Car accident
You’re going to want to see this.
Here’s what happens to a person’s neck after a car accident.
We recently had 2 two patients that had been in car accidents. Both accidents were under 30mph – one was rear ended at a stop and the other was hit on the passenger side while turning. Both patients left their respective accidents with minor injuries (stiffness, neck/shoulder irritation, and low back pain). Here are their before/after accident x-ray comparisons:
Starting with Patient A:
The image on the left side is the person’s neck when they first came into the office BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. The image on the right is after the accident.
What we’re looking at are the yellow lines drawn down the backs of the vertebras. Collectively, we call these lines George’s line. This line should be nice and smooth without any disruptions or “breaks” in it. If there are breaks in George’s line, this would indicate ligament instability.
As you can see on the left side. This person’s neck has a nice smooth curve. But on the right image, after the car accident, there are two breaks in George’s line. The measurements indicate how much instability there is between the segments. According to the AMA, a patient with a break that is greater than 3.5mm on flexion and extension would be in danger of permanent impairment. Luckily, this patient did not fall into this category.
However, as we can see, the patient did sustain 2 new breaks in George’s line. She was rear ended at a stop light. She reported soreness in her neck, shoulders, ribs, and a headache after the accident. In fact, by the time she came into the office, she stated she was starting to feel better.
This is the thought process of most people who are in minor accidents. They may get a little banged up but the pain goes away and people forget or think everything is okay. But THESE unstable ligaments in the neck are the cause of neck pain, shoulder pain, or migraines in the future!
If there is ligament laxity, that means this vertebra moves too much! Excessive movement causes friction between the soft tissue and neck.Think the discs, nerves, or between the bones. When these things rub together, this causes inflammation and pain.
Now, think about how many times you use your neck every day – that’s with movement or static positions. It’s a lot. Over time, the soft tissues start degenerating and cause that headache that “randomly,” started out of no where.
This is illustrated by this patient’s low back images.
You can see perfect alignment on the left image and 4 new breaks in George’s Line on the right image. She didn’t report low back pain until about a month after her accident. This is not surprising though given the instability in her low back.
Person 2:
She was hit on the passenger side while turning left. She was slamming her breaks while she was hit but could not report how fast the other driver was going. After the accident, she reported neck tension. She reported having some NK and SH pain when she was walking and carrying her purse on her shoulder.
She went from having one break to four breaks in George’s line after the accident.
Here are her low back films. She also started feeling low back pain a few weeks after the accident.
Although she had existing breaks in George’s line prior to the accident, we can see the breaks have gotten larger.
Both these patients are undergoing laser therapy treatment in our office in conjunction with chiropractic treatment. At Anatomy, we practice low force chiropractic specialties called Atlas Orthogonal and Activator. Our laser is the Erchonia laser, the only laser with FDA approval to treat chronic neck and low back pain. They are well on their way to recovery! We will take updated x-rays at the end of their treatment plans to assess their ligament stability.
We hope this video illustrates the importance of getting checked out by your trusted chiropractor after an accident. This preventative treatment can save you from headaches, migraines, shoulder pain, neck pain, or even dizziness in the future.
PLEASE share this article and video with your friends and family! Or if you are looking for a San Diego chiropractor, we are centrally located in Hillcrest. We are also the only board certified upper cervical chiropractors in the area.
We, the patients who gave me permission to use their films and us, at Anatomy Chiropractic, believe education is crucial for prevention. Let’s have a better tomorrow, starting today!
