March 29, 2024

Moblin Contest

Automotive Car

The Connection Between Your Auto Accident And Thyroid Problems

In the immediate and distant aftermath of an auto accident, you might find your quality of life compromised by a series of physical ailments whose symptoms are intense and somewhat debilitating but whose precise underlying causes are mysterious.

Getting at the heart of your ailments seems the more impossible, since your recurring discomfort occurs throughout your body, especially in your neck/head region. Also, your moments of acute pain come and go randomly or remain with you constantly, a muted unease that flares intermittently. Occasionally, you find yourself inexplicably bedridden and/or lethargic, irritable and throbbing.

You can’t quite put your finger on the source of your problem and, unfortunately, neither can your doctor. Results from your most recent battery of tests say nothing is wrong with you. But you know better.

You might be among a percentage of an estimated 50+ million Americans with undiagnosed thyroid conditions caused by musculoskeletal trauma. More common a condition than is widely believed, an underperforming or incorrectly performing thyroid can adversely affect your metabolism, energy levels, mood, immune system, brain functions and can further exacerbate your overall physical aches and pains. General musculoskeletal pain and neck pain in particular are both symptoms and causes of thyroid issues. Here’s how.

Essentially, trauma to your neck can affect your thyroid and subsequently open you up to a wider assortment of physical ailments. Your affected thyroid then becomes the source of more physical pain. In short, musculoskeletal trauma begets bodily pain and disrupts the thyroid–which causes more musculoskeletal pain. Thus the debilitating cycle ensues.

Research conducted some years back uncovered connections between trauma from auto accidents and thyroid lesions and hypothyroidism.[1] Drivers who survived auto accidents realized years later the accidents had injured their thyroid glands, in turn creating problems that persisted long after bones healed. In the interim, subjects experienced visceral pain that seemed to emanate from nowhere. Even worse, when their doctors ran thyroid tests, results came back normal. Doctor and patient were at a loss.Consequently, the doctor merely prescribed pain meds to the patient. The meds only masked the pain, never getting at the core issue. This is because treating trauma from injuries without assessing adverse affects of trauma upon the thyroid will not necessarily cancel out the pain. Patients who have endured years of pain meds and various therapies targeting their physical trauma alone can potentially find themselves riddled with pain indefinitely, since the underlying cause is a subtle, undiagnosed thyroid issue precipitated by the initial trauma.

Luckily, these scenarios do not have to be the case. Relying on pain meds and other prescriptions that merely blanket symptoms and never address the underlying problem is not the only option. A first step toward discovering and addressing what is really wrong might entail discovering and undergoing a new set of tests and evaluations.

Of greater value is the necessity for approaching the issues of chronic pain in a way that capitalizes upon prevailing medical knowledge without limiting individuals to a simple diagnosis=prescription drugs paradigm. Doctors with this mindset devoted themselves to assisting chronic pain sufferers with rooting out the causes of chronic pain in hopes of arming them with a means to take preventative action.

To get to the root of problems requires asking many questions and getting to know the patient and their medical history. Using questionnaires that evaluate the hormonal system, immune system, digestive system and overall metabolic systems is a key. Bearing in mind what information is gleaned from the investigative process, allows the doctor to determine the correct series of diagnostic tests to get at the heart of what’s causing your pain.

Often the therapies are chosen to address the delicate balance of neurological and metabolic factors underlying the chronic pain. Because thyroid problems are often the cause of/caused by metabolic/neurological ratios that are slightly out of proportion in any given patient, the preferred approach targets these specifically and holistically. This is what sets the approach I suggest to addressing musculoskeletal pain apart from that of other specialists.

Doctors of chiropractic do not use drugs of any kind nor conduct surgery. The key is isolating the unique balance between the thyroid and the whole body, finding out what’s off and correcting it. Easier said than done but not impossible. The main benefit is you remain fully in charge of your capacities and won’t have to bother with the perpetual fogginess pain meds often induce.

Some standout therapies that are useful for alleviating overall musculoskeletal pain include:

  • Chiropractic structural adjustment that focuses on the nervous system and the relationship the spine and nervous system have with each other AND the relationship between the nervous system and ALL other body functions.
  • WAVE-Whole Body Advanced Vibration Exercise: Based upon techniques used with cosmonauts to prevent bone mineral loss after performing space exploration, Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is the equivalent of safely performing thousands of muscle contractions per minute. Benefits include increased metabolism (thyroid), improved flexibility and bone density, and a decrease in chronic pain.
  • Cold LASER Therapy (Low Level Laser Therapy or LLLT): LLLT therapy is an FDA-cleared treatment that has been shown to decrease pain and inflammation, speed healing, and more. By directing specific frequencies of LASER and near infrared light to the body, this painless treatment can accelerate 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.

Be encouraged and know you have options and hope when it comes to unrelenting pain after an auto accident. Your victory over your health challenge is at hand. Take the first step toward improved health today.

References:

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