Being involved in a motor vehicle accident can put your body through a wringer. Your muscles are pulled in directions they’re not supposed to go. Others have had their spine experience stress, causing pain that can linger for a few days or even years. Of course, you should see your physician and other allied professionals for your recovery. But what should you do in between these appointments? Here are a few of the most common symptoms after a car accident and their suggested home remedies:
Headaches and Migraines
Depending on the car accident you have been a part of, it’s also possible that you will experience constant or occasional bouts of head pain. The discomfort may disrupt your daily activities and affect your well-being. The basil plant has antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties. Many people also use basil essential oil to get relief from headaches and migraines. Both rosemary and peppermint oil, on the other hand, are famous for their calming effects.
Cuts and Scrapes
Home treatments should never replace medical care entirely. If you’ve sustained a minor scratch from a car accident, the emergency responders should have provided you with first-aid care. Now, suppose you want your minor wounds to continue to heal naturally. What you can do at home is use turmeric, garlic, or aloe vera to keep the infections at bay. Cinnamon, coconut oil, and onions also have antibacterial and antimicrobial compounds.
Muscle Aches and Pain
These are some of the first few symptoms a victim of a collision may experience following the incident. Your muscles can feel sore and painful for two possible reasons. The first is because your muscle fibers have been overstretched. As a result, inflammation develops. For mild injuries that caused muscle aches and pains, you can try various remedies at home. These include the use of ice packs to numb and ease the pain. Heat packs are also a good idea as they can help reduce muscle spasms. The topical application of essential oils may also help in relaxing the muscles and reducing pain.
How Chiropractic Medicine Can Help
Car accidents can be a traumatic event for many people, both physically and mentally. While some injuries may not be severe, they can still cause long-lasting effects. A lot of crash victims suffer from neck, shoulder, and back pain after an accident. For some, these linger for a while and turn into chronic conditions that last for many years.
Seeing an experienced chiropractor can help you go back to the activities you once enjoyed. A skilled practitioner can help reduce inflammation, pain throughout your entire body, and scar tissue. They can also restore your range of motion, muscle function and improve your chances of making a healthy recovery. Besides, the healing art of chiropractic medicine uses a drug-free, non-invasive approach to treatment. Their holistic approach targets the root cause of the pain to ensure that you are not only free from discomfort. But also, to help you avoid long-term pain, thus improve your quality of life.Learn more about home treatments, contact Ocean Chiropractic and Health Center in Florida at (772) 460-9000, (772) 569-3000, or (772) 249-0779.
Any injury produces inflammation. Although this is a crucial part of the natural healing process, it provides a big challenge for your immune system, which is heavily dependent on lots of nutrients, vitamins and minerals to provide effective protection.
When injured, the body stimulates the immune system to start a complex chain of reactions to begin the healing process. Specialist immune cells travel to the site of injury, with some engulfing and destroying infection/bacteria and others isolating the affected area. Healthy cells near the injury also become more active, using extra oxygen and energy to rebuild the damaged tissue. So good nutrition is essential.
Your food choices can either help or actively inhibit a speedy recovery, so read on to find out how you can help yourself:
How your diet can help
1. Boost your friendly gut flora
Did you know approximately 70% of your immune system is located in the beneficial bacteria (flora) in your gut? You can actively help yourself heal more efficiently by ensuring good levels are maintained, so they can continue to protect you by producing white blood cells and vitamin K for effective wound healing.
Ensure a regular supply of foods that contain:
Prebiotics (a good source of fuel for this flora)
Found in: garlic, onions, jerusalem artichokes
Fermented foods containing live cultures
Found in: sauerkraut (great added to salads), plain bio yoghurt, chickpeas
High-fibre foods
Such as: oats, flaxseed, barley and apples.
2. Keep up your vitamin D levels
Vitamin D is a hormone that helps regulate a variety of crucial health processes in the body – regulating our friendly gut flora is one of its key roles. Our bodies can produce vitamin D but need regular sources of sunlight to do so. Having a lack of sunlight for much of the year, many Brits struggle to maintain adequate vitamin D.
Ask your GP to test your vitamin D levels. There are limited dietary sources, so if your levels are found to be low your GP may recommend a high quality supplement (liquid versions tend to be better absorbed). Or seek advice from a qualified Nutritional Therapist to advise on the most effective evidence-based supplements.
Found in: oily fish and egg yolks
3. Top up on essential fatty acids
Omega 3s provide well-evidenced natural anti-inflammatory properties. Reducing consumption of dairy and red meat can also help mediate inflammation as these foods are rich in arachidonic acid – which at high levels has been found to increase inflammation.
Found in: oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds, and green leafy vegetables
4. Cut down on sugar
Sugary foods and drinks promote inflammation – as blood sugar levels increase, so do inflammatory factors. Sugar also depletes levels of key immune vitamins such as vitamin C and zinc. So if you tend to reach for sugary snacks, choose instead protein-based snacks.
Sugar alternatives: oat cakes with tuna or ½ avocado with hummus (protein doesn’t spike blood sugar levels).
5. Eat your greens
Packing your diet full of green leafy vegetables is another way to help yourself. Many greens contain vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc – all potent antioxidants which help inhibit inflammation and also reduce levels of free radicals (toxic waste products which are produced where inflammation is present).
Good sources: brocolli, spinach, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage and kale and green herbs such as mint and parsley
6. In fact, eat every colour
The vibrant colours found in fruit and vegetables are due to their vitamin and mineral content, so including a wide range of naturally colourful fruit and vegetables in your diet ensures you’re receiving a good supply.
Red, yellow and orange colours found in peppers, tomatoes, apricots and squash are good sources of beta-carotenes (which we convert to vitamin A). Flavonoids (potent antioxidants) and vitamin C are found in dark-skinned berries (especially wild blueberries and elderberries) citrus fruits and kiwis. Selenium-rich foods such as brazil nuts help decrease inflammatory prostaglandins and decrease stress factors in the body.
7. Eat protein for recovery
We are physically built of protein and are dependent on this for repairing and replacing damaged and worn-out cells, so ensure every meal includes easily digestible sources.
Good sources: fish, eggs, poultry (free-range if possible for better quality protein and lower levels of saturated fat) oats, brown rice, beans, lentils and quinoa.
8. Watch the wheat
It can be easy to consume too much wheat in a typical day. As well as gluten being a hard to digest protein, wheat also contains lectins which can help stimulate inflammation. Try naturally gluten-free grains as an alternative.