With the early Alaskan winter already upon us, slips and falls are a common concern for residents of Anchorage and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, when hard outdoor or indoor surfaces are not well kept, they open the door to sudden slips and falls. These falls can lead to serious injuries, such as broken bones, misalignments, concussions, back issues, sprains, and more. Here are common slip and fall injuries that an Alaskan chiropractor can help.

Have you been injured in a slip-and-fall accident? Contact us at Excellence in Health for the chiropractic care you need.

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Accidents Waiting to Happen

Accidents can happen at any time in life. However, when Alaska's winter comes along, it brings with it ice, snow, and sleet to make getting around safely a monumental challenge. Businesses and individuals can clear the hard surfaces inside and around their property to minimize the threat of falling. Yet, they don't always make sure it's done.

Not only are our outdoor surroundings slick because of the weather, but indoor surfaces can also get wet and slippery. That often happens because people bring in snow and ice on their shoes, creating a mess on floors and hallways. When people don't maintain clean, dry walkways, a slip-and-fall accident can happen at any time.

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Common Slip and Fall Injuries

When you have a slip-and-fall accident in Alaska, the injuries you sustain can make your life harder as you try to move around the city. What kinds of injuries might you get? Here is a list of the most common injuries that people sustain after slip and fall accidents in Alaska.

1. Strains and sprains

It's easy to get an ankle sprain or a muscle strain when you lose your footing on the ice. A sprain is an injury affecting the ligaments around a joint, such as the ankle, wrist, or elbow. Sprains cause swelling and pain, even though you haven't dislocated the joint. The severity of sprains can range from a small amount of overstretching to a full rupture or tear.

Muscle strains are injuries to muscles and/or tendons that connect to bones. The muscle might be overstretched or, in more severe injuries, may even be torn.

2. Bone Fractures

When you land hard enough in slip-and-fall accidents in Alaska, you could break a bone. The trauma to your bone can be severe. It needs special attention to realign the bone sections. Symptoms of a fracture include pain, tenderness, swelling, bruising, and, most significantly, an inability to move the body part in its usual way.

3. Soft Tissue Injuries

When you see your chiropractor after slip and fall accidents in Alaska, they might tell you that you have soft tissue injuries. This is just another name for injuries to your ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Soft tissue injuries can include sprains, strains, and severe bruising.

4. Concussions

A concussion is an injury to your brain. A concussion can happen during slip-and-fall accidents in Alaska, especially when your body accelerates as you slip. Your head hits something hard, like the hard surface of a wet floor, and your brain is injured. If you have a concussion, you may lose consciousness or just have a severe headache. Unfortunately, more is going on beneath the surface, so you might not even realize you have a traumatic brain injury.

5. Dislocated Shoulders

People often get dislocated shoulders during slip-and-fall accidents in Alaska. Either you fall onto your shoulder, or you hit something else hard enough to cause serious damage. In a dislocated shoulder, your upper arm has popped out of the shoulder socket. It needs to be put back into place by a professional.

6. Knee Injuries

The knee is a complex joint, and it can be injured in several ways when you fall. You might twist the joint and hurt your MCL or ACL, both of which are important ligaments that keep your knee joint stable. An injury like this often needs weeks of treatment and rest to repair.

7. Spinal Cord Injuries

About 90 percent of spinal cord injuries happen in a traumatic incident, such as a slip and fall accident in Alaska. Spinal cord injuries include damage to any part of the spinal cord or the nerves at its base. Severe spinal cord injuries can prevent you from moving, cause changes in sensation, and affect bowel and bladder control. And, of course, they can cause intense pain. Symptoms include back or neck pain or pressure, weakness, numbness, and trouble maintaining your balance.

8. Chronic Pain

Often, after slip and fall accidents in Alaska, people end up with chronic pain. The pain might be somewhat less than it was when the accident happened. However, without proper health care, chronic pain can continue for a lifetime, sometimes gaining intensity over the years.

9. Nerve Damage

If you sustain nerve damage from a slip-and-fall accident, it can affect any part of your body. The nerves carry messages from all parts of your body to the brain and from the brain to the body. When nerves are damaged, you may feel numbness, tingling, or a lack of sensation.

10. Slipped Discs

A slipped disc is a displaced spinal disc that protrudes from the spinal cord. The disc presses on the nerves near it. The result is pain that won't likely go away until the disc is back in place or removed.

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Chiropractic Treatment for Slip-and-Fall Accidents

Chiropractors can help with slip-and-fall accidents in Alaska. First comes a thorough assessment of your condition. Your chiropractor evaluates your injuries and creates a treatment plan for your unique combination of injuries.

Then, depending on the type of personal injury and where it is located, your chiropractor can provide you with the best treatment to get you back to your usual state of health. Some of the treatments we offer include:

• Spinal Adjustments
• Physiotherapy
• Concussion Rehab
• Chiropractic Massage Therapy
• Spinal Decompression through Traction

Your chiropractor can often relieve the pain and prevent chronic conditions from developing. Just as important, chiropractic care can restore your ability to move, work, and engage in recreational activities as you did before. We take a natural but evidence-based approach to your slip and fall injuries. This combination makes chiropractic care at Excellence in Health safer, less invasive, and more effective.

In addition, chiropractic care can sometimes help you avoid surgery or other risky treatments. Our care is all-natural, so you don't have to worry about taking synthetic chemicals to solve your physical problems.

After treatment, your chiropractor might recommend occupational therapy. OT helps you get back to normal functioning in your daily life.

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Choosing a Chiropractor for Slip and Fall Accidents

Anyone who has injuries from slip and fall accidents in Alaska might benefit from chiropractic care. But where can you find the best chiropractic team? All the chiropractic care you need can be found at Excellence in Health, conveniently located in Anchorage.

Voted Best in Alaska, Excellence In Health Chiropractic & Rehabilitation Clinic is your premier chiropractic provider. With William and Blue Ross as your chiropractor and a team of specialists at your service, you can recover from the accident, feel healthy and energetic again, and get back to life as usual.

Can a chiropractor help you heal from a slip-and-fall injury? Reach out to us at Excellence In Health Chiropractic & Rehabilitation Clinic to find out how a chiropractor can help.