Post-Accident Care: Essential Steps for Effective Car Accident Treatment

The latest statistics from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported 20,324 car accidents in 2021, the latest year available. That’s 55.6 per day.

The Nevada Department of Transportation or NDOT traffic crash map indicates these crashes caused nearly 16,800 injuries per year. The average injury rate is 740 per 100,000 residents.

Car accident injuries are as common as they are complicated. When you’re hit with one, you may be in shock and not know how to get help.

Read on to learn essential steps for car accident treatment.

Get Immediate Treatment

One of the best post-accident recovery tips is to get immediate treatment, even if you think you only have minor injuries.

Common car crash injuries include:

• Back injuries
• Whiplash
• Neck injuries
• Brain injuries
• Gashes or cuts
• Knee injuries
• Broken bones
• Nerve damage

Call 911 and get to an emergency room for life-threatening issues. You can rely on urgent care or your family doctor for less serious injuries.

Get a thorough evaluation. It’s important to identify hidden injuries and establish a baseline for future treatment.

Medications or Surgery

Doctors may prescribe medications to treat the symptoms of your injuries. The most common are over-the-counter painkillers and antibiotics to prevent infections.

Certain injuries require surgery. These include:

• Internal injuries or bleeding
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Back injuries
• Soft tissue injuries

Physical Therapy for Car Injuries

Medication and surgery aren’t your only injury treatment options. There are plenty of alternative therapies available today. Many patients will find them an effective part of their treatment plan.

Doctors often recommend physical therapy for car injuries. It comes with an array of benefits, including:

• Providing an alternative to surgery or medication
• Relieving pain
• Restoring mobility
• Increasing strength and range of motion
• Preventing further injury
• Speeding up the healing process

Find a physical therapist who specializes in the types of injuries you have. Look for one with experience in accident rehabilitation services.

They’ll use a variety of methods to get you back on your feet, including:

• Massage
• Manipulating parts of the body
• Customized exercises
• Posture training

Chiropractic Care After Accidents

Doctors also frequently recommend chiropractic care after accidents. They help treat many common car crash injuries such as:

• Whiplash
• Bone fractures
• Spinal cord trauma or compression
• Herniated disks
• Muscle or ligament strains

Chiropractors can provide manual adjustments to the spine. They can also recommend and help you perform exercises. The care they provide offers similar benefits to physical therapy as well as:

• Reducing stress
• Improving mental clarity
• Reducing pain and inflammation
• Reducing scar tissue
• Speeding up healing times

Combining chiropractic care with other treatment methods makes it even more effective.

Ice and Heat

Getting professional car accident treatment is essential, but there are things you can do at home.

Try one of the most all-purpose methods first; alternating heat and ice. Heat increases blood flow to an injured area. Cold reduces pain and inflammation.

Start within the first 72 hours after the accident. Only apply ice for 10-15 minutes at a time. Don’t put heat on an acute injury.

Stay Hydrated and Eat Well

Proper hydration and nutrition are another simple but essential way to help the healing process.

Keep water with you at all times. Dehydration prevents the delivery of oxygen to the injury site so that it can heal. It also prevents your immune system from working at its best.

Develop a healthy, specialized diet to relieve the symptoms you’re having.

Foods rich in omega 3s, such as fish and nuts, help with pain management and inflammation. For soft tissue injuries, eat fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C.

Broken bones require a more complex set of nutrients, including:

• Magnesium
• Vitamin K
• Calcium

Avoid inflammatory foods and alcohol. They’ll only make your inflammation and pain worse.

Get Rest

Sleep doesn’t get enough credit for all it does for the body. Its effects include:

• Increasing blood flow to muscles and tissue
• Regulating hormones
• Reducing stress
• Reducing inflammation

These are all essential to proper healing. Get your full eight hours every night.

Don’t overexert yourself during the day. Follow your doctor’s recommendations for when you can return to your normal level of physical activity. You may even want to take a bit of time off work.

Address Mental Health

Mental health is as essential for car accident treatment as physical health.

Car accidents are a leading cause of PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. Around 70% of the world will experience a potentially traumatic event. 5.6% will develop the condition.

Other mental effects of an accident may include:

• Flashbacks
• Fear of driving
• Stress
• Mood swings
• Anxiety
• Depression

Give yourself space to express what you are feeling instead of holding it inside. Write about your emotions in a journal, or talk through the accident with loved ones or a trained professional.

Gradually facing your fear may help you work through it. Consider returning to the scene of the accident or visiting the crash site to begin processing the emotions connected to the experience.

Do not pressure yourself to drive again right away. Take small steps and move at a comfortable pace. Start by sitting in the car and imagining yourself driving. When you are ready, drive a short distance down the road. Continue building your confidence gradually, and recognize each small step forward.

Traumatic brain injuries are common after accidents, so do not dismiss the possibility. If you believe changes in your thoughts or emotions could be related to an injury, seek treatment immediately and ask about complete concussion management.

Long-Term Considerations

Remember that car accident treatment doesn’t end after the initial consultation. It’s a long-term process.

Keep up with your treatment plan. Attend all follow-up appointments and listen to any changes.

Keep track of any new symptoms you feel or developments in your existing conditions. Early detection is the best way to keep them from becoming serious.

Know Where to Get Car Accident Treatment

Car accident treatment is a complicated beast. Accidents affect everyone’s mental and physical health in different ways. That makes it tough to find the right treatment program.

Alternatives to medication and surgery include physical therapy and chiropractic care. Ice and heat, a proper diet, and rest also speed up healing.

Canyon Lake Chiropractic and Physical Therapy has been treating Las Vegas car accident injuries for over 25 years. We diagnose the most common ones and use a variety of therapies to treat them.

Our specialized care restores mobility, alleviates pain, and prevents complications. Contact us to begin your recovery today.