If you’re experiencing significant back pain, you may be wondering whether you should go to the emergency room or to a chiropractor. How do you determine whether the E.R. vs chiropractic care will be more helpful to you?
The truth is that it will depend on the cause of your pain. In some instances, your back pain may necessitate medical care, so you should go to the E.R. In many medical cases involving back pain, your medical doctor will refer you to a chiropractor to help you heal after they’ve treated you. In other cases, you can skip the E.R. and just head right to your chiropractor.
Sometimes, it’s obvious to tell whether you should seek the help of the E.R. vs chiropractic care. In others, not so much. Here’s what you need to know about when you should seek out the E.R. vs chiropractic care.
When You Should Go To The E.R.
If you have back pain, you’ll probably end up seeing a chiropractor anyway, right? So, why not just skip the emergency room and head right to the chiropractor’s office? Why even question when you’ll need the E.R. vs chiropractic care at all?
While it’s rare that you’ll need to see an emergency doctor for back pain, there are a few instances where you’ll need to go to the E.R. rather than a chiropractor. Usually, this is when your symptoms are severe or your pain is the result of trauma.
If you’re bleeding, have lacerations, have a suspected broken bone, have a severe headache, dizziness, nausea, or have bowel or bladder incontinence go to the emergency room right away. Some of the above have severe consequences that if you wait too long could lead to severe long term consequences and even death. The emergency department is there to make sure you live and survive. And they do a fantastic job of that!
Once you know you are going to live, or your symptoms are not life-threatening, a chiropractic physician can help you get your health back, so you can enjoy your life!
When You Should See A Chiropractor
Chiropractors are experts when it comes to your spine, which is why more often than not, you’ll see a chiropractor for your back pain. It’s common for people who go to medical doctors for back pain to be referred to a chiropractor, as chiropractors have extensive training and expertise in how to help a wide variety of issues that stem from spinal misalignments and problems.
This is why people wonder when you need the E.R. vs chiropractic care, if the emergency doctors are just going to tell you to go see a chiropractor anyway. We’ve covered the instances in which you’ll need to go to the E.R., because experts though chiropractors are, chiropractic care is natural and non-invasive, so it wouldn’t be able to fix a problem that necessitates medical procedures, like surgery.
However, more often than not, you’ll be able to see a chiropractor for your back pain, where in the case of the E.R. vs chiropractic care, you’ll opt for the latter. Chiropractors will be able to diagnose the root cause of your pain, and in many cases, can help you avoid other treatments that merely cover up your pain rather than actually treating it. Pain killers may be able to provide initial relief for a couple of hours, but they’re a temporary solution to a long-term problem.
Chiropractic physicians can diagnose and treat: concussions, whiplash, disc herniations, Piriformis syndrome, brachial plexus neuropathy such as thoracic outlet syndrome sprains and strains, knee shoulder and hip sprains and strains that are all common motor vehicle injuries.
A good chiropractor can be your best friend, because chiropractors are all about getting to the cause of your pain and correcting the problem versus just giving you pain pills to cover up the symptoms.
Medication can often help you deal with the initial pain, but if used alone, it’s a lot like trying to deal with the symptoms of a fire only covering up the fire alarm speaker with masking tape or cutting the wires. It never addresses the real cause of the alarm going off. Like a fire, we need to get to the root cause of the problem, the flame, and put it out. Then, the fire alarm will go off by itself.
In addition, a doctor of chiropractic who has extra training in motor vehicle occupant injuries (a whiplash specialist) will have additional tools and methods to be able to help you document your injuries thoroughly, and often has specialized equipment to help you get better even faster.
The E.R. Vs Chiropractic Care: Treatment
If you are not experiencing life-threatening or severe symptoms, you should see a chiropractor for your back pain. E.R. physicians are wonderful, but their job is to stabilize your condition and then refer you out to a specialist, if you need it. They will reduce your pain with medications, but they won’t repair any damages to your musculoskeletal system, which is why they would refer you out to a chiropractor.
Thus, in many cases, it’s often more beneficial to go right to a chiropractor, rather than the E.R. Chiropractors can often help you avoid more invasive measures such as surgery and offer you more expert, specialized care, seeing as how the spine is their area of expertise.
When you come to Grant Chiropractic for treatment, we can provide you with said expert care. This includes an in-depth evaluation of your condition that includes questions about your medical history and when the symptoms starts, along with:
- Full Diagnosis Equipment
- Chiropractic Testing
- Chiropractic Orthopedic Testing
- Neurological Assessment
- X-Rays when needed to find the root cause of the problem
- Individualized Treatment Plans
Chiropractors can treat a wide range of issues, including whiplash, sciatica, back injuries, misalignment, and more. Rather than covering up the symptoms, we get to the root cause of your pain, so that you can enjoy lasting relief.
Do you ever feel like you’re in a mill? Do you want specialized care? Contact Grant Chiropractic to schedule your consultation today, and let us restore your body to its proper functioning and relieve your pain.
