Why is Immediate Medical Care After a Car Accident Important?

Expe­ri­enced Med­ical Care After an Accident?

Why get­ting med­ical atten­tion right after after a car acci­dent is so import?

What is the Goal?

Not every acci­dent pro­duces an injury.  It is not uncom­mon for acci­dent vic­tims to leave the scene of the acci­dent feel­ing that they were unin­jured and then wake up the next day or two days lat­er with extreme sore­ness, tight­ness or mus­cle spasm. A study in the Jour­nal of Bone and Joint Surgery stat­ed that “…an indi­vid­ual involved in a motor vehi­cle acci­dent is near­ly 7‑times more like­ly to suf­fer neck degen­er­a­tion with­in 7‑years of the acci­dent…” than indi­vid­u­als that have not been involved in an auto acci­dent. The goal of imme­di­ate med­ical care is to return the injured to com­plete, healthy func­tion there­by reduc­ing this increased risk of long term pain.

Back Injuries

The most com­mon form of injury in a car acci­dent is to the low­er back.  This includes sprains and strains, her­ni­at­ed discs and frac­tured ver­te­brae.  Back injury can cause long last­ing pain and dis­com­fort.  These injuries can cause pain and lim­it mobil­i­ty. Often, the symp­toms of even the most seri­ous back injuries can take a while to appear after an accident. 

Brain and Head Injuries

One of the most com­mon injury suf­fered by dri­vers and pas­sen­gers is an acquired brain injury caused by the head being hit or hit­ting an object vio­lent­ly (called a trau­mat­ic brain injury) . Symp­toms can be mild, mod­er­ate or severe, depend­ing on the extent of dam­age to the brain and the area effect­ed.  Even when there is no vis­i­ble sign of trau­ma (i.e. cuts or bruis­es), the brain may have been jos­tled inside the skull due to the force of impact caus­ing bruis­ing, bleed­ing and swelling of the brain.

Facial Injuries

Injuries to the face are com­mon in a car acci­dent.  These can be caused by the steer­ing wheel, dash­board, airbag, wind­shield, side win­dow, car seats or shat­tered glass. They vary in sever­i­ty from minor scrapes and bruis­es, to minor lac­er­a­tion and frac­tures, to most seri­ous injuries affect­ing the jaw and den­tal structures.

Internal Injuries

As a result of a vehi­cle acci­dent, the vic­tims could suf­fer inter­nal injuries includ­ing, injuries to bow­els, kid­neys, spleen, liv­er, lungs, heart or any of the inter­nal sys­tems. Frac­tured ribs are also com­mon, caus­ing punc­tured lungs and oth­er dam­ages to inter­nal organs. Inter­nal injuries are life threat­en­ing and should be treat­ed by a med­ical pro­fes­sion­als immediately.

Neck Injuries

Car acci­dents can result in neck injury rang­ing from mild whiplash and neck strain, to more seri­ous like cer­vi­cal dis­lo­ca­tion and disc herniation.

Psychological Injuries

Auto acci­dents involv­ing severe injuries and even loss of life, can result in dri­vers and pas­sen­gers suf­fer­ing short or long-term psy­cho­log­i­cal injuries. These are clas­si­fied as emo­tion­al stress, post trau­mat­ic stress dis­or­der (PTSD), per­sis­tent anx­i­ety and depres­sion. These psy­cho­log­i­cal injuries as a result of an acci­dent can impact every aspect of the vic­tim’s life.

Spinal Cord Injuries

The dam­age to the spinal cord cab be caused by dis­placed bone frag­ments, disc mate­r­i­al, or lig­a­ments bruise or tear into spinal cord tis­sue, destroy­ing axons.  This is the part of our nerve cells that car­ry sig­nals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. Dam­age to the spinal cord often results in a loss of func­tion or feeling.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-trau­mat­ic stress dis­or­der (PTSD) can devel­op fol­low­ing a trau­mat­ic event that threat­ens your safe­ty or makes you feel help­less. Com­mon­ly asso­ci­at­ed with mil­i­tary vet­er­ans, it can arise from any trau­mat­ic life expe­ri­ence, like a car acci­dent. PTSD can affect those who per­son­al­ly expe­ri­ence the trau­ma, those who wit­ness it, and those who pick up the pieces after­wards, includ­ing emer­gency work­ers and law enforce­ment offi­cers. It can even occur in the friends or fam­i­ly mem­bers of those that expe­ri­enced the actu­al trauma. 

How Can Acupuncture Help Me to Get Better Faster?

Acupunc­ture treats pain by acti­vat­ing the body’s “self heal­ing capac­i­ty.” Acupunc­ture increas­es the cir­cu­la­tion in the body and dam­aged tis­sues. This Increased cir­cu­la­tion restores the tis­sues to a nor­mal state faster, increas­ing flex­i­bil­i­ty and reduc­ing pain. 

How Can Chiropractic Care Help With Auto Accident Injuries?

A chi­ro­prac­tor can treat neck injuries (whiplash), back injuries, soft tis­sue injuries.  Chi­ro­prac­tors spe­cial­ize in com­ple­men­tary and alter­na­tive med­i­cine. They diag­nose, treat, and pre­vent dis­or­ders of the neu­ro­mus­cu­loskele­tal sys­tem. A chi­ro­prac­tor will use man­u­al tech­niques to manip­u­late the posi­tions of ver­te­brae to alle­vi­ate pain and main­tain cor­rect positions. 

What is Dental Trauma?

Den­tal trau­ma usu­al­ly occurs from a direct hit to your mouth or jaw after a car acci­dent.  Tem­poro­mandibu­lar joint dis­ease, TMJ, is a painful con­di­tion which car­ries the same symp­toms as whiplash.  A recon­struc­tive  den­tist expe­ri­enced with, auto acci­dents and trau­ma vic­tims can eas­i­ly rec­og­nize signs of trau­ma in the mouth. 

Can a Dietician Help Me?

Have you have gained weight as a result of an acci­dent? Some­times fol­low­ing a head injury, you may not be as phys­i­cal­ly active as you used to be. It is not uncom­mon for peo­ple to gain weight fol­low­ing a head injury. The dietit­ian or nutri­tion­ist will help you to a more health­i­er diet and get rid of that extra weight. 

Do I need an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT)?

After a car acci­dent, you may smash your nose or suf­fer a blow to the front part of your head. As a result of this, you may expe­ri­ence dif­fi­cul­ty breath­ing because the car­ti­lage in the nose has been crushed.  This may require that you see an ear, nose and throat Specialist. 

Who is an Internist?

An Internist is your pri­ma­ry care doc­tor.  Internist deals with the com­plex inter­ac­tion of sys­tems inside your body.  As a result of an acci­dent if you need surgery a pri­ma­ry care doc­tor has rela­tion­ships with hos­pi­tals, emer­gency rooms, and spe­cial­ists and sur­geons, and will facil­i­tate and coor­di­nate the care. 

How can a Neurologist Help Me after a Car Accident?

Pain from trau­ma may be caused by a sud­den jolt such as a car acci­dent or oth­er stress on spinal bones and tis­sues. Symp­toms may range from mus­cle ache to shoot­ing or stab­bing pain, lim­it­ed flex­i­bil­i­ty and/or range of motion, or an inabil­i­ty to stand straight. Occa­sion­al­ly, pain felt in one part of the body may “radi­ate” from a dis­or­der or injury else­where in the body. Some acute pain syn­dromes can become more seri­ous if left untreated. 

Who is a Orthopedic Surgeon?

Ortho­pe­dic doc­tors are spe­cial­ists in treat­ing all aspects of the spine and the mus­cu­loskele­tal sys­tem. Many ortho­pe­dists fur­ther spe­cial­ize in the back, neck, shoul­der, elbow, spine, hip or knee. If you have suf­fered injuries that require a spe­cial­ist to help you recov­er, it is best to seek imme­di­ate help. 

Why do I need Pain Management Doctor?

A car acci­dent or any abrupt jerk­ing motion to the head and neck — and sud­den­ly you have seri­ous neck, shoul­der, back pain. Stan­dard X‑rays of the neck may not show any injuries.  The feel­ing of phys­i­cal pain can vary great­ly — mild, sharp, severe, dull.  Pain med­i­cine doc­tors are experts at diag­nos­ing why you are hav­ing pain as well as treat­ing the pain itself. Some of the more com­mon pain prob­lems they man­age include: arthri­tis, back and neck pain, can­cer pain, nerve pain, migraine headaches and phan­tom limb pain. 

Why do I need Psychologist?

A Psy­chol­o­gist is a neu­ropsy­chol­o­gist with spe­cial­ized train­ing in how brain injures can effect human behav­ior. The Psy­chol­o­gist per­forms tests that are designed to mea­sure the effects of a brain injury. This test­ing will locate areas of the brain that may be dam­aged. Recov­er­ing from a head injury is stress­ful and may also require coun­sel­ing to help the head-injured per­son and imme­di­ate fam­i­ly mem­bers to deal with the recov­ery process. 

Who is a Physiatrist?

Physi­a­trist is a physi­cian spe­cial­iz­ing in phys­i­cal med­i­cine and reha­bil­i­ta­tion.  You should dis­cuss any ques­tions or con­cerns you have with a physi­a­trist (reha­bil­i­ta­tion spe­cial­ist) or the reha­bil­i­ta­tion team. It is impor­tant to men­tion new prob­lems as they devel­op. New prob­lems could be the result of car accident. 

Why do I need Physical Therapy after a Car Accident?

Phys­i­cal ther­a­pists are licensed health care pro­fes­sion­als who can help patients after a car acci­dent, reduce pain and improve or restore mobil­i­ty.  Phys­i­cal ther­a­py is the pri­ma­ry method for repair and strength­en­ing of dam­aged tis­sue and for avoid­ing exces­sive scar growth. 

Why do I need Physical Surgeon due to a Car Accident?

After you have healed and recov­ered from the trau­ma of car acci­dent, a plas­tic sur­geon may be nec­es­sary to help you cov­er the scars and bumps, etc. as a result of surgery or the acci­dent itself.  A plas­tic sur­geon is a per­son who per­forms these procedures. 

Why do I need Occupational Therapy after a Car Accident?

After a car acci­dent, espe­cial­ly, if you have suf­fered head injury, a occu­pa­tion­al ther­a­pist can help you with  high-lev­el think­ing and motor skills nec­es­sary for you to work ful­ly at home and at work. 

Why do I need Radiologist after a Car Accident?

Radi­ol­o­gist is a physi­cian who spe­cial­izes in read­ing X‑rays, CT Scans or MRI’s. A radi­ol­o­gist will diag­nose  your med­ical con­di­tion using X‑ray or oth­er imag­ing equip­ment. Your physi­cian or spe­cial­ist will refer you to a radiologist. 

Role of a Recreational Therapist after a Car Accident?

A Recre­ation­al Ther­a­pist is an expert who will work to bring your life back to nor­mal as it was before the acci­dent.  The goal of a recre­ation­al ther­a­pist is to help peo­ple reclaim the enjoy­able parts of their life. 

Who is a Speech Therapist?

A speech ther­a­pist has spe­cial­ized train­ing in the diag­no­sis and treat­ment of a vari­ety of speech, voice, and lan­guage dis­or­ders. Some­times after a trau­mat­ic brain injury (TBI), peo­ple can have cog­ni­tive prob­lems as well as com­mu­ni­ca­tion prob­lems, which can impair their abil­i­ty to live inde­pen­dent­ly.  In such cas­es, an inter­ven­tion by a speech ther­a­pist may be necessary. 

Who is a Social Worker?

A Social Work­er is a trained pro­fes­sion­al who works with patients to devel­op plans after they leave the hos­pi­tal.  It is part of their train­ing to help the patient and fam­i­ly mem­bers to cope with their med­ical prob­lems after they get back to dai­ly rou­tines of liv­ing at home and employment. 

Who is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor?

Voca­tion­al Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Coun­selor is a trained spe­cial­ist will assist you with a suc­cess­ful return to work, school, or vol­un­teer­ing after a car acci­dent. They will pro­vide guid­ance for work space mod­i­fi­ca­tions and accom­mo­da­tions and may even work direct­ly with the employ­ers.  If you have been involved in a sig­nif­i­cant car acci­dent, the expe­ri­ence and exper­tise of a Voca­tion­al Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Coun­selor will make a sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence in the out­come of your work life.

Free Eval­u­a­tion of Your Case by an Expe­ri­enced Car Acci­dent Attorney

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Were you or a loved one involved in a Car Accident ?

• Seek Med­ical Care As Soon As Possible
• Noti­fy the Insur­ance Provider if your Loved One Cannot
• Be Aware of Time Lim­its to Your Finan­cial Claim
• Pro­tect the Legal Rights

Our Attorneys Can Help, No Matter the Injury

• Bro­ken Bones: Per­son­al injury cas­es often involve bro­ken bones sus­tained from acci­dents like slips, falls, or car col­li­sions, lead­ing to poten­tial long-term pain and impaired mobility.
• Facial Injuries: Per­son­al injuries to the face, such as lac­er­a­tions or frac­tures, can result from var­i­ous inci­dents like dog bites or vehi­cle crash­es, caus­ing both phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al distress.
• Neck Injuries: Whiplash or oth­er neck injuries stem­ming from car acci­dents or work­place inci­dents can cause last­ing dis­com­fort and may require exten­sive med­ical treat­ment or rehabilitation.
• Back Injuries: Per­son­al injury vic­tims can expe­ri­ence back injuries like her­ni­at­ed discs or spinal cord dam­age due to acci­dents, often result­ing in chron­ic pain and reduced qual­i­ty of life.
• Child Injuries: Young chil­dren may suf­fer per­son­al injuries, such as head trau­ma or bro­ken bones, in acci­dents like play­ground mishaps or car crash­es, caus­ing emo­tion­al and finan­cial strain on families.
• Wrong­ful Death: The trag­ic loss of a loved one due to some­one else’s neg­li­gence or wrong­ful act can lead to per­son­al injury claims for wrong­ful death, help­ing fam­i­lies seek jus­tice and finan­cial com­pen­sa­tion for their loss.

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