The connection between your car accident and thyroid problems

In the immediate and distant aftermath of a car accident, your quality of life may be compromised by a number of physical ailments whose symptoms are intense and somewhat debilitating, but whose precise underlying causes are mysterious.

Getting to the heart of her ailments seems more impossible, as her recurring discomfort occurs throughout her entire body, especially in the neck / head region. Plus, your moments of sharp pain come and go randomly or linger with you constantly, a silent discomfort that comes on intermittently. Occasionally, you find yourself inexplicably bedridden and / or lethargic, irritable, and throbbing.

You can’t pinpoint the source of your problem and, unfortunately, neither can your doctor. The results of your most recent battery of tests indicate that nothing is wrong. But you know better.

You may be among the roughly 50 million Americans with undiagnosed thyroid conditions caused by musculoskeletal trauma. A more common condition than is believed, an underperforming or underperforming thyroid can negatively affect your metabolism, energy levels, mood, immune system, brain functions and can further exacerbate your physical aches and pains in general. General musculoskeletal pain and neck pain in particular are symptoms Y causes of thyroid problems. That is how.

Essentially, trauma to your neck can affect your thyroid and subsequently open it up to a wider variety of physical ailments. The affected thyroid then becomes the source of more physical pain. In summary, musculoskeletal trauma engenders body pain and disrupts the thyroid, causing more musculoskeletal pain. Therefore, the debilitating cycle ensues.

Research conducted a few years ago uncovered connections between car crash injuries and thyroid injuries and hypothyroidism.[1] Drivers who survived car accidents realized years later that the accidents had injured the thyroid glands, which in turn created problems that persisted long after the bones healed. Meanwhile, the subjects experienced visceral pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. Worse still, when his doctors performed thyroid tests, the results were normal. The doctor and the patient were puzzled, so the doctor simply prescribed painkillers for the patient. The drugs only masked the pain, never getting to the heart of the matter. This is because treating injury trauma without evaluating the adverse effects of trauma on the thyroid will not necessarily cancel out the pain. Patients who have endured years of pain relievers and various therapies aimed solely at their physical trauma can potentially find themselves plagued with pain indefinitely, as the underlying cause is a subtle and undiagnosed thyroid problem precipitated by the initial trauma.

Fortunately, these scenarios don’t have to be this way. Relying on pain relievers and other prescriptions that simply cover the symptoms and never address the underlying problem is not the only option. A first step in discovering and addressing what is really wrong might involve discovering and undergoing a new set of tests and evaluations.

Of greater value is the need to address chronic pain issues in a way that capitalizes on prevailing medical knowledge without limiting people to a simple diagnostic = prescription drug paradigm. Doctors with this mindset set out to help chronic pain sufferers eradicate the causes of chronic pain in hopes of arming them with a means to take preventive action.

Getting to the root of problems requires asking a lot of questions and knowing the patient and their medical history. The use of questionnaires that evaluate the hormonal system, the immune system, the digestive system and the metabolic system in general is key. Taking into account the information that is obtained from the investigation process, allows the doctor to determine the correct series of diagnostic tests to get to the heart of what is causing your pain.

Therapies are often chosen to address the delicate balance of neurological and metabolic factors that underlie chronic pain. Because thyroid problems are often the cause / caused by metabolic / neurological ratios that are slightly disproportionate in any patient, the preferred approach specifically and holistically targets these. This is what distinguishes my suggested approach to musculoskeletal pain from that of other specialists.

Chiropractic doctors do not use drugs of any kind or perform surgery. The key is to isolate the unique balance between the thyroid and the whole body, find out what is wrong, and correct it. Easier said than done, but not impossible. The main benefit is that you remain completely in control of your abilities and will not have to worry about the perpetual confusion that pain relievers often induce.

Some prominent therapies that are helpful in alleviating general musculoskeletal pain include:

• Chiropractic structural adjustment which focuses on the nervous system and the relationship that the spine and the nervous system have to each other AND the relationship between the nervous system and ALL other functions of the body.
• WAVE-Advanced Whole Body Vibration Exercise – Based on techniques used with cosmonauts to prevent loss of bone minerals after conducting space exploration, Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is the equivalent of safely performing thousands of contractions muscles per minute. Benefits include increased metabolism (thyroid), increased bone density and flexibility, and decreased chronic pain.
• Cold LASER therapy (Low Level Laser Therapy or LLLT): LLLT therapy is an FDA approved treatment that has been shown to decrease pain and inflammation, speed healing, and more. By directing specific frequencies of LASER and near infrared light at the body, this painless treatment can speed up the healing process and increase circulation. LLLT has been clinically shown to help with carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, RSDS, fibromyalgia, and other painful conditions.

Take heart and know that you have options and hope when it comes to unrelenting pain after a car accident. Your victory over your health challenge is at hand. Take the first step to better health today.

References:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12917086