Car accident care
Chiropractor after a car accident?
For a lot of people, a chiropractor is the first call after a crash. Before you start a series of adjustments, find out what you are treating.
Pain after a collision can come from strained muscles and ligaments, from a disc, or from a nerve being pressed on. In the first few days they can feel alike, and they are treated differently. An orthopedic spine surgeon can tell you which one it is — and that answer decides what treatment makes sense, adjustments included.
Talk it through with Dr. Jimenez by phone before you start anything. No referral, and no attorney needed.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room if you have any of these
- New or worsening weakness in an arm or leg
- Numbness that is spreading
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- New difficulty walking or keeping your balance
- Severe or worsening headache, confusion, repeated vomiting, or loss of consciousness
- Chest pain or difficulty breathing
- Severe abdominal, neck, or back pain
- Severe or uncontrolled bleeding
None of these? Read on.
A chiropractor and a spine surgeon are different kinds of doctor
Chiropractors hold a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) degree and are licensed health professionals. They are not medical doctors. Chiropractic care centers on adjusting the spine and joints by hand. Georgia law lets chiropractors take X-rays, and does not let them prescribe medication, give injections or perform surgery.
An orthopedic spine surgeon is a medical doctor (MD) trained in orthopedic surgery and then in the spine — the whole range, from the first examination to an operation when one is needed.
| Chiropractor (DC) | Orthopedic spine surgeon (MD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Medical doctor | No | Yes |
| Takes X-rays | Yes | Yes |
| Prescribes medication | No | Yes |
| Spinal injections | No | Yes |
| Spine surgery, when it is needed | No | Yes |
| Main approach | Adjustment and manual therapy | Diagnosis first, then conservative care, injections or surgery — whichever fits |
Neither column is a criticism. They are different jobs, and after a crash the question is which one you need first.
Why the diagnosis comes first
After a collision the useful question is not who treats pain, but what is causing yours. A strained muscle, an injured disc and an irritated nerve root can feel alike in the first days, and each calls for something different.
Less often, a crash causes an injury that should be ruled out before anyone manipulates the spine: a fracture, an unstable ligament injury, or pressure on the spinal cord. Those are found by an examination and the right imaging, not by how the pain feels.
That is what an evaluation with an orthopedic spine surgeon establishes — what is injured, how seriously, and which treatment fits. If the answer includes chiropractic care, you start it knowing why.
Before you commit to weeks of visits
There is no standard number of visits after a car accident. A treatment plan should come with a diagnosis, and with a way to tell whether it is working. These are fair questions to ask any provider, including us:
- What is my diagnosis, and how was it reached?
- How many visits are you planning, and why that many?
- What will tell us it is working — and what happens if I am not better by then?
- Do I need imaging? Which kind, and what will it change?
Good answers are specific. A long series of visits without a clear diagnosis behind it is a reason to get one.
A free consultation with Dr. Jimenez, within 24 hours — five to ten minutes on the phone, and longer if it needs to be.
A disc, sciatica or a pinched nerve?
Pain that travels — from the neck into an arm or a hand, or from the low back into a leg or a foot — usually means a nerve is being irritated or compressed, often by a disc. So does numbness, tingling or weakness, even when it comes and goes.
That is the point at which an orthopedic spine surgeon is the more useful first visit. Whether a disc is involved, which nerve, and how much, is what decides the treatment — and most herniated discs improve without surgery.
Back and neck pain after a car accidentWhen an MRI makes sense
What happens when you see Dr. Jimenez
Dr. Miguel Jimenez is an orthopedic spine surgeon. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic and a spine fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, and has practiced in Georgia for more than 23 years.
He does the examination himself, makes the imaging decisions himself, and performs the injections and surgery himself. X-rays are taken in the office; when the examination calls for an MRI, it is done at an imaging center. The person deciding whether you need an operation is the same person who would do it — and most of what that means in practice is being told you do not need one.
Mayo Clinic orthopedic residency · Hospital for Special Surgery spine fellowship · 23+ years in Georgia · English and Spanish
Already seeing a chiropractor?
That is fine. Many patients keep seeing their chiropractor while a spine surgeon evaluates them, and you do not have to stop to be seen here. If you have been going for a while and are not getting better, or the pain has started to travel, that is a good time to be evaluated.
Questions people ask
Is a chiropractor a medical doctor?
Should I see a chiropractor or a doctor after a car accident?
How many chiropractor visits are normal after a car accident?
Do I have to stop seeing my chiropractor to be seen here?
Do I need a referral?
Do I need an attorney first?
How does payment work?
Find out what you are treating first
Tell us what happened and what you are feeling, and within 24 hours you can talk it through by phone with Dr. Jimenez — including whether an evaluation is worth it at all.
A free consultation with Dr. Jimenez, within 24 hours — five to ten minutes on the phone, and longer if it needs to be.
What kind of doctor to see after a car accidentSymptoms after an accident