Car Accidents

Auto accident

You’ve been injured

Whether it was your fault or not, car crashes are very common and their bodily effects can range from annoying to deadly.

If you have been in an automobile accident we want to help you to make a full recovery as quickly as possible. We have helped hundreds of people get back to work and regular life after an auto injury.

Don’t wait to get treated for auto injuries

A few weeks ago a drug addict was driving around our town, barely able to make out the road. Eventually, the driver came-to in police custody after they had blacked out and plowed into the back of another car. Fortunately, the other driver saw his car coming and started to move out of the way, salvaging what could have been a deadly situation.

She escaped with some bumper damage and no apparent injuries. When her friends heard her amazing story they encouraged her to come to my clinic for an evaluation. Her neck hurt but she had a history of neck pain in the past. She couldn’t tell whether the current problem was a result of the crash or just the chronic neck pain she always had.

When she was finally convinced to come in, we discussed the details of her crash and I asked some questions about her symptoms in the past and what she had experienced since her car was hit. I also performed a thorough orthopedic and neurological examination. We were able to identify some specific problems related to her collision that differ from her usual episodes of neck pain.

Sometimes, when we are injured we just don’t know the right questions to ask ourselves. Part of my job is to ask these questions and help people to accurately determine whether their injury is related to a trauma or are just part of a pre-existing condition. We discovered with this patient, that she has been having a different type headache than she was having before the crash. Without the treatment plan she is currently on she would run the risk of having these headaches chronically for the rest of her life.

Even if you think your injuries are minor or that you haven’t been injured, it is worth it to get examined so that you have peace of mind that your crash won’t follow you around forever.

Please, if there is anything I can do to help if you are in a similar situation get in touch with me right away.

Are you worried about the cost of treating an auto injury?

One of the most stressful aspects of a car crash is that there are always financial implications. As soon as you hear a bang or a crunch and you register that something has happened all of these thoughts come rushing into your mind. What happened? What have I done? Where did that guy come from? Is everybody ok? Is quickly followed by thoughts like, How am I going to get my car fixed? Does this other guy have insurance? What’s going to happen to my insurance premiums? How am I going to be able to afford getting healthy gain?

The state of Oregon has laws that help ease some some of this financial burden. All drivers are required to carry auto insurance that includes at least $15,000 of personal injury protection (PIP). PIP coverage will pay all of your medical bills for injuries sustained in a car crash. Most insurance companies do not have a deductible, which is an amount of your medical bills you need to pay out of your own pocket, before they will pay your medical bills. State law limits the deductible amount to $250 for the very few insurance companies that have this requirement.

Some people worry that if they use this coverage that their insurance premiums will increase. Well, bad news. If you’ve been in a crash then you can’t unring that bell.

You’re premiums are probably going to go up anyways. The good news is that your premiums will typically not go up any extra if you need to get any treatment for an injury. So if you’ve been in a crash you might as well use the benefit that you’ve already paid for and get the care you need. The worst case scenario is one kind of lasting pain or disability when you’re going to have to pay a higher premium anyway.

When you are being treated for an injury, your own insurance company will pay the PIP bills regardless of who was at fault. Once the claim is closed because repairs have been made and you have healed up, the insurance company of the driver who was at fault will reimburse the insurance of the other driver. You don’t have to worry about that part. This is important to you for a few reasons. First of all, if you are at fault, you are still entitled to care for your injuries. Many people who are at fault don’t get the care they need because they feel guilty or don’t realize their insurance will cover their care even if they were at fault. Also, you don’t need to wait to figure out who is responsible for the bills before you get treatment. That’s not the case in every state.

You don’t need your insurance companies permission to receive evaluation or treatment. This means that they cannot direct you to receive care from a specific provider or type of provider. They can let you know your options and you get to decide the best course of action to take.

So if you’re in Oregon and you’ve had a at crash then getting an examination is the smart move to make. In most cases with won’t cost you anything. If you let an injury that seemed minor linger you might just be paying for that mistake for a very long time.

Give us a call today at Body of Health Chiropractic & Wellness Center and let’s help you feel better about feeling better.

I have literally been a life-long chiropractic patient.

 My mother brought me in for my first adjustment when I was just days old. I grew up understand just how amazing a good adjustment can feel. But over the years I haven’t just used chiropractic to feel good. I have used it to get over some of the most serious injuries I have faced in my life. One of the areas where chiropractic care has helped me the most is when I have dealt with auto injuries over the years.

Call me unlucky, but I have been involved in over a dozen auto collisions. I have never had one that was actually my fault. I guess I’m just not the guy to drive with. My auto collisions have run the gamut. I have had minor fender benders with no injuries. I have been involved in a head on collision which resulted in months of headaches.

My Most Serious Auto Injury

My most serious collision was a roll-over when I was a teenager. I was a passenger in our family van. We had just purchased a large trampoline and so the seats in our van were all laid flat. My mom was driving and my younger brother was in the front passenger seat. We were taking him to a day camp that morning and my sister was helping him get his shoes on. She was having trouble with this and my mom became distracted trying to help. It was just for a moment but it was a costly mistake. She went into a curve while she was trying to help my sister. By the time she looked up it was too late. We hit gravel on the shoulder and then a mailbox at about 55 mph and this sent our car tumbling. Because the seats were down flat I was laying on them like a bed without a seat-belt. My sister was also unbuckled so that she could help. She and I suffered serious injuries being bounced around inside the car before we were both ejected. I flew about 30 feet before I landed in a ditch on the side of the road. Miraculously, everybody survived but I had deep cuts, concussion and sprains and strains throughout my neck and spine.

Recovery was a long and hard process but I credit my chiropractor for helping me to overcome what could have otherwise been long term disability on my part. I don’t know… depending on who you talk to they might say I have some sort of disability. 🙂 But, you know what I mean right?

It’s one thing to survive an auto accident; It’s another thing to thrive afterward and lead a healthy life. This post is really my personal testimonial for how important chiropractic care can be in helping me recover from auto injuries. Chronic headaches, back pain, whiplash, scar tissue, strain, sprains, cuts, bruises, concussions; you name it I’ve had it (well, except broken bones). Each time I have been injured, chiropractic treatment for my auto injuries helped me get back to full health.

It wasn’t just the chiropractic adjustments. The advice from chiropractors about the things I could do for rehabilitation made an important difference for me. I’d like to think that I’ve been through all of this stuff so that I can me a better chiropractor and doctor to my patients who are injured in an auto collision. When you tell me, “it hurts” I can tell you “I know” and mean it.

Why Use a Chiropractor for Auto Injuries?

Take it from somebody who has been on both ends of the equation when it comes to chiropractic for auto injuries.

Chiropractic HELPS.

If you or somebody you care about has been injured in a car accident you owe it to yourselves to, at the very least, get checked out by a chiropractor. Auto injuries respond well to chiropractic management because chiropractors specialize in bio-mechanical function and the treatment of muscle and joint pain.

I have seen people who come in after an auto accident for a checkup and we discover that they are very fortunate and were not injured.

Others may not realize that they have sustained an injury in their auto accident. My examination helps to uncover problems that could have become chronic had they not sought some sort of help.

A common example of this is when somebody starts to have more frequent headache symptoms after a car accident. Let’s say that they typically experience headache once a week (which is still too often) before the collision but afterward they are having 3 or 4 headaches per week.

You would be surprised at the number of people who will attribute this to other factors in their life such as hydration, stress or other potential causes instead of the very real possibility that the increase in headaches is actually due to an auto injury. This is more common than you would think and the victim of the auto injury could be in for a lifetime of more frequent headaches if this trauma isn’t addressed.

Even though I’ve had around a dozen auto injuries myself, I have treated hundreds of people who have had their own misfortune and received an auto injury.

Don’t wait to see if your injuries become permanent. 

If you are in the Corvallis area and have an auto injury, I’d be happy to help you. If I can’t help you then I will get you the best possible referral for someone who can.

If you aren’t in the area and at wondering how you can find the right chiropractor in your area. Please leave a message in the comments and I will do my best to help you.

Questions?

Here are some important questions you may have after a car crash.

Injured woman at scene of auto accident

Can I be injured in a crash where there is little or no damage to the car?

Yes!

It is very common for people to be injured in a car crash when there is little or no damage to the vehicle. It is a mistake to think that the amount of damage to a car indicates how much damage will be done to a person.

For example, if you get hit by a baseball bat (advice: don’t get hit by a baseball bat!), there will be little or no damage done to the bat but your body can be seriously injured. A small dent or a little bumper damage doesn’t mean that your body wasn’t affected by a crash. Otherwise, if more vehicle damage equals more human injury then wouldn’t we assume that every time a vehicle is totaled that all of the passengers must have died?

Fortunately, this is not the case. Damage to your vehicle caused by crashing into another car or object doesn’t directly correspond with the amount of damage done to your body. Sometimes people walk away from a crash with a lot of vehicle damage but no injuries and other times a fender bender can leave a person with long-lasting consequences if they go untreated.

How can I know if I was injured in a car crash?

Usually, it doesn’t take very long to notice symptoms after a crash. However, it can sometimes take weeks for symptoms of an injury to be evident. It’s common for somebody who is concerned about injuries after a crash to go to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care. What they don’t understand is that these doctors are focused on helping people not to die right now. They don’t formulate recovery or rehabilitation plans. They will typically assess you for serious injuries such as a fracture or head trauma, give you a muscle relaxer and a pain killer and send you on your way. It’s not that they aren’t doing their jobs; they absolutely are. But, as mentioned previously, their job is to make sure you aren’t going to die right now. You may be told that your problem will get better on its own, but a significant number of these injuries will require some help to fully recover.

We recommend that anybody who was in a car crash at least see a chiropractor to determine if these injuries will require a treatment plan for a full recovery. Of course, we don’t want you to die right now, but we also want to help you live the best rest of your life. 

What if I can’t afford to be treated for my injuries after a car accident?

In Oregon, all drivers are required to carry car insurance with Personal Injury Protection. ORS 742.524 requires that this insurance cover at least $15,000 of medical, dental, surgical, hospital, ambulance and prosthetic services for up to 2 years. If you were involved in an accident with an uninsured motorist or a hit-and-run, your insurance may also include coverage for a situation like this. If your crash happened in Oregon, then you likely have more than enough insurance coverage to pay for all of your health expenses related to your auto injury. Rarely, your auto insurance carrier may have up to a $250 deductible.

If you need treatment for injuries, or even to get checked out after a car crash, you just need to contact your own insurance company and get a personal injury claim number. You will deal with your insurance company and you don’t even need to worry about who was at fault. Even if you caused the crash, you are still covered and entitled to treatment to help you make a full recovery if possible. If the other driver was at fault, your insurance company will be reimbursed by the other driver’s insurance and you don’t need to worry about it.

If I have an insurance claim to repair the damage on my car, will my premiums go up if I ALSO have a personal injury claim?

Most insurance companies will not increase your premiums more because you have a personal injury claim in addition to your collision claim. We aren’t your insurance company though, so if you have questions about this, reach out to your insurance provider.

What if I was injured in somebody else’s car? Am I still covered?

The insurance policy of the driver should also cover passengers. If you were injured in the car crash as a passenger, then you can get help too.

Do I need a lawyer if I’ve been in a car crash?

In some cases, it is a good idea to be represented by a lawyer if you have been in a car crash. Most of them will work for you based on collecting a percentage of your settlement. We are happy to work with your attorney to provide all of the documentation you need for your case.

How long should I wait after a car accident to see the chiropractor?

The sooner we can get you in for an examination, the better. Some people get nervous that an adjustment might be painful or potentially dangerous soon after an auto injury. When you come in for evaluation and treatment, we will look at the details of your injury, perform a focused examination and determine the best course of action. This may include a referral to another provider. It may mean starting treatment right away. We always do what is best for our patient so that we can help you to make a quick and full recovery, if possible.

What should I expect when I’m treated for auto injuries?

Our philosophy doesn’t change for people who have an auto injury.

We offer ethical, evidence-guided care that is based on years of clinical experience to our patients. The goal is to get you back to the quality of life that you enjoyed before your injuries.

To do this we use the full range of tools at our disposal including an accurate diagnosis, chiropractic manipulation, rehabilitative exercise, therapeutic massage treatments, and other physiotherapies.

If a referral is in your best interest, for any reason, we will connect you with people that we trust and share our philosophy of patient-centered, evidence-based care.

What People Say About Us

I recently was in a motor vehicle accident and saw both Dr. Young for chiropractic treatments and Tamara for massage treatments. I was well cared for and received a thoughtful and thorough intake from both.

Tamara’s intuition, ability to offer deep tissue and trigger point release, and easfeul transitions was very supportive in my healing process. The massage was above and beyond my expectations!

Ida Cunningham

via Google

These guys are great for auto collision. They did chiropractic care and massage for a Bike v Car accident and are flexible on scheduling and worked with my insurance. Would recommend for immediate Care after a collision. They are do great massages.

Donovan Paull

via Google

I was in a car accident and got a recommendation to go to Dr. Young at Body of Health Chiropractic and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Five months later and my pain has finally gone away and I attribute most of that to his great patient care and sense of humor. I would recommend them to anyone who’s been in a car accident.

Brandy Damm-Winningham

via Google

Dr. Young and his staff are the BEST! In dealing with a recent, horrific auto collision there was no one that new the “process” with the insurance than Dr. Young! They helped with a really bad situation! We would never go anywhere else!

John Beck

via Google

Don't Wait Any Longer. Get on the “Field” for Restored Health!

Call 541-753-1287

Outside of business hours, leave a message.
We'll get back to you by the next business morning!

OR Visit us at 867 NW 23rd St., Corvallis, Oregon.

OR Submit the convenient form below  and we'll respond quickly.