Auto Accidents Can Wait
Weeks to Give You Pain
By Paul Helzer, DC, PhD
Have you ever heard someone say “I just haven’t felt the same since I had that accident?” Well the proof is in that half (½) of all auto accident victims don’t feel any effects until a week or even months after the impact! If you, like most people who have had an accident and just felt ‘bruised or shaken up’ like I did, don’t want to make a big deal about it. Mostly you’re just thankful it wasn’t worse. You just want to clear things up and get back to your life and most of the time that’s what we do.
If you’re like me, I felt fine afterwards but about 3 to 4 weeks later I started to have neck and back stiffness, trouble getting out of bed, and the hot showers I took to get going in the morning started lasting longer and longer. Then came the headaches and finally I noticed my right hand and fingers going to sleep at night, then into the day. At first I thought it was just old age, but then I thought - my other hand is just as old. Why is it giving me problems? Then it dawned on me I was suffering the late effects of a whiplash injury!
After 30 years in practice you’d think I’d be quicker on the uptake but I wasn’t thinking like a Doctor, I was thinking like a patient. I quickly saw my associate who x-rayed me and confirmed it and then started me on a course of care I’d given hundreds of patients myself over the years. After a few weeks of therapy I was feeling great. I wondered how many other people like me were out there and did not know whiplash injuries can wait to produce pain or more importantly why they often do.
Here’s why: The ligaments that hold the spine in place are flexible but not under the quick snapping of a whiplash. Auto accidents produce high degrees of stress in very short periods of time. This causes small micro-tears in the tissue, sort of like over-stretching a sweater; left without treatment they either heal or get worse. To the point they tear at any moment. Have you ever had a favorite shirt with a little tear in it? Your wife keeps trying to throw it away but you love it and just wear it around the house. Then one day you go to put it on and the tear finally gives out and the whole thing just rips apart.
That’s what doctors call Ligament Fatigue and in whiplash cases it can wait weeks, even months to happen. Fortunately in California you have 1 year, from the date of the accident to have things checked out by your doctor and most car insurance companies encourage you to do so. Be sure to be x-rayed and make sure you get what’s called a flexion/extension series. It stretches the ligaments like the accident did and is one of the best ways to detect tears and pinches nerves. Don’t be one of ‘those’ people who keep saying “I should have had it checked out”. An ounce of prevention now is worth a pound of cure later!
Dr. Paul Helzer, Director of Helzer Healing Arts Center in Bellflower has been serving the community for over 50 years. For your questions or comments visit or write Dr. Helzer at 9461 Flower Street, Bellflower, CA 90706 or call (562) 866-3721.
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