Accidents & Injuries in Raleigh NC

Patients often come into our Raleigh NC clinic with a history that goes something like this: "I was in a wreck about 5 years ago. My neck hurt for a while but it went away. I thought it was no big deal so I never did anything about it; but now my neck hurts all the time. Do you think it could be related to the wreck?"

---

Accident Care in Raleigh NC

It is always a good idea to have your musculo-skeletal system checked out after any kind of accident or injury. You can avoid pain far in the future by taking the simple step of getting adjusted. Here is a basic synopsis of the reason why chiropractic is a fundamental tool in injury rehabilitation.

The response of the body to traumatic injury is to lock up or "splint". It is a great short-term response because it allows you to get up and move away from the situation.

In the long-term, however, this locking mechanism will lead to degenerative change and pain. Here's the basic physiology of why locked joints hurt and why you need to visit Midtown to keep your spine flexible and healthy.

In our muscles and organs and in most of the body, nourishment takes place at the capillary beds. The capillary beds shrink in size to push the clear fluid of the blood out to bathe the surrounding tissues in their healing nourishment.

The point to understand is that connective tissue (joints, ligaments and tendons) don't have direct blood supply. There is no capillary bed so joints nourish differently. Joints are like sponges in the way they nourish. They imbibe their nourishment from the surrounding environment.

Dipping a dirty sponge in clean water does not do much good.  In order to clean the sponge you have to squeeze the old water out to allow new clean water in.  Joints work like that.  They MUST move to stay healthy.

When you have been injured in a wreck or a fall, the body splints, so the joints stop moving.  In most cases it does not hurt at first.  But the joint is alive, it is metabolically active, so it is always putting off waste products.  As this process unfolds a bath of irritating acids develop in the tissue around the joints.  In the early stages just moving and stretching and a hot shower will push the toxins out of the muscles.  The pain goes away once you get going.

This process will continue until the acidity is great enough that eventually the acid itself is irritating to the nerves.  At this point a feedback loop develops and people will say "I just can't seem to make it go away or stretch it out". Over time this degenerative process will lead to arthritic inflammation and disc disease.

Chiropractic is the best tool for keeping joints moving.  Once moving the joints can, over time, nourish and heal.   The immediate effect is that you will feel less pain.  The important long-term benefit is that your tissues will heal and stay healthier.

A visit to your Midtown Chiropractic & Acupuncture chiropractor in Raleigh after an accident or injury will help you feel better and move better and may help you avoid surgery later in life.