Can A Chiropractor Help With Soft Tissue Injuries?

Soft tissue is a term used to describe connective tissues that connect different bones of the body. These include muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Any trauma or a sudden force, such as collision causes damage (tearing or compression) to these delicate tissues and may cause troublesome symptoms such as pain, inflammation, swelling, soreness, and reduced mobility.

Depending on the severity of the trauma, soft tissue injuries can range from mild to severe. Severe soft tissue injuries such as tears can take weeks or months to heal. The most common soft tissue injuries you can experience following a car accident include;

• Sprains
• Strain
• Whiplash
• Muscle tears
• Contusions (bruises)

Whiplash is one of the most common and problematic soft tissue injuries that occur during a car accident. It results from a sudden and forceful impact to the neck due to a rear-end collision. This powerful to-and-forth motion causes injury to the soft tissues in the neck, base of the skull, and surrounding the shoulders – leading to severe pain, swelling, and reduced range of motion.

If you suffered a soft tissue injury, chiropractic care can help relieve pain and inflammation and restore the range of motion. Here’s how it can help

Chiropractic Techniques For Treating Soft Tissue Injuries

Chiropractic care involves different treatment techniques to provide symptomatic relief and speed up recovery. Chiropractors usually decide the best treatment option depending on the severity and type of the soft tissue injury.

The following are some of the most common chiropractic techniques used by chiropractors to treat soft tissue injuries.

Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation

Spinal manipulation is one of the famous techniques used by chiropractors to treat soft tissue injuries. It involves manual manipulation of the spinal cord – thereby realigning the spinal cord and removing the pressure from the spinal nerves. Spinal nerves often get stressed, pinched, or stiff due to trauma or overuse.

A spinal manipulation session will remove pressure from these nerves and provide relief from the pain and inflammation. It also boosts the healing power of the body and helps the muscles gain strength and flexibility.

Chiropractic Massage

Chiropractic body massage is another great technique to relax the tensed-up soft tissues and stimulate healing. The chiropractor will apply gentle pressure on the affected muscles and tendons to break scar tissues, reduce stiffness, and improve blood flow to the injured site. This results in instant relief from the pain and soreness.

Ultrasound Therapy

As its name suggests, this technique involves the use of sound waves to break adhesions and scar tissues in the muscles. The vibration of the sound waves helps the body heal muscle injuries and put them back on the recovery path. Coupled with other chiropractic techniques, ultrasound therapy helps alleviate pain and swelling.

Cold/Hot Packs

A trained chiropractor knows when’s the best time to use hot or cold packs. Usually, heat therapy is applied to reduce the swelling and stimulate local healing. Cold packs are often used to get relief from pain and discomfort right after the injury. To boost the healing and enhance the treatment outcome, chiropractors often use both techniques alternately.

Take Away

Soft tissue injuries are a common byproduct of whiplash, overuse, and other types of injuries. Get a chiropractic consultation within the first week of the injury to get the early diagnosis and prompt treatment of the injury. Chiropractors are highly experienced in treating soft tissue injuries using different techniques. Early consultation will not only help you get symptomatic relief but also stimulate the healing power of the body to prevent this from happening in the future.