Why It’s IMPORTANT to Get Chiropractic Evaluation & X-Rays After Car Accident! by Kyle TX Chiropractor

Ever wonder what your x-rays would look like after a car accident? I’m going to show you firsthand what they look like and why. The video below will show you two cases of average sized women in their mid 20’s with no prior history of back pain or spinal problems.

In case #1 on top you can see how this side-swipe auto accident has caused spinal alignment issues throughout the entire back. The caveat on this person is that this accident happened 5 years ago and was never evaluated and treated properly!! So we are now years later and this patient has sudden neck pain, low back pain, upper and mid back pain, headaches and an overall feeling of hurting all over the place- just all of a sudden, with no explanation or incident. As I was able to talk with her about underlying causes or past incidents, we spoke about her car wreck in the past and how she was in pain initially, but it seemed to go away on its own and she figured everything was fine. Now it’s not. This is a situation that I see all too often… accident happens, pain goes away by itself, cause has not been corrected properly, pain returns years later. This happens regularly!!!

Case #2 will show you x-rays of a patient that was in a motor vehicle accident two weeks prior to the x-ray being taken. She also came in feeling neck pain, shoulder pain, mid and lower back pain, headache and also some concussion symptoms. In her x-ray you can also see the alignment problem from top to bottom in a girl who previously had zero symptoms or history of back problems. These two cases are interesting to compare because of the similarities they share in the x-ray findings. It’s a good lesson that if the spine is not properly evaluated and treated after a car, motorcycle or 18 wheeler accident the underlying problem will remain even if the symptoms go away for a while. Research has shown that the sooner whiplash and trauma injuries are detected and fixed the better chance they have of not becoming problem that could turn into chronic pain.

For those in a recent motor vehicle accident, it’s always a good idea to use ice regularly at home to help decrease the inflammation and swelling. Heat is not advisable because it brings more blood flow to the area and makes it more difficult for the soft tissues to heal. Ice will push the blood flow away to help the repair process to begin in the connective tissues. For extreme pain after an accident, get checked in the emergency room to have any fractures or trauma detected. The next step in treatment is a trained chiropractor in whiplash and car accident injuries. Chiropractors certified in personal injury are trained to detect issues with spinal movement and alignment, proper curvature, ligament and muscular injuries, concussion symptoms, disc herniation, pinched nerves that can cause numbness, tingling and weakness.

Hope this is informative to you. If you have any specific questions, feel free to call me personally at our office- 512-405-0400.  Most of our patients come from the Kyle, Buda, and San Marcos TX area,, but if you have a loved one in another part of the country needing help, I can help you find a chiropractor that has the necessary training to do so.

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning

 

3 Keys to Avoid Chronic Neck or Back Pain After a Car Accident- Tips From Whiplash Expert Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

3 Keys to Avoid Chronic Neck or Back Pain After a Car Accident – Tips From Whiplash Expert Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

 

Having seen hundreds of patients after car crashes there are many mistakes that people make which cause longer lasting and sometimes permanent damage to the spine from a car accident or whiplash trauma. Many patients come in shortly after a motor vehicle accident and some come in a long time after once they are aware that their chronic neck or back pain is not going away. One of my jobs as their chiropractor is to educate them on how they can get better now and stay better in the future.  Here are 3 tips of things to do after any car wreck.

#1- Seek immediate treatment or an opinion. If you are in an accident and there is immediate pain, it needs to be tended to immediately. This initial pain very well may worsen in the next day or two, so the sooner it is diagnosed and treated the better. High levels of pain should be checked in the emergency room to rule out bone fractures or other trauma to the body’s vital organs or the intervertebral discs. Whether or not trauma care in the E.R. is necessary, the next step should be a specialist in whiplash. This would be specific chiropractors. All chiropractors can see a car accident patient, but you want one who is expert in this area. You want one that has post-doctorate training and certification in whiplash and auto accident trauma to be the one to examine your injuries. The higher the level of training in this area, the higher the specificity in finding and helping to resolve your problems.

 

#2- Start with ICE to reduce inflammation, not heat!  One of the most basic rules of treatment is that ice helps decrease inflammation because it pushes the blood away from the muscles, tendons, ligaments, all the soft tissues that are trying to heal after an injury. Heat will bring blood towards the area thus making it more difficult to repair the area. When in doubt, ice! I am continually amazed how often a patient comes in after an accident and they have been told by someone to put heat on it- even from the E.R. and urgent care centers!! Try to get extra amounts of water for hydration to the muscles and extra rest as your body is working in overdrive to repair itself and will feel fatigued and run down for a while.

 

#3- At a minimum, get spinal x-rays to check the alignment and curvatures of the spine as well as under the radar fractures that may occur. This is necessary before undergoing any form of treatment! Just a few months ago I examined a woman after her car accident. She inquired if her son should be checked as well since he had a little bit of pain. After I agreed, she brought him in and I started with an examination and x-rays. I found a large fracture at his fifth lumbar vertebrae! If he had begun many forms of treatment without knowing about this he would have been injured worse from treatment. This case was a surprise since his levels of pain were much lower than expected with this finding. As a rule, after a car accident, at least get spinal x-rays and a complete examination performed by a car accident chiropractor that is expert in this area.

Car Accident Injuries As Seen On X-Rays- by Chiropractor near San Marcos TX

You’ve probably at some time in your life driven by on the highway as there is a car accident on the side of the road and been backed up by traffic from the rubber-neckers driving by. Many people wonder if there were injuries or if they are ok. Some car accidents cause traumatic injuries requiring the ambulance and emergency care due to fractures, internal organ damage and more. Other visible signs of a motor vehicle accident include scrapes, bruises, swelling and burns.

In our office we see many types of whiplash from different types of wrecks. They can range from muscle strain to ligament sprain, joint inflammation, concussion, dizziness, pain, numbness, tingling, herniated disc, nerve compression, back pain, neck pain, shoulder and hip pain and many many more. Car accident injuries can be difficult to diagnose to the untrained eye since they are not all visible at the start and can take weeks to fully develop.

If you experience a car collision, you should at least receive an examination and x-rays from a chiropractor certified in personal injury. This can determine if chiropractic care is appropriate for you or if another specialist is best suited for your situation. It can also determine if more information is necessary in the form of MRI or other diagnostic imaging to determine the extent of injury. It’s important to find all of the associated injuries from the car crash for insurance purposes so that you receive proper coverage during the treatment process. If not, then it will be too late for the insurance to cover your treatment and you are left to deal with care for the injuries later on. We’ll treat you through auto insurance, personal injury attorney, letter of protection, worker’s compensation, etc.

Our office offers NO COST INJURY CARE to help you get evaluated ASAP after an accident and help you determine the best course of action. If chiropractic care and therapy done in our office is the best solution we will let you know.  If it is not, we will let you know as well and get you to the best place for you.

My BEST advice after an accident is to have the chiropractic evaluation including x-rays after your motor vehicle accident to make sure. Find any underlying injuries. Just this week our office was treating a woman for her accident and she commented that her son was having some back pain and wondered if he should be checked out. We did and found a large fracture on his lowest vertebrae (L5). This was a great surprise since his pain levels were moderate, not what would be typical of a spinal fracture! Thankfully, this was caught or he would have been in great danger of spinal cord damage in the future.

If you or someone you know has been in a car accident, please consider being properly assessed (examination, x-rays at minimum) to make sure this does not become a long-term problem for you or a loved one. We are a chiropractor near San Marcos & Kyle & Buda.

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning

 

 

 

 

Attention Kyle TX…How To Treat Sciatica Without Pain Medication!

So you’ve got a pinched nerve!? Many suffer from sciatica or similar nerve like symptoms and wonder what is going on. Nerve symptoms typically show as numbness, tingling, weakness and sensitivity to hot or cold. The pressure on the nerve can often be found from misalignment in the lower spine and require chiropractic adjustments to fix the cause of the symptom and relieve the pain. We have helped many people with this problem.  Come find out if you are a candidate for a non-invasive, natural health solution at our chiropractic and wellness center!  512-405-0400  https://www.browningfamilychiropractic.com

 

3 Keys to AVOID BACK PAIN from Kyle TX Doctor

Let’s talk back pain real quick and simple… The pain is the result of something, not the cause.  It could be caused by a car accident, poor posture, lifting wrong, bad sleeping position or just the overall accumulation of wear and tear to the spine.  These are all examples of activities or habits that can gradually or suddenly create misalignments in the spine.  When the spine is misaligned it loses the ability to move smoothly and often pinches on nerves.  It also creates more stress on the discs in between the vertebrae.  As time goes on and they lose their proper position, good movement and tension on the nerves pain or symptoms of some sort are inevitable.

Taking care of your spine and body requires some work. But if you will be proactive you’ll save yourself a lot of grief and pain over the long haul.  The 3 Keys are 1- Flexibility 2- Strength 3- Alignment

 

Flexibility affects your range of motion.  If a joint cannot go through its full range of motion then it will lose the ability to move through the entire range.  Stiffness then settles in and then your movements become altered. Imagine squatting down to lift a box with hips that can’t squat all the way or a stiffened low back- this changes where the lifting force is felt and makes you more likely for injuries.  A simple stretching routine or yoga if done regularly are the first part of preventing back injuries.

 

Strength and stability of the spinal and core muscles are important to give support to the vertebrae and the discs to protect them against injury or herniation.  Simple core exercises include plank position and variations of plank. Cross-crawl exercises and thera-band exercises for the spinal muscles. The average person will see big benefits in doing these for 15 minutes 3x a week.

 

Alignment affects everything from movement of the joints, protection of the discs and health of the nerves. Misalignment is inevitable as we go throughout life carrying kids, falling asleep on the couch, rigors of travel or driving, sports, accidents, etc, etc.  Spinal alignment needs to be attended to on a regular basis to prevent pain and injury. This will assure pressure is staying off the nerves and protecting the discs by allowing them to stay hydrated so they don’t dry out, thus leading to decay and degeneration.

 

These are 3 Simple Tips that can help you stay more active and take better care of your body as the years go on.  All 3 need to be part of your regular routine to ensure a health and wellness lifestyle so you’re not always reacting to the body’s pain signals, but preventing them instead!

 

In Health,

Ryan Browning, DC

 

 

 

Kyle TX Chiropractor Discusses Kids and Migraines

Just today I saw an eleven year old girl with chronic headaches and migraines.  Her mother commented how their medical doctor brushed it off because “kids aren’t supposed to get headaches”. While the MD is right that kids shouldn’t get headaches (nobody should get them to be honest), the fact is that sometimes they do. Symptoms are the body’s way of sending warning signals that something is wrong. You can choose to find and fix the cause or cover up the warning signal. Chiropractors find and remove spinal misalignment that prevent the body from functioning optimally.

I’ve had many moms bring in their kids complaining of headache, neck pain and even migraines that have tried the medical route with no effective answers or solutions. Their spines, especially the neck, is always out of alignment causing nerve irritation and eventually other symptoms. Sometimes problems with the curvature are evident on x-ray, including scoliosis and other curvature problems.

The sooner these problems are addressed the better. Kids with spinal problems become adults with spinal problems.  The sooner they receive chiropractic services the easier they are to treat. More serious spinal problems can then be prevented by being proactive and not waiting for them to occur.

If your kids are talking about neck pain, headaches or migraines, don’t take it lightly and call us at Browning Family Chiropractic & Wellness. Dr Ryan Browning is experienced in helping kids of all ages thrive with gentle chiropractic care. He has treated his own daughters from the time they were newborns and they are continue to grow healthy and totally aligned.

 

Complimentary Consultation with Dr. Ryan Browning, Chiropractor in Kyle TX

At Browning Family Chiropractic & Wellness we have a great track record of helping people who have gone through the rounds of other specialists to no avail. Whether it be headaches, migraines, back pain, sciatica, scoliosis or other musculoskeletal problems our patients get great results. Often times they have already seen an orthopedist, pain management specialist, neurologist, physical therapist and massage therapist without finding the solution to their problem! Don’t get me wrong… we work avidly with all of these specialists already mentioned when warranted.

The key is solving the cause to your problem that gives rise to the symptom. The symptom (pain, headache, numbness, tingling, etc) is an effect of the cause. So while you want the pain to go away, simply covering up the pain is not fixing the cause. Think of pain as your body’s “check engine” light. The light appears to say that something is wrong. You could simply take a piece of duct tape and cover the check engine light to get rid of the symptom, but the cause of the problem remains untouched. When you or a mechanic gets under the hood, fixes the problem, then the light turns off by itself! Your body functions in a similar way- once the cause of the problem is corrected the symptom will go away. That’s why chiropractic care has become increasingly popular in the last decade, because people are sick and tired of swallowing pain medication, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories and NSAIDS so they can get mediocre benefits too often accompanied with nasty side effects. Chiropractors seek to remove the cause of your problem, thus alleviating the pain and symptom and providing no side effects- unless you count things like better sleep, more energy, ability to exercise more as side effects! If you’ve thought, “I need to find a chiropractor near me” then give us a call today.

If you are in the Kyle, Buda, San Marcos area and have tried other treatments but are still struggling with pain, we invite you to our office for a complimentary consult to see if chiropractic care may be right for you. If you look like a good chiropractic candidate then you can proceed with our new patient special to receive your new patient exam and x-rays in the same visit. We hope to see you soon and help you to live a healthy, pain free life!

 

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning, DC

Kyle TX Chiropractor Reviews Headache Results

Chiropractic can change your life by eliminating headaches!  One of the most rewarding things to do as a chiropractor is to get a new patient who has struggled with headaches for years and such quick results with chiropractic care.  We recently had a girl in her 20’s come in who has struggled with frequent headaches since she was 8 years old!  For the last several years she has also struggled with migraines.  She basically gets either a tension headache or migraine headache every single day.  It got to the point that it affects her work or her ability to just go out and have fun with friends.
Many people without chronic pain or headaches don’t understand the toll it takes on someone not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and socially.  It affects all aspects of life and often brings other issues like depression, weight gain, low energy and more.
This new patient of our has now been coming in for 3 weeks and is already feeling much better and has not had a headache in the last week.  This may not sound like a big accomplishment, but for someone used to having them every single day, that is HUGE!  We are just grateful to be able to help by identifying the problem and applying the solution of chiropractic adjustments to her spine.
In health,
Dr. Ryan Browning

Chronic Neck Pain After Car Accidents Treatment by Chiropractor in Kyle TX

As a chiropractor treating patients in car accidents I often see patients come in with neck pain that have a car accident whiplash injury in their history.  The story often goes that they were young and bounced back rather quickly after the accident not thinking they were injured.  Years later they develop nagging neck pain for no good reason at all.  After a chiropractic and orthopedic examination in the office and taking x-rays I often get the rest of the story…
A car wreck causes G-forces to go through the body (that it is not prepared for) at various points in the body.  As the neck is in extension position, such as it would be after being rear ended from behind, it becomes a vulnerable area for the force from the accident to damage.
How does the accident cause damage?  On the surface it can cause muscular damage which would result in tension, muscle spasm, pain, etc.  It also creates joint inflammation from the spinal joints crashing into one another and causing sharp pain and inflammation.  The muscular damage is the easiest and quickest to resolve. The joint damage usually takes more time.  The intervertebral disc acts like a shock absorber to the spinal vertebra and are often herniated (broken) or compressed creating bulging from the injury.  These can create chronic vulnerabilities in the neck chronically.  If a herniated disc puts pressure on a nerve then it can create nerve symptoms like numbness and tingling and will require proper management.  The spinal ligaments can also become inflamed and stretched in a motor vehicle accident.  Stretching of the spinal ligaments may or may not contribute to short-term pain and symptoms, but they are likely to contribute to problems down the road. Loosened ligaments may allow the curvature of the neck to change creating more tension and pressure in the neck and upper back that eventually becomes chronic pain.
These are just a few of the effects that a car accident or whiplash injury can cause.  If you are ever in a car crash make sure you are evaluated by a personal injury certified chiropractor that does an examination and x-rays to determine what treatment can resolve the injury and prevent it from becoming a chronic pain situation for you.
In Health,
Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.