TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A Tampa chiropractor seeks to educate motorists on the possibility that some auto accident injuries may not display symptoms until days, weeks or even months after the incident has taken place. According to Dr. Brian Caez of Caez Chiropractic, this delayed pain response may result in many accident victims failing to seek evaluation and treatment until long after their condition has deteriorated significantly.
Auto accidents in which one vehicle strikes either another vehicle or a stationary object cause thousands of injuries each year in Florida alone. These injuries need not be the result of high-speed collisions. "Even at low speeds, automobiles are so heavy that they transfer a great deal of force and momentum to their occupants when they are forced to stop suddenly," explains Dr. Caez. "An impact from a car going just a few miles per hour can seriously jolt the people inside both vehicles."
The forces conveyed can cause serious damage to the musculoskeletal system. Whiplash is one of the best-known examples of a car accident injury. Whiplash results from the head being thrown forward on impact with the vehicle's safety restraint system, which catches the body and provides resistance, therefore causing the head to rebound back again at high speed. This sharp alternation of extreme forces can cause a subluxation, or a misalignment of the spinal vertebrae in the neck, which in turn can allow discs to bulge outside of their normal position within the spinal column.
Whiplash victims typically experience neck pain, headaches and muscle stiffness. Back pain can also result as the lower spine is twisted unnaturally from the shock of the impact combined with restraint from the safety harness. Chiropractors may employ a combination of mechanical adjustment, massage and other therapies to correct misalignments and relieve back pain or neck pain.
But while many patients experience back pain or neck pain from an auto accident injury right away, many others feel little or no discomfort. Dr. Caez states that this assumption can cause significant problems in the long run. "When people feel okay after an accident, they tend not to seek a health evaluation on the grounds that they are not hurt. In fact, many of them are hurt -- they just don't know it yet." He notes that some subluxations or other musculoskeletal injuries may begin as minor misalignments, only to grow more severe over time.
"I want people to realize that they should get a chiropractic evaluation whenever they have been in a car accident," says Dr. Caez. "Early treatment is critical for even the smallest, least symptomatic car accident injury."
Caez Chiropractic offers massage therapy, spinal decompression, orthotics and physical therapy for the treatment of sports injuries, auto accident injuries and other musculoskeletal problems.