Treating Lower Back Pain after a Car Accident

Jul 16, 2021

treating-lower-back-pain-after-a-car-accident
When most people think of car accident injuries, they imagine scrapes, bruises, broken bones, and even issues with the head and neck. However, lower back pain is also just as common of an injury after a car accident. You may not recognize right away that the lower back pain you are experiencing is directly related to how your body was negatively impacted by being in a car accident. That is why it’s important to visit a car accident doctor after an accident, even if it seemed minor. A chiropractor in Jonesboro who specializes in car accident injuries can assess you for damage after the car accident and help identify potential causes for pain before you even start to experience the symptoms.

How a Car Accident Can Cause Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain and injuries after a car accident can sometimes go unnoticed for hours or even days after the wreck. This is because your body is flooded with adrenaline in the immediate aftermath, which can mask pain and other symptoms. Shock and stress following a car accident can also keep you from recognizing how much pain you might be experiencing. Lower back pain can develop because of damage to the spine as well as to the muscles in your lower back. When a vehicle collides with yours, the force of impact can jostle you around and cause your body to strain out of normal position. When this happens, you may develop a misalignment in your spine or a spinal disc may slip or bulge out of place. This can put pressure on nearby nerves and cause you pain and discomfort.

Understanding Sciatica

Sciatica is the term for a specific type of lower back pain you can experience after a car accident or any type of injury to the lower back. When a misalignment of the vertebrae or spinal disc occurs in the lower back, this can put pressure on the sciatic nerve, which is where sciatica gets its name. The sciatic nerve is located near the base of your spine and is what sends signals through your buttocks, hips, legs, all the way to your toes. When your sciatic nerve is aggravated or pressured, it can send uncomfortable pain signals through your lower back and into your legs. Lower back pain after a car accident can be a combination of sciatica and the strain of your muscles that support your spine and posture in your lower back.

Experiencing Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident

If you have lower back pain after a car accident, it will help your doctor to know where it occurs, for how long, and the severity. For example, it helps to know if your lower back pain is located in and around the spinal area or in more of the musculature in your lower back. Oftentimes, you may experience pain in both of these areas after a car accident. Your doctor will want to know when you first noticed the pain and whether or not it goes away or is continuous. When your doctor asks about the severity of your lower back pain, they will want to know whether or not it gets worse with certain movements and whether it feels like throbbing, aching, or stabbing pain.

Diagnosing Sciatica After a Car Accident

Understanding how you experience lower back pain can help your car accident chiropractor in Jonesboro to diagnose your injury after a car accident. When it comes to lower back pain, your doctor may want to run diagnostic imaging tests like an X-ray or CT scan to rule out other injuries as well. Your chiropractor will perform a physical assessment of your spine, joints, and your lower back. They will also want to hear about your experience since the accident occurred to get a more well-rounded picture of how the car accident has impacted you.

Chiropractic Care and Treatment for Sciatica

Chiropractors in Jonesboro take an all-natural and drug-free approach to treating all kinds of car accident injuries, including lower back pain and sciatica. Your chiropractor will identify any misalignments in the spine that may be causing or contributing to your pain and resolve these with gentle, therapeutic adjustments. Your chiropractor may also recommend other therapies, stretches, and exercises to help improve strength, mobility, and flexibility in your lower back. At AICA Orthopedics in Jonesboro, our chiropractors specialize in car accident injuries so be sure to visit us for an individualized treatment plan for your lower back pain.

SHARE:

Contact Us

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.