CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOR AUTO MOBILE ACCIDENTS
Today in the United States, auto accidents are the number one contributor to chronic and spinal pain. Out of the 6 million auto accidents that take place in the U.S annually, about 3 million people suffer injuries. The majority of these injuries are whiplash- type of injuries. Out of the 3 million injuries, about one million develop chronic pain.
Chiropractic care has proved time and again to be highly effective as an intervention method or patients following auto accidents. According to a journal of orthopedic medicine published in 1999, it was shown that out of the superiority of chiropractic care for the patients who suffered from long term effects of whiplash, 74 to 93 percent of the patients with chronic whiplash were likely to benefit from chiropractic care. Many professionals also agree that chiropractic care would be highly beneficial particularly following an accident of any sort
Auto mobile accidents in California
The state of California has been ranked as the most dangerous state for road users with regard to automobile accidents in the United States. In 2009, the state saw 3071 fatalities of traffic in 2816 fatal accidents. It has also been shown that road accidents in California are the leading causes of accidental deaths for those under the age of 34. One of the roads in the stat has also been ranked as one of the most dangerous roads in the world.
A majority of accidents involve the single vehicle with drivers under the influence of alcohol. In 2009, 30 percent (856) of the accidents in California were fueled by the problem of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Injuries related to vehicle accidents
According to the national highway traffic safety administration report, about 5,500,000 Americans experienced injuries related to motto vehicle crashes in 1995. In 1999, an estimated 6,289,000 car accidents were reported with about 3.4 million injuries and 41, 345 deaths in auto accidents. According to studies, it was also shown that there is a three times increased probability of developing neck pains for those injured in motor vehicle crash 7 years later, where 39 percent of those injured in rear end motor vehicle tend to experience chronic pain 7 years after the accident.
Following the accident, the sot tissues tend to experience the primary injury. The initial injury also results in increased flexibility of the injured joints. These injuries can not be identified using the available imaging methods, and can result in a good percentage of those with chronic symptoms, which become chronic with time due to clinical instability.
Injuries to the soft tissues of the neck as a result of motor vehicle crash are on the rise in north America. These can lead to substantial levels of disablement, even following rear- end collisions that may appear innocuous at the period of the crash. Whiplash, which is an injury to the neck may result to physical and psychological problems for victims as well as financial burdens.
Injuries to the spine bring about a cycle of degeneration that result in nerve damage. According to research, permanent scar tissues form if left uncorrected. These damages may begin within two weeks following the accident.
In 2 to 3 months, 75 percent of the patients with whiplash injuries heal spontaneously. However, these are patients who sustained minor injuries to their ligaments and muscles, but none to their zygophyseal or disc joints. 10 percent of patients with whiplash were shown to develop constant severe indefinite neck pains while 1 percent of those in the entire population experience chronic neck pains as a result of whiplash injuries and 0.4 percent have severe neck pains.
About 25 percent of patients with whiplash injuries, who injured their zygapophyseal joints, alar ligaments or intervertebral discs progress to chronic symptoms.
Following a period of two years (follow up)
- 44 percent of patients, who initially presented with only symptoms, had residual complaints,
- 81 percent of patients with initial symptoms and physical findings were symptomatic,
- 90 percent of those with neurologic involvement were symptomatic,
Women, who are most vulnerable in automobile accident, are likely to suffer long consequences from injuries.
Rear end collisions
Extension acceleration whiplash injuries are most likely to occur as a result of rear end collisions, and are considered to result in the greatest damage.
Head rotations at the moment of impact result in increased injuries on the both sides the head turned.
The lack of awareness (being caught unaware) before the impact aggravates the prognosis. Moreover, the injury would be compounded by the presence of a degenerative disc disease of the spine or degenerative diseases of the disc (s) where tissues tend to become inelastic an easily torn in advanced age.
Chiropractic
According to a good number of studies, the overuse of pain pills has been linked to kidney failure. Drug business has also become one of the most profitable business in the united states of America, where 50 percent of the drugs in the world are consumed in the U.S.
As an alternative, chiropractic has proved to be a much reliable method with no side effects or negative effects to the body. This method is based on two reality facts, these being;
- That the body is a self regulating, self- healing organism,
- That the nervous system is the master system and controller of the body,
93 percent of patients improved following chiropractic treatment. From the retrospective study, the results suggest that positive results can occur in well above 90 percent of patients undergoing this form of treatment for chronic `whiplash’ injury’. According to another retrospective study from the journal injury (1996), it was shown that 26 out of 28 patients (93 percent) who suffered from chronic whiplash syndrome benefited from chiropractic treatment.
This was also supported by a controlled experiment and clinical trials, which gave evidence that early and controlled mobilization tends to be superior to immobilization for musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries.
Chiropractic adjustments
The controlled movement allows the injured tissue to heal quicker and better. These movements improve fluid exchange of the disc and synovial fluid thus reducing pain and joint degeneration. Simply stated, the controlled movements initiate a neurological sequence of events that result in the inhibition of pain.
References
Conlin a, bhogal s, sequeira k, teasell r (2005). “treatment of whiplash-associated disorders–part i: non-invasive interventions”. Pain res manag 10 (1): 21–32. Pmid 15782244.
hurwitz el, carragee ej, van der velde g et al. (2008). “treatment of neck pain: noninvasive interventions: results of the bone and joint decade 2000–2010 task force on neck pain and its associated disorders”. Spine 33 (4 suppl): s123–52.
villanueva-russell y (february 2005). “evidence-based medicine and its implications for the profession of chiropractic”. Soc sci med 60 (3): 545–61.
U.s. national highway traffic safety administration, traffic safety facts, annual. See also <http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot
.gov/cats/index.aspx>.
Links
http://www.ots.ca.gov/media_and_research/data_and_statistics.asp
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