I've been in a car accident. Can I get chiropractic care?

You bet! In fact, seeking our care would be very wise since most injuries from a car accident are “soft tissue”-related; meaning muscles, ligaments, and/or tendons are injured. If you’re treated quickly after the accident, depending on the severity, recovery is usually pretty short (less than 4 weeks is pretty typical in our office). Unfortunately, the longer you wait after the accident for care, the recovery time is longer because of scar tissue formation. I always recommend that patients make an appointment on the same day the accident occurred.

How do I know I should seek care after a car accident?
Sometimes people don’t feel the effect from a car accident immediately, usually because of shock and the adrenaline rush. You might think to yourself “I’m fine, I’m fine. Nothing hurts.” But, after the accident, it’s common to feel tightness, stiffness, or pain in the neck or upper back after a couple of days. This delay is caused by inflammation from the damage to the soft tissue from the acceleration/ deceleration due to the impact. Even if you do not notice these symptoms right away you should still, call the office to schedule an appointment. Make sure to tell the staff that you were in a car accident when scheduling an appointment.

Will my auto insurance premium increase?
Don’t worry- your car insurance premium will NOT increase when you use the portion of your policy (called “Med pay”) to cover the cost to get you better from car accident related injuries. (Illinois Legislature put this into law years ago!) Most insured people have two parts to their policy- collision coverage (to repair the car) and health coverage (to repair you). Using your health portion of your auto insurance plan will not cause your premium to increase. Your collision portion may or may not go up it depends on your policy.

How will this effect my health insurance?
If you’re a new patient to the office, we will bill your auto insurance policy for your care. If you’re a current patient in the office, we will put your current method of payment / coverage (cash, health insurance, etc.) on hold and bill your auto insurance policy for your care. Our staff will walk you through the steps that you’ll need to do to ensure that everything with your insurance will move as smoothly as possible. We’ll make copies of your accident information when you come in and we’ll get you started on the road to recovery.

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