Patients
First Visit With Us
Patients will receive their entry paperwork via email prior to their first visit. By completing this basic registration form in advance, we can expedite the appointment process and avoid unnecessary delays.
FAQs
Mechanisms
Yes, even low-speed car accidents can cause significant injuries, and the effects can be long-lasting. Common injuries include:
- Whiplash: This occurs when the body is abruptly stopped but the neck moves forward and backward, straining the ligaments and discs in the neck and spine. Symptoms can include tension headaches, neck stiffness, and radiating pain into the shoulders and back.
- Internal Organ Injuries: The chest cavity and organs it protects can be bruised or damaged in a crash, but the symptoms may not be immediately visible, so a medical check-up is important.
- Spinal Injuries: The spine absorbs a significant amount of the crash impact, leading to injuries such as sprains, strains, and even broken vertebrae, especially in high-speed collisions.
- Knee and Ankle Injuries: These can occur if the knees hit the dashboard or steering column, or if the seat moves or the car interior compresses during the crash.
Although the damage to the vehicle may seem minor, it’s important to seek medical attention after any car accident to rule out or treat any hidden injuries.
Patient Treatment and Recovery After a Car Accident
It’s essential to seek medical attention immediately after any car accident, even if you feel fine. Paramedics and emergency room staff are trained to identify injuries—especially head, neck, and spinal injuries—that may not be immediately apparent but can be serious if left untreated. They will often immobilize the neck and spine to prevent further damage. Even if you don’t experience pain right away, injuries such as internal damage, soft tissue strains, or swelling can develop within hours. Ignoring medical care can not only delay recovery but may also impact any legal claims if you decide to pursue compensation later. After the initial emergency care, follow-up treatments like chiropractic adjustments, pain management, and regular visits to a general practitioner can help manage pain and support long-term recovery.
Prognosis of Car Accident Injuries
To achieve the best possible recovery after a car accident, it’s crucial to follow your doctor’s orders closely and attend all prescribed treatments and follow-up appointments. Open communication with your medical team is key—ensure that they have a clear understanding of the accident and any symptoms you’re experiencing. Reviewing your medical records and providing detailed information about your injuries can help doctors offer the most effective care. While recovery can be slow and painful, especially with pre-existing conditions or soft tissue injuries, the prognosis for neck and spine trauma is generally good if treated promptly. Patience with the healing process and diligent adherence to your treatment plan are essential for a full recovery.
Why Patients Need to See a Doctor
After a Car Accident
After a car accident, it’s crucial to see a doctor as soon as possible, even if you don’t feel injured. High adrenaline levels can mask pain and symptoms immediately following the collision, so injuries like soft tissue damage, internal bruising, or a concussion may not be apparent right away. Once the body has calmed down, aches, pains, and inflammation may surface, indicating injuries that require treatment. Additionally, seeking medical attention is important for any potential legal claims—refusing medical care can complicate filing an insurance claim or seeking compensation later. For the best possible outcome, it’s recommended to consult with a doctor to ensure a thorough evaluation and to document any injuries.
Patient Rights After a Car Accident
After a car accident, regardless of who is at fault, you have several important rights:
- Right to Medical Attention: Every accident victim is entitled to immediate medical care. Even if you feel fine, seeking a medical evaluation is crucial for identifying injuries that may not be immediately obvious, such as soft tissue damage or internal injuries. A medical assessment can also be beneficial for legal purposes if you decide to pursue a claim.
- Right to Information: You have the right to collect contact and insurance information from the other parties involved in the accident. You should also provide your information in return.
- Right to a Wait-and-See Approach: You are not obligated to settle a legal claim immediately after the accident. Allowing time for proper diagnosis and treatment can help ensure a fair settlement, as it allows you to understand the full scope of your injuries and recovery timeline.
- Right to Legal Advocacy: You have the right to consult with an attorney to help navigate any legal matters related to the accident. It’s important to stay actively involved in your case, review medical and police reports, and ensure that all the details are accurate. Discrepancies in reports can affect the outcome of your case, so verifying facts and addressing potential inaccuracies is key to a successful resolution.
- Right to Fair Compensation: As an accident victim, you have the right to pursue compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Consulting with an attorney can help you understand your options and ensure that your rights are protected throughout the legal process.
Myths VS Realities
After a car accident, regardless of who is at fault, you have several important rights:
- Myth: Car accident injuries are proportional to vehicle damage. Reality: There’s no direct correlation. Minor vehicle damage can still result in significant injuries, including neck trauma, even at speeds as low as 5 mph.
- Myth: Men and women are equally likely to suffer neck injuries. Reality: Women are more likely to suffer whiplash due to differences in posture and seating position in cars.
- Myth: No pain immediately after an accident means you’re fine. Reality: Soft tissue injuries, especially neck injuries, may not show symptoms until hours or even days later.
- Myth: No immediate symptoms mean no whiplash. Reality: Whiplash symptoms can appear days or weeks after an accident, even without immediate pain or noticeable injury on MRIs or X-rays.
- Myth: Hands-free devices eliminate the risks of distracted driving. Reality: The real danger is the distraction caused by talking, not the device. It’s safest to avoid talking on the phone while driving.
- Myth: Most accidents don’t happen within 5 miles of home. Reality: Statistically, most accidents do occur close to home, often due to complacency and less caution on familiar roads.
- Myth: Car accidents only cause whiplash, not lower back pain. Reality: Lower back pain is also common, especially in rear and side-impact collisions, as they can stress the spine and pelvis.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help After a Car Accident
Chiropractic care offers several key benefits for car accident recovery:
- Pain Relief: Chiropractic adjustments provide natural, drug-free pain relief by addressing the underlying causes of pain, not just masking symptoms.
- Faster Healing: Chiropractors specialize in soft tissue injuries like whiplash, focusing on healing sore muscles, tender ligaments, and joint dysfunctions. Proper spinal alignment helps speed up recovery.
- Avoiding Surgery: Chiropractic care is a non-invasive alternative that can help patients avoid risky surgeries and reduce the need for pain medication, which can be addictive.
- Long-Term Healing: By ensuring that the spine is properly aligned during the healing process, chiropractors help prevent chronic pain and the long-term discomfort that can result from poorly healed injuries.
- Comprehensive Recovery: Chiropractic care aids in both the physical and emotional recovery from an accident, allowing patients to return to a pain-free life and move past the trauma of the incident.
In short, chiropractic treatment provides a holistic, effective, and safe approach to recovery after a car accident, helping patients heal completely without the reliance on drugs or invasive procedures.
Chiropractic Adjustment & How it Works
A chiropractic adjustment is a gentle, precise movement of a joint or joints performed by a chiropractor to restore normal function and mobility. During an adjustment, the chiropractor will place you in a comfortable position and apply controlled force to the problem area. You may hear a “popping” sound, which is similar to cracking your knuckles. This sound occurs when gas bubbles in the joint are released as the joint is moved, creating a vacuum effect.
The goal of an adjustment is to improve joint function, alleviate pain, and promote healing. Think of it like “knocking the rust off” your joints—restoring their natural movement and allowing the body to heal itself more effectively. Chiropractic adjustments can be particularly beneficial for treating musculoskeletal issues like neck pain, back pain, and whiplash after a car accident.
How quickly will I feel better after a chiropractic adjustment, and what factors affect my recovery time?
Many patients experience a significant reduction in symptoms immediately or shortly after a chiropractic adjustment. However, the response to chiropractic care can vary based on several factors:
- Duration and cause of symptoms: If you’ve had pain for a long time or if the underlying issue has been present for a while, it may take longer to see improvement.
- Severity and number of symptoms: Multiple or more severe symptoms may require more time to resolve.
- Biomechanical dysfunctions: Misalignments or issues with how your body moves can take time to correct.
- Arthritis and previous injuries: Conditions like arthritis or a history of past injuries can slow the healing process.
- Lifestyle factors: Your weight, activity level, stress levels, posture (like sitting for long periods or computer use), and how closely you follow prescribed stretches or exercises all play a role in your recovery.
The goal of chiropractic care is to restore proper movement and function to your body. In many cases, the underlying issue has been present and functioning improperly for much longer than you’ve been experiencing pain. Therefore, it’s normal for it to take some time and effort on your part to see a noticeable reduction or resolution of your symptoms.
Your chiropractor will continually evaluate your progress and may adjust the treatment plan as necessary to ensure the most effective and efficient path to recovery. Open communication with your chiropractor is key—don’t hesitate to ask questions or provide feedback about how you’re feeling throughout the process.
Why do I suddenly feel pain after doing something as simple as getting out of bed or picking up a pen?
This is a common question and often puzzles people, especially when there doesn’t seem to be any obvious cause for the pain. The answer lies in the fact that the body can lose normal function over time, often without causing noticeable symptoms until it reaches a breaking point.
In many cases, pain doesn’t arise from a single, immediate event (like picking up a pen), but from a gradual loss of proper function in the body. The activity that seems to trigger the pain may just be the “final straw” that pushes the body beyond its capacity to adapt, causing a pain signal to be sent. This can happen after months or even years of dysfunction or strain building up.
For example, the pain you feel while getting out of bed or lifting something light may be the result of a series of minor issues that have accumulated over time—poor posture, repetitive movement, or even past injuries. These issues can weaken muscles, joints, or tissues, making them less able to handle everyday tasks. When the body can no longer compensate for these dysfunctions, the pain becomes more noticeable.
So, while the event itself (like picking up a pen) may seem insignificant, the underlying cause—loss of normal function—may have been developing for weeks, months, or even longer. Identifying the true cause of the pain can be challenging, but chiropractic care aims to restore normal function to the body, addressing the root causes rather than just the symptoms.
Mechanisms
Yes, even low-speed car accidents can cause significant injuries, and the effects can be long-lasting. In particular, common injuries include:
- Whiplash: This occurs when the body is abruptly stopped but the neck moves forward and backward, straining the ligaments and discs in the neck and spine. Symptoms can include tension headaches, neck stiffness, and radiating pain into the shoulders and back.
- Internal Organ Injuries: The chest cavity and organs it protects can be bruised or damaged in a crash, but the symptoms may not be immediately visible, so a medical check-up is important.
- Spinal Injuries: The spine absorbs a significant amount of the crash impact, leading to injuries such as sprains, strains, and even broken vertebrae, especially in high-speed collisions.
- Knee and Ankle Injuries: These can occur if the knees hit the dashboard or steering column, or if the seat moves or the car interior compresses during the crash.
Although the damage to the vehicle may seem minor, it’s important to seek medical attention after any car accident to rule out or treat any hidden injuries.
Patient Treatment and Recovery After a Car Accident
It’s essential to seek medical attention immediately after any car accident, even if you feel fine. Paramedics and emergency room staff are trained to identify injuries—especially head, neck, and spinal injuries—that may not be immediately apparent but can be serious if left untreated. They will often immobilize the neck and spine to prevent further damage. Even if you don’t experience pain right away, injuries such as internal damage, soft tissue strains, or swelling can develop within hours. Ignoring medical care can not only delay recovery but may also impact any legal claims if you decide to pursue compensation later. After the initial emergency care, follow-up treatments like chiropractic adjustments, pain management, and regular visits to a general practitioner can help manage pain and support long-term recovery.
Prognosis of Car Accident Injuries
To achieve the best possible recovery after a car accident, it’s crucial to follow your doctor’s orders closely and attend all prescribed treatments and follow-up appointments. Open communication with your medical team is key—ensure that they have a clear understanding of the accident and any symptoms you’re experiencing. Reviewing your medical records and providing detailed information about your injuries can help doctors offer the most effective care. While recovery can be slow and painful, especially with pre-existing conditions or soft tissue injuries, the prognosis for neck and spine trauma is generally good if treated promptly. Patience with the healing process and diligent adherence to your treatment plan are essential for a full recovery.
Why Patients Need to See a Doctor
After a Car Accident
After a car accident, it’s crucial to see a doctor as soon as possible, even if you don’t feel injured. High adrenaline levels can mask pain and symptoms immediately following the collision, so injuries like soft tissue damage, internal bruising, or a concussion may not be apparent right away. Once the body has calmed down, aches, pains, and inflammation may surface, indicating injuries that require treatment. Additionally, seeking medical attention is important for any potential legal claims—refusing medical care can complicate filing an insurance claim or seeking compensation later. For the best possible outcome, it’s recommended to consult with a doctor to ensure a thorough evaluation and to document any injuries.
Patient Rights After a Car Accident
After a car accident, regardless of who is at fault, you have several important rights:
- Right to Medical Attention: Every accident victim is entitled to immediate medical care. Even if you feel fine, seeking a medical evaluation is crucial for identifying injuries that may not be immediately obvious, such as soft tissue damage or internal injuries. A medical assessment can also be beneficial for legal purposes if you decide to pursue a claim.
- Right to Information: You have the right to collect contact and insurance information from the other parties involved in the accident. You should also provide your information in return.
- Right to a Wait-and-See Approach: You are not obligated to settle a legal claim immediately after the accident. Allowing time for proper diagnosis and treatment can help ensure a fair settlement, as it allows you to understand the full scope of your injuries and recovery timeline.
- Right to Legal Advocacy: You have the right to consult with an attorney to help navigate any legal matters related to the accident. It’s important to stay actively involved in your case, review medical and police reports, and ensure that all the details are accurate. Discrepancies in reports can affect the outcome of your case, so verifying facts and addressing potential inaccuracies is key to a successful resolution.
- Right to Fair Compensation: As an accident victim, you have the right to pursue compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Consulting with an attorney can help you understand your options and ensure that your rights are protected throughout the legal process.
Myths VS Realities
After a car accident, regardless of who is at fault, you have several important rights:
- Myth: Car accident injuries are proportional to vehicle damage. Reality: There’s no direct correlation. Minor vehicle damage can still result in significant injuries, including neck trauma, even at speeds as low as 5 mph.
- Myth: Men and women are equally likely to suffer neck injuries. Reality: Women are more likely to suffer whiplash due to differences in posture and seating position in cars.
- Myth: No pain immediately after an accident means you’re fine. Reality: Soft tissue injuries, especially neck injuries, may not show symptoms until hours or even days later.
- Myth: No immediate symptoms mean no whiplash. Reality: Whiplash symptoms can appear days or weeks after an accident, even without immediate pain or noticeable injury on MRIs or X-rays.
- Myth: Hands-free devices eliminate the risks of distracted driving. Reality: The real danger is the distraction caused by talking, not the device. It’s safest to avoid talking on the phone while driving.
- Myth: Most accidents don’t happen within 5 miles of home. Reality: Statistically, most accidents do occur close to home, often due to complacency and less caution on familiar roads.
- Myth: Car accidents only cause whiplash, not lower back pain. Reality: Lower back pain is also common, especially in rear and side-impact collisions, as they can stress the spine and pelvis.
How Chiropractic Care Can Help After a Car Accident
Chiropractic care offers several key benefits for car accident recovery:
- Pain Relief: Chiropractic adjustments provide natural, drug-free pain relief by addressing the underlying causes of pain, not just masking symptoms.
- Faster Healing: Chiropractors specialize in soft tissue injuries like whiplash, focusing on healing sore muscles, tender ligaments, and joint dysfunctions. Proper spinal alignment helps speed up recovery.
- Avoiding Surgery: Chiropractic care is a non-invasive alternative that can help patients avoid risky surgeries and reduce the need for pain medication, which can be addictive.
- Long-Term Healing: By ensuring that the spine is properly aligned during the healing process, chiropractors help prevent chronic pain and the long-term discomfort that can result from poorly healed injuries.
- Comprehensive Recovery: Chiropractic care aids in both the physical and emotional recovery from an accident, allowing patients to return to a pain-free life and move past the trauma of the incident.
In short, chiropractic treatment provides a holistic, effective, and safe approach to recovery after a car accident, helping patients heal completely without the reliance on drugs or invasive procedures.
Chiropractic Adjustment & How it Works
A chiropractic adjustment is a gentle, precise movement of a joint or joints performed by a chiropractor to restore normal function and mobility. During an adjustment, the chiropractor will place you in a comfortable position and apply controlled force to the problem area. You may hear a “popping” sound, which is similar to cracking your knuckles. This sound occurs when gas bubbles in the joint are released as the joint is moved, creating a vacuum effect.
The goal of an adjustment is to improve joint function, alleviate pain, and promote healing. Think of it like “knocking the rust off” your joints—restoring their natural movement and allowing the body to heal itself more effectively. Chiropractic adjustments can be particularly beneficial for treating musculoskeletal issues like neck pain, back pain, and whiplash after a car accident.
How quickly will I feel better after a chiropractic adjustment, and what factors affect my recovery time?
Many patients experience a significant reduction in symptoms immediately or shortly after a chiropractic adjustment. However, the response to chiropractic care can vary based on several factors:
- Duration and cause of symptoms: If you’ve had pain for a long time or if the underlying issue has been present for a while, it may take longer to see improvement.
- Severity and number of symptoms: Multiple or more severe symptoms may require more time to resolve.
- Biomechanical dysfunctions: Misalignments or issues with how your body moves can take time to correct.
- Arthritis and previous injuries: Conditions like arthritis or a history of past injuries can slow the healing process.
- Lifestyle factors: Your weight, activity level, stress levels, posture (like sitting for long periods or computer use), and how closely you follow prescribed stretches or exercises all play a role in your recovery.
The goal of chiropractic care is to restore proper movement and function to your body. In many cases, the underlying issue has been present and functioning improperly for much longer than you’ve been experiencing pain. Therefore, it’s normal for it to take some time and effort on your part to see a noticeable reduction or resolution of your symptoms.
Your chiropractor will continually evaluate your progress and may adjust the treatment plan as necessary to ensure the most effective and efficient path to recovery. Open communication with your chiropractor is key—don’t hesitate to ask questions or provide feedback about how you’re feeling throughout the process.
Why do I suddenly feel pain after doing something as simple as getting out of bed or picking up a pen?
This is a common question and often puzzles people, especially when there doesn’t seem to be any obvious cause for the pain. The answer lies in the fact that the body can lose normal function over time, often without causing noticeable symptoms until it reaches a breaking point.
In many cases, pain doesn’t arise from a single, immediate event (like picking up a pen), but from a gradual loss of proper function in the body. The activity that seems to trigger the pain may just be the “final straw” that pushes the body beyond its capacity to adapt, causing a pain signal to be sent. This can happen after months or even years of dysfunction or strain building up.
For example, the pain you feel while getting out of bed or lifting something light may be the result of a series of minor issues that have accumulated over time—poor posture, repetitive movement, or even past injuries. These issues can weaken muscles, joints, or tissues, making them less able to handle everyday tasks. When the body can no longer compensate for these dysfunctions, the pain becomes more noticeable.
So, while the event itself (like picking up a pen) may seem insignificant, the underlying cause—loss of normal function—may have been developing for weeks, months, or even longer. Identifying the true cause of the pain can be challenging, but chiropractic care aims to restore normal function to the body, addressing the root causes rather than just the symptoms.
Ready to Take Next Steps?
We are here to help you every step of the way, our chiropractor has assisted thousands of individuals in San José and the surrounding areas in finding pain relief and recovering from auto accident injuries.