustment loosens up your joints and limits the inflammation in your spine. During your appointment, the chiropractor will also discuss lifestyle changes and exercises that will assist you with the recovery process.
Pain Management
For some, frequent chiropractic treatment is a way of managing pain. It’s a healthier form of pain management than the reliance on opiate painkillers, which often results in dependency and negative effects of long-term opiate use. As a natural form of pain management, chiropractic treatment comes with few known negative side effects.
When Should You Start Looking for Chiropractors?
You should begin your search for a chiropractor immediately after your car accident. This is because your injury will only get worse over time. Even if you only have minor pain, you could have a significant injury that spirals into a permanent disability.
By seeing a chiropractor early on, you create a medical history of your injury. For instance, you might have some minor neck pain for the days following your accident. Your visit to a chiropractor gives you a record of your pain and injury. Additionally, the treatment you receive could prevent a more serious issue from developing.
People often underestimate the significance of minor back or neck pain. When left untreated, the injury could take control over your life. You are likely to experience frequent headaches, chronic pain, and more stress. In the long-run, your pain could prevent you from working or enjoying life to the fullest.
How Long Will You Need Treatment?
The length of your treatment depends on your injury, treatment plan, and type of care. Therefore, it’s impossible to say how long your treatment will take.
Your chiropractor will create a long-term treatment plan. While the emergency treatment of your injury may only take a few sessions, you’ll also need rehabilitative care. Attempting to regain your old mobility and heal your injuries is a process that takes months or longer.
After your rehabilitative care is finished, you may also want to participate in maintenance care. Although an injury can heal, there’s no way of erasing the injury completely. To prevent the injury from returning, you need maintenance. Fortunately, this type of treatment is not frequent and could only require one session every few months. As a general rule, the longer you receive treatment, the more time you will take between sessions.
The Cost of Chiropractic Treatment
Not all individuals choose to see chiropractors after accidents. In some cases, the cost of the treatment makes the injured parties reluctant to seek treatment. But you shouldn’t let the cost be the only thing stopping you from getting treatment.
There are several reasons for this. For one, there’s the fact that treatment saves you money. When an injury goes untreated, it becomes worse and costs you more money in medical bills. Something that could have been treated with a few months of chiropractic care may require surgery.
In some cases, your insurance company may cover your treatment. Before making a decision about treatment, look into your health insurance policy. It may cover services for a set period of time.
Finally, there’s the fact that your treatment may not be your financial burden. Florida drivers must carry a minimum of $10,000 in PIP insurance, which will cover your medical bills. This $10,000 is often insufficient to cover the cost of recovery. If you were a victim of a personal injury accident, the party responsible for your accident could be liable for your medical costs. This includes any visits to the chiropractor. To hold the other party responsible, you must file a personal injury claim and seek damages for your accident-related expenses. You also need to prove that their negligence caused your injuries.
How to Find an Experienced Professional
No matter where in Florida you live, there’s a chiropractor near you. The hard part isn’t finding a chiropractor — it’s finding an experienced and qualified professional that can give you the support that you need.
Before you pick your chiropractor, do some research. Ask around for referrals and look into the credentials of all the local specialists. Additionally, read reviews and find out what people have to say about their experiences.
In an effort to simplify the process, 1-800-Injured has put together a network of experienced chiropractors. We want you to be able to focus your time and energy on recovering, so we’ve simplified the process. When you work with us, we connect you with a specialist who wants to help you be on the road to recovery. If you’re ready to get started, contact us today.