Best Treatment Protocols for Car Accident Victims
More often than not when someone is in a car accident they are referred to seek treatment for their injuries. Typically people are sent to chiropractors for the treatment of several injuries including whiplash, spinal disc injuries, sprains, strains, headaches and many other soft tissue injuries. When patients visit our office for treatment and care after an auto accident of course we will treat them accordingly. In our initial exams we look for underlying things like traumatic brain injuries or concussions. Our office isn’t the final destination when a patient comes in following a car crash. We wish the best outcomes for patients so we seek every avenue in order to get people the best care that they can get.
Our goal for each auto accident victim is to return to pre-accident status or as close as possible. Sometimes that can not be achieved by simply coming to our office for care. For instance, if someone were to come into our office following a crash and they complained of neck and low back pain we don’t assume that the injuries are limited to sprains and strains. We often find that patients suffer from disc injuries because of car accidents. We have the knowledge and expertise and tests to sniff out these kinds of injuries before a patient is even sent for an MRI. Because we have the track record or being right 95% of the time we start treatment for disc injuries early and after the MRI comes back and shows a spinal disc injury we are ahead of the game.
Even though we treat for disc problems early and after an MRI is done the treatment doesn’t stop just in our office. While a patient is continuing care we refer to other specialists such as spine surgeons. The recommendations are to start with conservative care first since it is less costly but also less invasive. When someone can improve without heavily invasive procedures and also have a lower bill, then why not?
Our exams aren’t limited to looking and finding spinal disc injuries. We also look at the range of motion for each region a patient complains of pain from the spine to the ankles and everywhere in between. We also search for underlying symptoms and combining the history of the accident there are sometimes when a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion is involved.
The MRI process is vital information for us and any other medical provider who we refer to. MRI’s of the neck, low back and even the brain help support the case to get patients better. We have already mentioned that an MRI indicating a spinal disc injury will immediately have a referral to spinal surgeons in the event that conservative care doesn’t have a large impact in patient progression towards pre-accident status. Making sure that an MRI is done for the brain after a concussion helps with referrals to neurologists and streamlines the process so that separate MRI’s aren’t performed. Treatment for the TBI can then move forward.
As part of the exam we test the range of motion of affected areas that have been injured. A baseline of range of motion helps to show objective progress throughout the treatment process. An increase in range of motion leads to greater improvement and outcomes. We have observed that those patients who increase in range of motion during treatment have longer lasting relief and very limited to almost no regression of symptoms. Range of motion tests are not visual observations rather we use instruments called inclinometers to accurately measure the range of motion in degrees. This is what gives us good objective measures to be able to compare the baseline to where the patient is at the end of a treatment plan.
These objective measures of range of motion also enable us to refer to physical therapists in case of continued pain and limited muscle strength. Physical therapy helps in regaining muscle strength and coordination while also helping to eliminate potential muscle pain.
Because we are a chiropractic office we use chiropractic care in addition to the other therapies in our office for treating car accident patients. Chiropractic adjustments are proven to help decrease pain, improve range of motion and reduce muscle spasm. This is an effective treatment in regards to injuries sustained from a car crash. Whiplash is especially responsive to chiropractic adjustments because it helps limit formation of scar tissue surrounding joints in the spine which can limit range of motion. Adjustments also help decrease muscle spasm and pain through a quick stretch mechanistic reflex that reduces muscle contraction. Over time as the tissues heal they are similar in tone and texture, without significant scar tissue, prior to the accident.
When treating patients in our office who have suffered a spinal disc injury we start with decompression. Decompression is a therapy that utilizes a gentle pulling of the low back or neck to be able to vacuum a disc back to its original state as the disc has herniated or bulged outward. This bulging causes pain and limits motion of the spine. The reasoning for consecutive visits for disc pain and bulges is because patients live their lives outside of treatment. It is not realistic for patients to not go out and continue living. However, during the time when they aren’t being treated they digress but the digression isn’t beyond the treatment being performed. It’s two steps forward and half a step back. There will always be progression with treatment and in the event that patients don’t respond as well as we would hope that isn’t the end of the road. We have referred to other specialists so that the patient gets the treatment that is best for them.
Our goal is and always will be to get people better, whether that is through conservative care or by referrals to other specialists. In our office we utilize a team effort for the benefit of the patient. Healthcare professionals are in the business of helping people overcome health challenges and problems and when people seek care after a car accident they can rest assured that we will be in their corner helping as much as we can to see them thrive after a terrible incident like a car crash.