Why Is It Important to See a Chiropractor After a Car Accident?

Even a minor fender bender can cause disc injury and brainstem-affecting misalignment — here's why upper cervical chiropractic care matters after any car accident.

Key Takeaways

Even low-speed collisions (as slow as 4 mph) have been shown in research to cause disc injuries.
Whiplash causes the neck to misalign at the top of the cervical spine, directly impacting the brainstem.
The upper cervical spine is uniquely critical because misalignment there can affect the entire body from head to toe.
Upper cervical chiropractic care offers a precise, gentle correction that avoids causing additional damage.
Getting checked promptly after any car accident — even a minor one — is essential for long-term health.

Overview

Why You Should See a Chiropractor After a Car Accident

Dr. Michael St. Louis explains why seeking chiropractic care — specifically upper cervical chiropractic care — is critical after a car accident, even one that feels minor. Research shows that impacts as low as four miles per hour can produce disc injuries, meaning the absence of dramatic symptoms doesn't mean the absence of real damage.

One of the most important concerns after any collision is whiplash. The back-and-forth motion of the neck during impact causes misalignment at the very top of the cervical spine — a region that directly influences the brainstem. Because everything above affects everything below, a misalignment in this area can have wide-reaching effects throughout the entire body.

Dr. St. Louis emphasizes the importance of being evaluated by a clinician who specializes in upper cervical work — someone who can precisely assess this critical region and correct misalignments gently, without causing further injury. Early, targeted intervention is key to preventing short-term trauma from becoming a long-term problem.

Full Transcript

Dr. Michael St. Louis of Atlas Injury Health. I'm here to talk to you about car accidents. Why is it important to see a chiropractor, specifically an upper cervical chiropractor, after a car accident? Even if it's a minor fender bender, our body goes through trauma, and it doesn't take much. Even four miles an hour has proven under research to show that there can be disc injury. The other aspect is that during a whiplash injury, when your neck is going back and forth you will be misaligned at the top of the neck and that's going to affect your brainstem it is very important to be checked out by a person who knows what they're doing with the neck specifically because that impacts the entire body everything above affects everything below and that's a very critical part of your neck that needs to be checked out by somebody who does upper cervical specific work that can take a good look at it and fix it very gently without causing further damage.