Otherwise known as a Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC)

As a Sports Injury trained Chiropractor, with over 150 post-doctoral training hours with the American Board of Chiropractic Sports Physicians, Dr. Leatherman often has to discuss this topic. When our Integrity docs see someone stretching BEFORE running, cycling, tennis, swimming, or any other sport, they worry that the person doesn't know much about muscles. Integrity docs further know that they are actually INCREASING their injury potentials.

Did you make 2020 New Year’s resolutions? Every year, Integrity Chiropractic always sets new goals for excellent patient experiences. A good portion of Americans make resolutions at the start of every year. However did you know that January 17th is known as “Ditch Day.” That is the specific day associated with quitting your New Year’s resolution. So what’s the best way to make your goals achievable? Today on Ditch Day, Integrity Chiropractic shares statistics on New Year’s resolutions and reveals strategies to ensure success. Additionally, we’ll give tips for increasing your overall health and wellness (which should always be one of your top resolutions).

Low back pain is an established worldwide problem. At Integrity Chiropractic, we deal with this debilitating issue on a daily basis. It’s estimated that approximately 80% of the North American population will experience significant low back pain at some point in their adult lives. Word wide estimates range between 50–80% of adults experiencing low back pain in their life. (1,2,3) in fact, low back pain (LBP) is the second most common cause of disability in US adults with an estimated 149 million days of work lost per year. (4) It is no surprise that people are increasingly seeking chiropractic care to find relief. The link between low back pain incidence and obesity is alarming. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease control, CDC, the prevalence of being overweight was 70.2 % in 2013-2104 using NHANES data. Just the obesity portion of that number was 42.4% in 2017-2018. (5,6) Evidence confirms that obesity seriously impacts the spine and musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of low back pain as well as osteoarthritis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. (7) Studies have even shown that people who underwent surgery to help them lose weight experienced less low back pain, the link is genuine. (8, 9)

The shoulder is the one structure that relies on all major areas of your spine for proper function – your neck (cervical spine), your upper back (thoracic spine) and your lower back (lumbar spine) – therefore it is super relevant to spine function and chiropractic applications.

The traffic light is red. Your vehicle is completely stopped … and then B-A-N-G! Your vehicle is thrust forward, your spine lengthens and rises in the seat, your head snaps rearward, your body bounces off the seat-back into the harness system, the harness restrains your torso, your head and neck now rebound shifting forward, (this all happens in less than 600 mili-seconds) you’re dazed! Then the realization …. You were just smashed from behind! Was it an accident? NO! Accidents are when you trip, spill milk, or drop things. This is a MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH (MVC). (1) When your vehicle is rear-ended, the neck and head bear the brunt of the forces. Nerves, ligaments and muscles are stretched beyond their natural limits due to abnormal motion in the lower neck vertebra which differs from normal motion. Injuries also happen in normal ranges of motion. (2) It’s the transfer of energy in less than ½ a second that causes the damage. Whiplash Injuries often occur at speeds less than 2-5 mph as well because vehicles bounce instead of crushing which increases the forces to the occupants of the vehicle. In fact there is no known minimal threshold for injury! Despite possibly feeling fine afterward, you may have just received a common yet serious whiplash injury. Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak will tell you that it’s a deceiving injury, because whiplash is NOT a diagnosis, it is a mechanism. Pain may come on quickly or you may not develop symptoms for hours, weeks, or months. Your neck (cervical spine) contains muscles, ligaments, tendons, discs, joints and nerves confined to a relatively small area. Whiplash mechanism can injure all these body components. Although it happens most frequently in rear-impact crashes, whiplash can occur in other crash directions: side-impact, frontal-impact, and offset angular impacts. Besides the head, neck and upper back, pain from a whiplash Injury often extend into other areas of the body, such as the shoulders, arms, as well as the low back, hips, legs, knees and feet. You may also suffer muscle stiffness, spasms, burning or tingling sensations as well as headaches and numbness. Even if you don’t have any immediate whiplash symptoms, you should visit a chiropractor who has been trained in MVC injury as soon as possible.

Patients presenting with Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain tend to think they either have sciatica or tail-bone pain, and its common practice for doctors to the link low back pain with protruding disc even when neurological signs are absent. Pain caused by sacroiliac joint dysfunction can mimic discogenic (pain from the disc) or radicular low back pain, although, SI joint dysfunction is a distinct condition of its own. At Integrity Chiropractic, our doctors are keenly aware of the differences of pain presentations and utilize diagnostic skills to diagnose the SI joints, vs. facet joints, vs. disc, vs. ligamentous instability as the source of your pain.

Remember the days of parents and grandparents nagging you to “stand up straight” and “STOP slouching”? Wasn’t that annoying? Well … they were right. Posture has huge influences on health. Gradual shifts of body position over time slowly weaken the muscles and ligaments while wearing away at joints and discs. Forward head posture is one of the leading causes of neck, upper back and shoulder pain. Chronic pain syndromes, headaches and jaw issues may appear if arthritic changes progress and postural imbalances remain uncorrected. 1,2,3  Research has shown that not only can faulty posture be a pain in the neck, but the effects of poor posture can also pose significant health risks to many systems in the body, specifically the respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems. 4

Considerations for Car Crash Injured Patients