Welcome to Rocky Mountain Family Chiropractic
We are changing lives for the better; EVERYDAY. Your health is important and complex and you need a doctor who is passionate about health and also has the breadth of skills to help you. We at Rocky Mountain Family Chiropractic love what we do and strive to give the best care possible. It’s a different kind of healthcare, a different kind of chiropractic, all to make a difference in your life.
It’s that time of year again…

The weather is changing…
The roads are getting icy…
People are driving faster than they should…
You get rear-ended.
It’s a classic tale: You’re at a stop light and didn’t see it coming. Someone hits your car. They weren’t going fast… You feel ok… no need to go to the doctor, right?
WRONG!!!
The fact-of-the-matter is that regardless of how hard the impact is, many different factors go into your being injured or not. That includes: impact direction, location of impact, attentiveness of the occupant, posture of the occupant (looking forward, to the side, up or down, twisted, etc.), restraints (including position and tension), other safety features (including airbags, head restraints, shoulder straps, Dynamic seats, changes of velocity, bumper ratings, brakes depressed or not, etc.

Notice we didn’t mention how fast the vehicles are going. Research has shown that actual speed isn’t an indication of injury or not. We’ve heard the tales of people getting up and walking away from a roll-over wreck. I’ve personally seen patients with serious injuries in 10 mph bumper kisses! I’ll say it again:
THE SPEED OF THE CAR IS NOT AN INDICATOR OF INJURY SEVERITY!
What’s more, many car accident victims don’t have ANY symptoms at all for up to 2 weeks after the accident!
Here’s the thing. Regardless of the severity of the crash, you need to be evaluated. You need someone who is competent and trained to screen for injuries. This would be above and beyond the emergency room. They do a great job looking for broken bones, lacerations, dislocations, and severe strains, but they DON’T do a good enough job assessing more subtle injuries. You may experience:
- pain
- stiffness
- numbness
- dizziness
- headaches
- radiating pain
- weakness in the limbs
- electrical pain
- vision changes
- mental/mood changes
- inability to concentrate
- difficulty swallowing
- jaw pain/clicking
- etc.
Dr. Arthur Croft has literally written the textbook on how to assess and manage these cases. His website lists doctors who have become certified and advanced certified in managing whiplash, motor vehicle collision, and brain traumatology victims. I am one of those physicians. You can go here to search for my listing. This certification involved a year of study, hundreds of post-graduate class hours, and a rigorous exam. One of my greatest joys is to have a patient in terrible pain and be involved in helping them get their lives back.
Here is some important information on car accidents:
Reporting traffic crashes
In nearly all states the law requires that all traffic collisions be reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), regardless of whether it was your fault or the fault of another driver. If there are any questions on how to report a traffic collision, please contact your insurance agent, and they will be happy to help you.
What to do after the collision
Many crash victims feel shaken, but other-wise uninjured at the time of the crash. However, 24-72 hours later, they may become symptomatic, experiencing head-aches, neck pain, or other symptoms. It is best to follow the advice of the emergency workers after a traffic collision. If you do not go directly to the hospital it is best to seek attention from a chiropractic physician or physical therapist, as they are best trained in dealing with musculoskeletal injuries, and aiding in a quicker recovery.
Make sure the personal information from the other driver/drivers is collected even if the police come to the scene. If there is any question with your insurance, the type of injuries, and who was at fault, your insurance agent along with your chiropractic physician can help you.
Information to collect
- Date
- Time
- Location
- Your direction of travel
- Lane #
- Describe your injuries
- Name, Phone, Address of other motorists involved
- Driver’s License and state of other motorists
- Date of birth of other motorists
- Vehicle (make, year, plate#)
- Insurance Company (with policy # and agent name)
- Describe their injuries
- Other applicable notes
Seat belts
Always wear your seat belt and shoulder harness when riding in a vehicle, even if your car has airbags. Airbags are designed to work in conjunction with seat belts, and not to be used alone, as they can cause serious injury by themselves. The safest place for you in a crash is sitting securely in your seat. Many fatal crashes occur at relatively low speeds, and you can double your chances of surviving a crash by wearing your seat belt.
Many people mistakenly believe that they can brace against the steering wheel and avoid serious injury, however even at 25 mph an unrestrained driver can strike the steering wheel with the same force as falling from a 3rd floor balcony.
- Car Speed prior to impact = 25 mph
- Driver Speed prior to impact = 25 mph

- Car Speed after impact = 0 mph
- Driver Speed after impact = 25 mph
25 mph is the same speed as falling from a 3rd floor balcony!
Child restraint system (CRS)
Tragically, more than 40% of children who die in car crashes are unbelted. Always be sure children are properly protected when riding in a moving vehicle under your control.
It’s the LAW! Please check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website at www.nhtsa.gov for questions about CRS.
- Children should remain rear-facing for a minimum of 1 year.
- Children over 1 year and weighing 20 to 40 lbs may ride in a forward-facing CRS.
- Kids too big for a 5-poing harness, generally between 4-8 yrs old should ride in a high back booster seat until at least 57” tall.
- Children under 12 years old should ride in the back seat when possible.
Head restraints
Each year nearly 3 million people suffer a whiplash injury. About half are left with some chronic problems and about 10% become permanently disabled. Only 20% of drivers correctly adjust their head restraints. Proper head restraint position is the single most important method to prevent whiplash related injuries.

Poor Geometry

Good Geometry
Position the head restraint as close to the head as possible. It should be level with the top of the head.
Treatment for whiplash
Proper treatment for whiplash is important in order to avoid serious chronic problems and complications. Proper treatment consists of restoring the mobility of the joints in the spine, decreasing inflammation, breaking up scar tissue, and returning strength and proper range of motion back to the surrounding musculature. Medicines will only cover up the symptoms, it does not correct the potentially harmful damage whiplash has on the body. Correction of this damage can only be achieved by quality treatment from a chiropractic physician.
If you’re involved in a motor vehicle collision, it is very important that you seek the advice of one certified in handling these cases. Dr. William Green is advanced certified in managing trauma and injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision. Delay will not only cause more damage (including scar tissue) to occur which potentially leads to chronic problems, but it will also hurt your attempts to receive compensation from your insurance company. Your insurance company CAN NOT use your personal injury claims to increase your premiums, so you don’t have to worry about that.
We have same day appointment times blocked off specifically for car accident patients. We know how important it is for you to get seen and begin care asap. CALL US TODAY!!!
Your thyroid gland is one of the most complicated glands in the entire body. Its responsibilities can be generally broken down into two main areas: Blood Calcium (in concert with the parathyroid gland) and your body’s Metabolism.
It is the latter of these responsibilities that creates this convolution of job functions. Speaking in general terms, your body’s metabolism is responsible for creating and using energy. More specifically, it is involved in the processes of digestion, absorption, cellular respiration, internal temperature, proper functioning of ALL the body’s internal organs, chemical balances in the brain, body growth rate (in children), and the rate of which the body can produce energy in order to complete these tasks. That’s a tall order, and one that allows for opportunity for disruption. For this reason, many of the symptoms of a thyroid disorder may look like other disease processes. These symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Cold hands and feet
- Weight gain
- Constipation
- Hair loss (including outer 1/3rd of your eyebrows)
- Depression
- Mental sluggishness
- Morning headaches
Traditional treatments for thyroid dysfunction involve synthetic thyroid hormone medications (made or altered by a laboratory), glandular thyroid hormone medications, and/or surgeries (in the case of hyperthyroid patients). Many times, after being on these medicines, a patient will return to the doctor without any changes in the symptoms, in spite of their blood work values returning to “normal”. This situation is one of great frustration for the patient and physician alike.
One of the reasons for the normalization of blood work without changes to how the patient feels is that the primary cause of the symptoms may not be directly related to a hypo-functioning thyroid gland (for which Synthroid, Armour Thyroid, or Levothyroxine treat). These medicines override your body’s natural physiology and may actually be doing more harm than good.
As stated above, the thyroid is responsible for a lot of functions in the body. The treatments above are only effective against one of the six possible causes of actual hypothyroidism. Because of this, if you are experiencing thyroid symptoms you need to make sure your doctor is fully investigating the exact cause of your thyroid condition. Your thyroid works based on influence from the brain (hypothalamus and pituitary gland). If one or both of these two areas are not properly communicating to the thyroid, you will end up with a dysfunctional thyroid and the medications will have little to no effect. Your thyroid secretes two main hormones: T4 (93%) and T3 (7%). T4 is the inactive form and must be converted to T3 to have an effect on the body. If this conversion does not take place (60% happens in the liver, 20% in the gut, 20% elsewhere), then you will end up with hypothyroid type symptoms for which the medications will be ineffective. If you have Hashimoto’s disease (which is estimated as 80% of hypothyroid patients in America), then your body is mounting an immune attack against your thyroid. Medications will have minimal effect, and will not calm the autoimmune system underlying the disorder. Many patients and/or physicians supplement treatments with iodine. With an autoimmune condition, however, using iodine would simply be adding fuel to the fire. It will make things worse! Additionally, when your body attacks one tissue there is a high likelihood that it will attack another. It is not uncommon to find a Hashimoto’s patient with antibodies against their own brain (cerebellum).
To truly treat a thyroid you must understand where the dysfunction is taking place. This can be easily done with blood tests. Additionally, there are natural medicines designed to treat where the dysfunction is occurring. These medicines can effectively help in ALL six of the possible thyroid dysfunction conditions! Everyone deserves to know what is going on in his or her body. Everyone deserves to live a life free of thyroid symptoms. Why not start now?
Dr. William Green and Rocky Mountain Family Chiropractic are currently accepting thyroid patients. If you mention this blog article, you will receive a no charge, no obligation case review of your thyroid (a $250.00 value!). This will give Dr. Green an opportunity to review your case and give you recommendations. It’s time to take your life back! Why not start the journey with someone who knows how to guide you along the path? Call today at 801-683-9553!