Seat-belt injuries can be serious - Why your HEART is at risk

Seat-belt injuries can be serious - why your HEART is at risk.

We care for many people who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents in our Sacramento chiropractic clinic.
What I have learned from my education and experience is that there can be many major consequences from
injuries that may go undetected or even overlooked, even by health professionals. Some may just seem minor at
first.

One of these occasionally overlooked but serious effects of car accidents can be damage to your heart! Therefore it is vital to have your heart evaluated in all auto accident injury cases.

Seat belts are proven to save lives. Nobody should drive or ride without wearing them. They do the lion's share of
the safety work by holding you in your seat in a violent motor vehicle accident. They essentially work by strapping you in tightly at your pelvis and across your chest and shoulder. This, of course, prevents you from being ejected through the windshield or hitting the dashboard of your car. Air bags can be helpful too, but sometimes cause more injury because they blast out at you at 200 mph. That's quite a punch!

Because the belt goes across your chest, rib and sternum injuries, as well as shoulder injuries, often occur. The
good thing, is that these injuries are more obvious and more easily diagnosed. My experience and research over
the years has shown that seat belts can also cause injuries to your heart.

Therefore, it is important to have your blood pressure and heart rate measured after a motor vehicle accident.
An uneven, irregular pulse is a sign that you may have a traumatically induced cardiac dysrhythmia. These cases
need further evaluation by a cardiologist, and necessary treatment should be started right away. Unfortunately,
even with treatment, sometimes the dysrhythmia is permanent and something that you will deal with the rest of
your life.

If you have been injured through no fault of you own, you also deserve compensation for all your injuries,  so it is
important to diagnose all of your conditions and get them into the hands of specialists that can treat them.

An interesting study published in 2007 found that people under 50 years of age who are in car accidents have
a 400% higher chance of getting some kind of heart dysrhythmia or irregular heartbeat.

People over 50 only have a 200% higher chance of having these heart problems after a car
accident. That is still a lot higher and should not be missed.  

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, make sure you are thoroughly evaluated by an experienced
professional and that your injuries are properly diagnosed and treated. A good place to start is here in our
Sacramento region chiropractic clinic.

Dr. Gregg Anderson, D.C.
Anderson Chiropractic Clinic
Sacramento CA