San Diego Chiropractic Blog

Being a Chiropractor in San Diego, my office provides treatment for many whiplash accident victims. One of the reasons for these accidents is wet weather driving. Since we don’t have rain throughout the year in this desert community, when it does rain, oil and debris that has been sting on the road all year long loosens resulting in a very slick driving surface.

Auto accidents are serious! You may not be aware that approximately 25% of all auto accident victims never make a full recovery. That could mean a lifetime of neck pain, low back pain, headaches, etc.

The best defense for accident prevention in wet weather is defensive driving. The following paragraphs were found on the National Safety Council website and specifically target safe wet weather driving techniques.

“Losing control of your car on wet pavement is a frightening experience. You can prevent skids by driving slowly and carefully, especially on curves. Steer and brake with a light touch. When you need to stop or slow, do not brake hard or lock the wheels and risk a skid. Maintain mild pressure on the brake pedal.

If you do find yourself in a skid, remain calm, ease your foot off the gas, and carefully steer in the direction you want the front of the car to go. For cars without anti-lock brakes, avoid using your brakes. This procedure, known as “steering into the skid,” will bring the back end of your car in line with the front. If your car has ABS, brake firmly as you steer into the skid.

While skids on wet pavement may be frightening, hydroplaning is completely nerve-wracking. Hydroplaning happens when the water in front of your tires builds up faster than your car’s weight can push it out of the way. The water pressure causes your car to rise up and slide on a thin layer of water between your tires and the road. At this point, your car can be completely out of contact with the road, and you are in danger of skidding or drifting out of your lane, or even off the road.

To avoid hydroplaning, keep your tires properly inflated, maintain good tread on your tires and replace them when necessary, slow down when roads are wet, and stay away from puddles. Try to drive in the tire tracks left by the cars in front of you.

If you find yourself hydroplaning, do not brake or turn suddenly. This could throw your car into a skid. Ease your foot off the gas until the car slows and you can feel the road again.

If you need to brake, do it gently with light pumping actions. If your car has anti-lock brakes, then brake normally; the car’s computer will mimic a pumping action, when necessary.

A defensive driver adjusts his or her speed to the wet road conditions in time to avoid having to use any of these measures. Reprinted with permission from the National Safety Council”

If you do happen to get into a fender bender, get to the chiropractor ASAP. From a statistical standpoint, the best way to avoid becoming one of the 25% of auto injury patients that never fully recover is to undergo an examination with a licensed chiropractor and follow up with any recommended treatment as soon as possible.

Drive Safe, More Coming Soon!

Dr. Jones

www.JonesPainRelief.com
Auto Accident Personal Injury
Car Accident Whiplash Injury

“Hey Doc, is it OK if I crack my own neck?”

In my San Diego chiropractic clinic, I treat many patients for neck pain, back pain and other joint pains. A few of these patients ask me if it is OK if they crack their necks and backs by themselves. A few of them will tell me that they have their kids or the wife walk on their back. And a few of them are in my office because either they cracked their back or neck by themselves or they had someone else do it for them which resulted in an injury.

The funny thing about some of these people who were injured by a non-chiropractic adjustment is that they are nervous about me adjusting them for their neck pain or back pain.

The truth about cracking your own neck or back is that it is not very safe. Usually people develop pain or stiffness in the spine because of an injury or some ongoing condition. Chiropractors are trained to specifically diagnose and provide treatment for these conditions or injuries.

Through the course of my fifteen year career, I have seen patients who have broken vertebra by adjusting their own necks and backs. I have seen broken ribs as a result of having someone walk on their backs, I have seen two patients who suffered mild strokes from cracking their own necks and I had one patient whose brother suffered paralysis from the chest down because his partner walked on his back resulting in a crushed vertebra and a seriously damaged spinal cord.

Some people crack their own joints daily for years without suffering obvious serious consequences. Even these people are doing themselves a disservice. In no normal situation should you feel as though you have to crack a specific joint every day. Those who do crack the same joints everyday for years will develop arthritis in those joints resulting in pain, dysfunction and possibly disability.

In most cases cracking or as we chiropractors call it “adjusting” a joint is fairly easy once the skills are acquired. However, the one of the most important things regarding the delivery of any type of health care is when not to deliver it. In every case that I have seen when a patient was injured by a non-chiropractic adjustment, the injured patient “thought” that they knew what was wrong.

Don’t make the same mistakes. If you need to get adjusted, go to the chiropractor!

Your’s In Good Health

Dr. Jones

www.JonesPainRelief.com