Getting into a car accident can be stressful. Not only physically but emotionally as well. Trauma of being hit from behind, being side swiped or hitting someone else puts your body in fight or flight response.  This starts a whole cascade of an inflammatory process that can lead to long term problems.  

Sometimes there is immediate discomfort after an accident and other times it can be delayed.  There are often times when patients come in weeks or months after an accident with delayed pain which they sometimes don't even correlate to the accident they had in the past.  

According to the Mayo Clinic, stress leads to our natural response that we have had as humans for thousands of years.  

When stressed, your primitive brain sends messages to the hypothalamus. This is in the middle of your brain and is responsible for hormone release and regulation.  

After getting into an accident two major hormones are involved for stress:

1. Adrenaline: 

This hormone increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure, opens up the lungs, enlarges pupils, moves blood to the muscles (to get ready to run/flight) and changes the body's metabolism.  

2. Cortisol: 

This is the primary stress hormone and it inflames your whole body.  It increases sugar in the bloodstream, alters the immune system (more risk of getting sick), suppresses digestion, reproduction and growth.  

If these hormones are constantly firing, not only will there be pain but there will be other problems as well.

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Headaches
• Muscle tightness and pain
• Increased risk of heart attack
• Sleeping issues
• Weight gain
• Memory and concentration difficulty

This is why it is important to see a chiropractor after an accident as quickly as possible.  Our treatments decrease stress in the body.  When getting an adjustment, not only do signals move to the Frontal Cortex of the brain which helps with executive function (memory, flexible thinking, self-control, mood) but does so much more.

Chiropractic adjustments/manipulations release:

1. Oxytocin - The love hormone: Love and connection

2. Dopamine - Pleasure, satisfaction. motivation

3. Serotonin - Mood stabilizer, healthy sleeping patterns

So, not only can we help with pain, we also help your whole body!  

If you have been in a car accident in San Francisco we can help.  Contact us today!

References: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037#:~:text=Adrenaline%20increases%20your%20heart%20rate,of%20substances%20that%20repair%20tissues.

https://www.understood.org/articles/en/what-is-executive-function