What is the role of a Chiropractor in Injury Recovery from a Car Accident

When you see your family doctor, after a car accident he or she will almost certainly refer you for physiotherapy. Why? It is because physiotherapists work under the supervision of medical doctors and are part of the traditional medical system. Very few medical doctors will prescribe chiropractic because, for one thing, medical doctors learn nothing about chiropractic in their training and, for another thing, chiropractors are not part of the traditional medical system in Canada.

There is no question that you will need physiotherapy as part of your treatment program if you are to maximize your recovery after a car crash. Physiotherapists are the “experts” in working with soft tissue injuries, primarily injuries to the muscles. This is especially true when physiotherapy is combined with massage therapy. The two disciplines are complementary in the treatment of the most common injuries we see in car crashes.

However, when you are injured in a car crash, there is almost always an injury to your spinal joints, the places where one spinal bone meets another. These injuries are not well treated by physiotherapy or massage. This is where chiropractors shine. Their treatment methods are specifically designed to detect and manage spinal joint problems. If you have used physiotherapy and massage only and you are wondering why you are not recovering as well as you would have hoped, it may be because you have not thought to have chiropractic care.

What about your medical doctor if he or she has not specifically prescribed chiropractic care? In B.C., chiropractors are legally “doctors” although they are not medical doctors. You do not need a prescription from a medical doctor or even permission to see a chiropractor.

What about the cost? ICBC has a program whereby ICBC pays the full cost of treatment. If they chiropractor you choose is not on the ICBC program, ask us at Cowley & Company about funding care.

Ideally, it would be good for you to see a chiropractor first to have the integrity of your spinal joints assessed and corrected before you begin a course of physiotherapy and massage.