It’s common to feel fine immediately after a car accident. Your body and your brain have got a lot to process and injuries can remain hidden for hours or even days after. But one morning, you may wake up suffering with migraines. With an incredible sensitivity to light and an unbelievable pain in your head and neck that’s just too much to bear.
The car accident happened a long time ago. Could it really be what’s causing your pain right now? The answer is almost certainly yes.
Migraines after a car accident
There are many reasons why your head can hurt after you’ve been involved in an auto accident. You may have hit your head on the steering wheel during the impact, the airbag could have caused musculoskeletal damage to your head, or the jolt of the crash could have left you with whiplash.
If you’ve never experienced a migraine before, it can be difficult to differentiate between a migraine and a tension headache. To help you out, here’s a description of each:
Migraine
A migraine feels like someone is pulling tightly on the inside of your head. Even the tiniest movement causes you incredible pain. A migraine often is accompanied by a sense of nausea and a sensitivity to light that’s so strong you have to lie down in a silent, dark room.
Experts aren’t yet sure what causes migraines, although it’s believed they’ve got something to do with the way in which your nerves communicate with each other. This can cause changes in blood flow in your head, resulting in migraines.
Tension headache
A tension headache feels like someone has placed your head in a vice grip and they’re gradually tightening it. This type of pain develops when the muscles in your neck and scalp pull against your head. It often happens because the tendons and ligaments in your neck and head have been strained or sprained during the accident.
Over-the-counter painkillers aren’t the only solution to migraines and tension headaches. Chiropractic care is a non-invasive and drug-free alternative.
Causes of headaches and migraines
Painkillers only numb the nerves that are sending the pain signals to the brain. They don’t actually address the cause of the pain and fix it. Chiropractic treatment helps relieve your pain and discomfort by improving the alignment of your neck and spine.
If you’re experiencing a severe tension headache after a car accident, it could be caused by your scalp being pulled too tightly because your spine is no longer correctly aligned. When the vertebrae in your neck are misaligned, the tendons and ligaments are unable to function properly. This can cause them to pull on the muscles around your scalp, causing pain and tension.
Spinal misalignments can also have a negative effect on the way your nerves communicate with each other. When your nerves are unable to properly send signals to each other, you can experience headaches or migraines. Through chiropractic adjustments, your spine can be properly aligned and the motion to your joints can be restored, relieving your pain and discomfort.
Chiropractic benefits
Here are some of the reasons why you should make an appointment with your chiropractor if you’re suffering from headaches or migraines following a car crash.
- Neck and spinal adjustments restore motion to your joints and improve your body’s alignment. This relieves the pain caused by headaches and migraines.
- As chiropractic care is drug-free, there’s less chance of side effects or complications after treatment.
- Chiropractic adjustments can also release pinched nerves and relieve built-up tension, improving your flexibility and increasing your mobility.
- Adjustments and massage therapy can free up pressure that builds up in your back, which can also cause headaches, neck pain, and migraines.
- A chiropractor gets to the root of your pain and fixes the problem. They don’t just mask the pain with pills.
- A chiropractor can put together a custom treatment plan for you to follow at home to help yourself recover faster.
Holistic care
Chiropractic care doesn’t just focus on the spine. While spinal adjustments are one of the most important parts of this treatment, chiropractic care takes a holistic approach to treatment and looks at your body as a whole.
A chiropractor may recommend other treatments, in addition to adjustments, to help alleviate your pain. If a problem with your nerves is what’s causing your headaches, they may recommend acupuncture. And if tendon, ligament, or muscle issues are the cause, they may suggest massage therapy.
Don’t let pain take over your life
Don’t suffer from pain on your own. If you’re experiencing migraines or headaches after a car accident, we’re here to help. Make an appointment today and one of our chiropractors will help determine the cause of your pain and put together an effective treatment plan so you can get back to your old self.
The sooner you make the appointment, the sooner you’ll start to heal.
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.
