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5 quick tips to reduce injury during a car accident

This article will provide you with simple tips to reduce your chances of being injured during a car accident (especially rear end collisions).

1.  Always have your headrest properly adjusted. Ideally the top of your headrest should be level with the top of your head.

If your headrest is too low, your head will extend above and over the restraint, which then acts as fulcrum and increases your injury risk. When you are struck from behind, a 1-3 inch vertical rise in your head will occur. This can further bring your head up and over the headrest aggravating your neck.  Make sure the adjustable headrest is locked into position. When the head snaps back, it could make contact with the top of the headrest and may drive it down like a hammer drives a nail.  Unfortunately, headrests are designed for the 50% male (5’10”) population. Taller individuals should still adjust the headrest into the highest position.

2.  Keep the back of your head as close to the headrest as possible.

“Backset” is the distance from the back of your head to the front of the headrest. A starting backset greater than 2 inches decreases the ability of the head restraint to protect against neck injury. Studies have found that neck symptoms increased when the backset distance was more that 4 inches. Read more

Preventing Shoulder Pain-Installment 1

Shoulder pain is one of the more common reasons patients come to Muscle and Joint Chiropractic. We have excellent results using Integrative Diagnosis™ with MAR™ and IAR™ and ART® to treat the soft tissue surrounding the shoulder, but understanding how the shoulder works is crucial to preventing you from having to visit the Chiropractor’s office. The shoulder (glenohumeral) joint is designed for movement.  This becomes obvious when you look at the structure of the joint.  The amount of support from the bone is minimal.  If you think of a softball sitting on top of a golf tee, then you can imagine how much bony support (the area that the golf tee is in contact with the softball) that the shoulder receives.

Since the support doesn’t come from the bone, the soft tissue surrounding the shoulder plays a huge role.  The group of muscles that cross the shoulder (rotator cuff muscles) contract to stabilize the shoulder. Read more