After any crash, it is recommended to visit the ER to be sure you do not suffer from any life threatening traumas like broken bones, a perforated lung, or internal bleeding. This, you see, is what ER physicians specialize in. Soft tissue traumas are very slight and can be easily overlooked in an X-ray whenever you do not have the suitable training to discover them.

As long as there is no immediate threat to your life, the physician is more than happy to send you along on the highway with some pain medications.

After an accident, schedule an appointment; If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident you will need to make an appointment for a brief, but thorough, examination. Often, individuals involved in motor vehicle accidents experience minimal or no symptoms for the first few weeks and even months. It's important to not only receive immediate and appropriate treatment for any injuries sustained, but also to document the extent of the injuries, if present.

Failure to obtain a timely evaluation or appropriate treatment for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident may negate your ability to receive monetary compensation for any future medical bills resulting from the accident, negate your ability to receive pain and suffering settlements, and negate compensation for work loss.

And, when the pain does not depart, you generally visit your family physician because that is the physician you have always visited when you did not feel well.

What are the stages of recovery from whiplash injury?
The recovery phase proceeds in a natural sequence. The first stage of recovery is to relieve your pain, and support or protect the injured area. Treatment then shifts to restoring normal movement and position of the spinal vertebrae, and healing the injured muscles and ligaments as completely as possible. Attention to the soft tissues is critical to insure that the affected nerves heal properly.

As the recovery phase proceeds, the treatment frequency usually decreases. Nevertheless, your chiropractor will continue to monitor the healing process for evidence of full recovery, or, in some cases, the development of chronic problems.

In the early stages of recovery it is difficult to know whether an individual will again completely recover or develop chronic problems. This is why you are likely to be under careful observation for at least six months following a whiplash type injury.

Understanding your injury and properly treating it can be complicated, but your chiropractor is well trained to help you. Make it a point to consult your chiropractor as soon as possible after any type of injury.

How long will it take for me to recover from my whiplash injury?
It is nearly impossible to predict the length of treatment for whiplash injury because there are so many variables involved. If the whiplash is due to an automobile accident, the speed, direction, and angle of the impact will affect the type and severity of an injury. In order to assess the extent of your injuries, your chiropractor might ask some of the following questions: Did you have time to brace yourself for the impact? Were you wearing a seatbelt? Were you wearing it properly? Where were you sitting in the car? Where did the other car hit the car you were in? Can you recall how your posture was at the moment of impact?

Some general considerations that also affect the length and speed of your recovery are your age, general health, spinal health, desire to get well, and length of time before seeking chiropractic care.

According to the Insurance Research Council, nearly 1/3 of all claimants injured in motor vehicle accidents (MVA's) seek treatment from Chiropractors. This is an impressive number given that the National Safety Council (NSC) has determined there to be more than 12 million MVA's annually involving more than 20 million vehicles.

The reason individuals like yourself choose chiropractic care for treatment of injuries sustained in MVA's is simple - chiropractic care is exceptional in the treatment of soft tissue injuries, especially of the spine. Since the most common injuries associated with MVA's are sprains and strains of the spinal muscles and ligaments, it's only natural that chiropractic be the treatment of choice.

Your family physician may have no idea how to diagnose, let alone treat soft tissue traumas. They think your discomfort must be a ripped muscle or something altogether dissimilar and your body will take care of itself. This is partly true, a lot of of the time our bodies may take care of traumas only in a auto crash you are subjected to forces upon your body contrary to what nature planned us to withstand. (Some reports have established the force on your body in a 5 miles per hour accident is the same as what your body would go through if a sack of cement was dropped on you from a two story house!)

This is where the hidden auto crash injuries crop up. They're really structural troubles in your neck and back that are easily perceptible in an X-ray to somebody disciplined to do so.