Naturopathic Care: A Necessity in Treatment of a Motor Vehicle Accident

Posted by Dr. Della Parker     on January 28, 2016

Crash bam boom! You were in a car accident. Man that sucks! Typical steps to recovery include chiropractic and massage. I get it, you want to realign that spine and chill out all those spazed out muscles. This is the standard of care for a reason, it helps! After a car accident, realigning the spine and rehabilitating muscles is of the utmost importance to get you out of pain and restore health. There is just one problem. While correcting the structure of the body is a necessity, most people neglect the damage done to their internal body. Just think about all the stress and damage that is done to body systems other than the musculoskeletal system from an accident. Remember everything effects everything! Adding Naturopathic care to Chiropractic only expedites the healing process. Patients are able to recover much faster and prevent further health decline from unresolved issues. Below are just a few examples of how Naturopathic care can greatly benefit the victim of a motor vehicle accident.

Adrenal Glands

Let’s talk adrenal glands! Remember those cute little stress handlers that sit on top of your kidneys and impact nearly all areas of health… Yeah, those guys. An accident is an extreme stress on the body. Starting with the surge of adrenaline on impact and perpetuated by great amounts of inflammation left behind from the imposed trauma. Let me remind you what happens when your adrenals get over worked from handling too much stress; They lose their ability to handle additional stressors and function declines. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue most commonly experienced by victims of MVAs are dizziness, ligament laxity, pain due to unresolved inflammation, and fatigue.

Dizziness

Why is this happening? One reflex in the body that is under adrenal control is called the Ragland’s reflex. When you go from a seated to standing position your blood vessels should constrict to keep blood from leaving your head. If you stand up and this reflex does not work, blood leaves your head and you get varying degrees of dizziness. No Bueno!

Ligament Laxity

Just as the adrenals provide tone to the vascular system, they are also responsible for establishing tone in other areas of the body. A common area effected when we are talking about musculoskeletal injury is ligament tone. When this function is working well, you can get a Chiropractic adjustment and boom symptoms are improved! But what do we see after the stress of an MVA? You need to see the Chiropractor several times a week because the adjustments are not holding. While there are many reasons this is the case, one reason stands out, especially if this becomes a long term pattern. We call it ligament laxity. It is most commonly due to adrenal fatigue. Facilitating the healing of these glands restores that tautness of ligaments and helps to keep bones in place. Now that amazement you feel the day after an adjustment can hold and create long lasting improvements to your health.

Inflammation

Cortisone shot anyone? When inflammation is out of control in a particular area of the body, this is what is recommended. The problem is, cortisone shots are super bad for you! They basically disintegrate healthy tissues at the injection site. It certainly shuts down inflammation (short term) but also leaves a hot mess of destruction in its wake. This is why they will only allow two shots in any one area of the body. Because they are SO bad for you. News flash! Healthy adrenals create internal cortisone called cortisol. It is your body’s natural way of combating inflammation. But like I said before, when these glands get tired, they aren’t keeping up on the workload. They are not able to secrete sufficient amounts of cortisol to sop up all the lingering inflammation. The key is to restore function to these glands! Then inflammation is managed in a safe, healthy, and more effective manner.

Fatigue

After an accident not only are you sore but you are wiped out. Pain, inflammation, and emotional trauma can take a real toll on your energy level. Another reason for this is how ramped up you immune system has become.  Think about it. Your body is sending out little soldiers to all affected areas to help repair tissue damage and injury. That is a lot of work considering how every cell in your body just got jostled. Man, I’m tired just thinking about it.

Holistic Medicine

Holistic medicine looks at the functioning of the whole body. Here is an example to help you see the magnificent impact one little trauma can have on your entire system: A car accident creates an extreme amount of stress in the body. Emotional stress can be just as abundant as physical stress experienced. This stress wears out adrenal glands. Downstream this can result in decreased tone, creating ligament laxity and diminished peristalsis or sphincter dysfunction. Now your gut is unhealthy. Remember your immune system and neurotransmitters stem from a healthy gut. This decreases your immune system’s ability to repair injury and with poor neurotransmitter function depression sets in. Inflammation is out of control and now you are in chronic pain. This generally results in the use of pain pills which creates more constipation and liver toxicity. It’s a slippery slope! This whole cycle could be reversed with Naturopathic intervention in the form of adrenal and or gastrointestinal support. Side effects, you ask? Just a longer healthier life! Stop the madness! See a Naturopath to support all areas of your body after a motor vehicle accident and see improvements to your health much sooner.

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At Stellar Health and Wellness, we are moms and know how much work moms do. If you are a mom and want to focus on your wellness, contact Dr. Della Parker, Integrative Nutritionist Amy Hardesty, or Massage Therapist Yvonne Schroeder for an appointment today or call 503-344-6631.