Even a minor car accident can lead to severe injuries. The human body isn’t designed to withstand extreme force, and victims may experience symptoms of dislocated joints such as pain, swelling, and limited mobility.
Oftentimes, the adrenaline rush of a car accident delays identifying injuries. However, the longer your injury goes untreated, the more lingering effects it can have.
How Do I Know If I Dislocated a Joint in a Car Accident?
Typically, the signs of a joint dislocation are clear. They include intense pain, protruding at the joint, and a minimal range of motion.
While shoulder dislocations account for 95% of the joint dislocations recorded by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Special Crash Investigations Program, other dislocation sites include:
- Hips
- Vertebrae
- Elbows
- Jaw
- Fingers
- Knees
- Ankles
Any dislocation can lead to complications. The surrounding tendons, ligaments, and muscles around the joint can tear or you can damage nerves and blood vessels near the joint. Minimizing the damage requires prompt care.
How Chiropractic Care Helps Dislocated Joints
When you experience a dislocated joint from a car accident, you should have the joint restored to its proper position immediately. Even after resetting the joint, you may suffer from inflammation, soft tissue damage, and a limited range of motion.
Your trusted car accident chiropractor can address these concerns by treating and adjusting based on your needs, not just supplying you with pain medications.
Restore Alignment
A reset joint can still be misaligned and strain the surrounding joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons as it overcompensates for the injury.
The muscles around the dislocated joint may feel stiff and sore from the dislocation and discomfort due to misalignment. Car accident chiropractors use gentle, safe adjustments to align the joints so they can function properly and regain their full range of motion.
Re-Establish Healthy Blood Flow
Healthy blood flow is critical to the healing process. Blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the injury site to promote healing. Chiropractic care includes therapeutic massage, adjustments, and muscle manipulation to stimulate proper blood flow.
Reduce Inflammation
Swelling and inflammation are part of the body’s natural healing response. However, too much of an inflammatory response can make movement uncomfortable and cause blood to stagnate at the injury site.
Your car accident chiropractor can restore movement and reduce inflammation through adjustments and exercises, promoting healthy mobility and function of the dislocated joint.
Restore Your Dislocated Joint Through Chiropractic Care
The expert team at Veeva Chiropractic Clinic is highly skilled at assessing and treating injuries sustained through car accidents. In addition, our highly-trained chiropractors manage the treatment of acute and chronic pain resulting from joint dislocation and other traumatic injuries.
Don’t delay your chiropractic treatment after a car accident. Patients in Oregon and Washington can visit one of our many convenient locations to reduce pain and mitigate the damage of a car accident. Contact us via phone or online to schedule your evaluation today.
About the author
Matt has been helping providers within the healthcare setting for over a decade. He realizes how best to solve a patient’s problem by understanding the individualism of each patient. Therefore knowing what their true needs are. To focus on the patient and the “Why” they need their particular service that goes beyond the initial reason for them to seek treatment.
Matt has been with Veeva since 2018. He also has access to over 75 years of combined real-life hands-on experiences from the many doctors within the Veeva Chiropractic landscape.
