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After the Accident: Fact or Fiction?I put this topic together after listening to my patients who have been in car accidents. I wanted to dispell some myths and get the facts straight so you know what to do and look for if you are ever in an accident. Fact or Fiction?I was in an accident and we called the police. We shouldn’t move our cars so that the policeman could see exactly what happened.Fiction. Please, for your own safety, move the injured vehicles out of the way. The cops don’t need to see how it happened and they would rather see you make every effort to be safe by getting out of the way of traffic. Moving your cars out of the way makes all the other commuters happy too.
After the accident, I went to the hospital for some X-rays. The doctors there told me that everything was fine, so I don’t need to worry, right?Usually this is Fiction. The fact is, when an MD says you’re all right, what they usually mean is that there are no fractures or internal bleeding or any other life-threatening injury present. However, this doesn’t mean that everything is OK. There has usually been some damage to the muscles or ligaments that stabilize the structure of the spine. This can cause pain and can result in major spinal misalignment. As the injured soft tissue heals over the next 8 to 12 weeks, it is crucial that the alignment of the spinal joints be restored. If not, the soft tissue will heal and lock these joints down into their misaligned position, which can lead to a whole host of symptoms that may occur weeks, months, or even years after the accident occurred.
(This one’s for the lawyers) There was no damage to the car. There must not be any damage to me.Again, usually this is Fiction. The fact is, all that force of impact between two or more cars has to go somewhere. If it doesn’t get transferred into the steel or fiberglass of the car, then it may get transferred into you. Some of the worst cases I’ve seen are where a person was only going 10 miles an hour and backed into someone. Major injuries can be suffered even though there was no damage to the car. This one goes hand in hand with the next one.
After our vehicles collided, we got out and inspected the cars. There was no damage, so we decided not to file a report with the police or report it to our insurance. That was the right thing to do, right?Fiction. Although you may feel no symptoms in the moments after a car accident, most symptoms that you will suffer from after a car accident do not start until 48-72 hours later. If you do start to suffer bad symptoms that you feel are related to a recent accident, like neck pain, headaches, fainting spells, or tingling and numbness in the hands or feet, you may be facing some stout medical bills. If an accident report wasn’t filed or reported, when you go to your car insurance company and tell them about it, they’re not going to cover any of those bills because you have no documentation. Do not assume that no damage to the car means that there is no damage to you. Cover your bases and get the other person’s information. Wait for the authorities to arrive. File an accident report. It may be an annoyance, but it’s better than being stuck with a pile of medical bills.
I know that a car accident can cause whiplash and neck pain, but accidents can also cause low back pain too, can’t they?Fact. Research is showing more and more consistently that while the neck is the primary site of whiplash, the lower back is a secondary site for whiplash and can undergo the same acceleration/deceleration forces that affect the neck. What I usually see in the lower back is a lot of abnormal twisting in the joints where the pelvis and the spine meet.
The symptoms that I’m having now couldn’t possibly be related to the accident I had ten years ago. I didn’t have any pain or anything after that accident.Fiction. While it’s impossible to definitively say what caused the problem areas in your spine, the pattern that I usually see is this. Loss of proper structure of the spine followed by lots of spinal degeneration that after being there for years and years, one day finally starts to cause symptoms. It’s a very long time between when the cause occurred and when the effects are felt. In accidents, usually the cause/effect delay occurs much quicker – around 48 hours – but it would be wrong to assume that the accident wasn’t the cause. It could take years.
About eight to twelve weeks after the accident, my pain went away without treatment of any kind. So, my problem is fixed now, right?Fiction. When there is a sprain of the spinal ligaments or strain of the spinal muscles, there is an 8 to 12 week healing period for those tissues. Inflammation of these tissues is necessary for healing, and sometimes part of the inflammatory process is pain. As you come out of that healing period, the pain will start to subside because the inflammation of those soft tissues is subsiding. Without chiropractic intervention though, those muscles and ligaments will heal and tighten over a spine that is now misaligned. Over time that misaligned spine can lead to some symptoms. So, the bottom line is this: No Pain does not always mean the problem is no longer there. In a case like this it just means you’re coming out of an intense phase of inflammation.
My MD prescribed Physical Therapy for me after the accident. That’s just as good or better than Chiropractic, right?Based on my experiences with my patients, I would have to say this is Fiction. I believe that Physical Therapy can help with a variety of conditions, but ultimately, in cases like these, it’s not addressing the cause of the problem. PT does not seek to realign the spine, and sometimes the therapist may use a lot of force in no specific direction or employ some overly aggressive stretching techniques. If you have a cervical sprain or strain, you don’t need intense stretching and range of motion exercises right away. Your soft tissues will go through an inflammatory phase (which can be painful) followed by a “remodeling” phase where stretching and range-of-motion exercises would now be appropriate. I will also say this: Doctors of Chiropractic are the only healthcare professionals who are trained and qualified in correcting subluxations, misalignments in the spine that cause interference to the overall function of the nervous system. Most of my patients who tried PT immediately after a car accident weren’t satisfied at all with their results.
Chiropractors just want me to keep coming back forever and ever, and the bill is going to be extremely high.Fiction. In an auto accident, the length of time for treatment is going to be between 8 to 12 weeks usually. It could be more, but it could be less. It depends on the extent of injuries, age of the patient, etc. My primary job is to ensure that while the muscles and ligaments are healing, they’re healing over a spine that is in alignment. After that 8 to 12 week period, I will review all objective and subjective criteria with a reexamination to. If the patient has improved to my satisfaction, then the patient is discharged from treatment for injuries sustained from the accident. I feel it’s crucial to define an endpoint for the care you receive in these cases, and I’m going to make good, honest recommendations, no matter who’s footing the bill. To schedule an appointment or ask your questions call us today at 1-770-894-4950, or click here to contact us online. |
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Osteoarthritis, commonly known as Degenerative Joint Disease, affected 43 million people in 1997, and by 2020 will likely affect over 60 million. Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, typically attacks two types of joints: those that bear weight (the lower back, the hips, and knees) and those involved in repetitive motions (the hands, wrists, shoulders) Osteoarthritis can also develop in injured joints, including the spine (for example, the vertebrae in the lower neck after a whiplash or in football players' knees. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage of a joint breaks down faster than it can be rebuilt; therefore the amount of cartilage to cushion and absorb the stress on joints during movement is worn away until it starts to cause great amounts of discomfort. Most of the drugs taken to deal with the pain of osteoarthritis are Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen, or prescription drugs such as Celebrex and Vioxx. These drugs may help relieve the pain associated with Osteoarthritis, but research reveals that these over-the-counter and prescription NSAIDs have a little-known side effect of inhibiting cartilage production, which will actually accelerate the progression of osteoarthritis in joints. The fact is Americans are spending upwards of $5-10 million dollars per year on the drugs that actually further contribute to the condition they're supposed to be helping. Rather than spending your money on quick fixes designed solely to relieve symptoms, try to begin a gentle exercise and stretching program. Remember, inactivity leads progression of osteoarthritis. Try taking a supplement that has glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM (methylsulfylmethane). Finally, remember that a balanced joint has the best opportunity for longevity. Regular chiropractic adjustments can help provide for optimal alignment and longevity of arthritic joints.