lower back pain vehicle accidents

Causes of Lower Back Pain in Vehicle Accidents, Part 1

In many cases of car accident injury and whiplash, some of the most common areas of discomfort generally include upper back and neck pain. However, in many cases, lower back pain often doesn’t get the attention it should despite being just as large a risk to many who have been in a recent accident.

At Peterson Chiropractic, we’re proud to offer a variety of auto injury chiropractic services to those suffering from a variety of pain types. While you may be more familiar with upper back and neck areas, you might not be quite as knowledgeable on the precursors to lower back pain after a vehicle accident – this two-part blog will begin by noting a few such possible causes, then go into detail about a few specific discogenic issues that may be leading to such pain.

Whiplash

Anyone familiar with vehicle accidents and their impact on the spine and neck will be unsurprised to learn that whiplash can have an impact on the entire spine, not just the upper areas. While it’s slightly more common for whiplash to lead to upper back or neck pain, it regularly brings on lower back pain as well.

Between the forced upward motion of the torso and the backward movement of the head as whiplash is taking place, pain can erupt all over the spine. For those whose lower back area is positioned in any kind of strange way during the accident, or even those in normal posture but who are prone to lower back issues, this pain is often found in the lower back primarily.

Spinal Fractures

There are many kinds of vehicle accidents out there, any some may cause certain kinds of injuries more often than others. One common type many have experienced is the rear-end collision where one car hits the other from behind, an incident that’s known to cause spinal fractures.

This is particularly common, strangely enough, if both vehicles were moving at the time of the rear-end, rather than the impacted vehicle being at a stop. If you have just been rear-ended and you notice immediate pain in the lower back, do your best to remain immobile, as moving could worsen this issue.

Facet Joint Concerns

Facet joints in the spine are important elements in charge of preventing hyperextension – essentially, they keep the spine from moving too far out of its proper alignment. But these facet joints may be damaged in certain accidents, leading to issues with the cervical and lumbar portions of the spine, which cause middle and lower back pain, often in severe ways.

For more on the causes of lower back pain following vehicle accident, or to learn how our chiropractic services and whiplash treatments can help with each of them, speak to the staff at Peterson Chiropractic.

Peterson Chiropractic is led by Doctor Bradley Peterson, who grew up in Davis County and attended the University of Utah.