Wolff's Law (and why you should care)

Car accidents happen. You either a) did nothing and continued on with life because you had no pain or, your pain was minor so you didn't think it needed attention. B) you went to the hospital after the accident because you were in pain, scared or both, and C) you went to your family practice doctor and/or orthopedist. All are realistic scenarios that play out with automobile accidents. Although it doesn't happen often, it's important to rule out serious injuries like fractures, dislocations and internal bleeding. Once you have that taken care of, you are usually left with, "use ice/heat, apply this topical ointment, take over the counter medication, take this muscle relaxant/pain reliever or go to physical therapy. " These are common actions after an accident, but probably not the best advice, and here's why. Obviously, if you are in pain and all serious, life threatening issues are ruled out, you may want to take a pain medication. But, these are getting prescribed less because of the opioid epidemic that just occurred a few years ago and doctors don't want anyone to get addicted to the medication. Also, from what I have experienced over the last 20+ years is that muscle relaxants rarely help. In fact, many times they just make you drowsy. Surgery isn't an option, injections may or may not help and still don't address the cause of your symptoms. The cause..... and I'll give you the simplified lay-person explanation-when your body is injured or you don't move to avoid pain, you will activate nerves in the tendons, ligaments and muscles that send signals to your spinal cord, then up to your brain where the messages(brain communication with the body) are corrupted and the signal comes back down to the area injured. At this point muscles are spasming, inflammation is present and pain is real. When this happens there is decreased mobility of the joints (the joint-where two bones meet-like in the spine). This causes forces( pressure) to be placed upon the bone. When this happens, with time, the bone will deform to accommodate the continual pressure resulting in arthritis of the joint. This process is called Wolff's Law. A bone with deform when stresses are placed upon it. All of that from a car accident ? The accident can start a cascade of events that will lead to this. Research has show that it takes as little as six months before arthritis starts to occur. Well what should you do? First you want to go to a trauma qualified chiropractor. You can find a list of them right here : https://www.uschirodirectory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=94# . Just type in your zip code, search the curricula vitae's for a trauma qualified doctor. Next, make the appointment and follow the directions that they give. Your treatment will likely include chiropractic manipulation. The manipulation will gap, or separate the joints and send signals to your spinal cord and then brain that will decrease pain and muscle spasm. This is the primary therapy that will get you better ! Sure, ice, exercises, braces, medications can provide some relief, but it is imperative that you seek out a trauma qualified chiropractor ! You can call us to schedule an appointment with our trauma qualified chiropractor at 800-862-5914.