Life after any car accident can be a very stressful time. Aside from having to deal with insurance companies and paying for car damage, there’s also the problem of dealing with medical issues. Many people are in a lot of pain after a car accident and don’t know who to call to get the medical help and professional advice they need. At RightPath Pain & Spine Centers in Davenport, Florida, you can see a personal injury doctor who fully understands your situation.
Why You Should See a Personal Injury Doctor
Treatment
It is important to see a personal injury doctor as soon as possible. The job of these doctors is to help people immediately after an accident, so you are in good hands. Aside from this, getting treated sooner prevents injuries from getting worse, which in turn also keeps medical bills from going up.
Experience
A car injury doctor who specializes in personal injury have treated plenty of patients of car accidents before. They have specialties that are useful for dealing with specific injuries common to car accidents. Because of this, you can be sure that you will get the best care available.
Documentation
To be able to make a case with your lawyer, every single detail of an accident and treatment must be recorded. Our accident injury doctor will take notes on all of the injuries that you have and well as all of the treatments you are getting or going to get. Here at RightPath Pain & Spine Centers, we can even give you an attorney referral if it is needed.
Billing
A personal injury doctor can directly bill the insurance company so that you do not have to pay out of pocket for treatment. At our center, we accept many different insurance companies for billing. If you are coming in for treatment right after an auto accident, you do not even need a referral from your primary care doctor beforehand. There are multiple payment options, and you can call us to set up a financial consultation at any time.
What to Do Right After an Accident
Call an Ambulance If Necessary
After a crash, it can be hard to tell if injuries are severe or not. Police called to the scene can help determine if an ambulance is needed to take someone to the emergency room. You should never try to drive yourself to the emergency room. If there is not an ambulance available, it is important to have another person drive you instead.
See a Doctor
Plenty of times, people think they are perfectly fine after an accident because they didn’t have severe enough injuries to immediately cause them to go to the emergency room. Even if you think you’re fine, it’s always a good idea to get checked out by a doctor sooner rather than later in case adrenaline is masking your symptoms. It’s always important to see a doctor and get checked out after an accident. Then you can really find out what the problem is and if you need more treatment.
You can see your primary care doctor, who will most likely send you to a specialist. Depending on the type of injury you have, there are several specialists that can help you out. One of the most common specialist types after a car accident is neck and spine specialists. This is because accidents so often cause injury to the neck and spine.
Neck and Spine Doctors
Most car accidents have a high risk of causing a neck or spine problem. Here at RightPath Pain & Spine Centers, we have the best neck and spine specialists to treat injuries that are causing you a lot of pain or keeping you from getting back to life and work.
Neck Specialists
A neck pain specialist will deal with injuries that affect the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the head. The pain can be mild to severe, and sometimes neck injuries can limit your range of motion. Neck specialists can also deal with head injuries to an extent.
Spine Specialists
Spine specialists are similar to neck specialists. However, because they deal with the entire spine rather than just a short section past the shoulders, they work with a much broader area of the body. This can include dealing with back pain. For the most part, injuries they deal with after a car accident involve problems with individual vertebrae or small sections of vertebrae in the spine.
Types of Neck and Spine Injuries
Although there are injuries and treatments that may affect the neck more than the rest of the spine, it is important to remember that they are both part of the same system. The neck is just the first seven vertebrae of the spine, which is a smaller region. The rest of the spine includes the upper and lower back. All three of these regions can have their own unique injuries, and certain treatments will affect them.
Whiplash
Lots of crashes happen at top speeds, so even with a seatbelt, the body still moves unnaturally at impact. Because of the very sudden and jarring movement, many muscles can become strained. With whiplash, there are no broken bones, but there can be a lot of tearing in the ligaments and tissues that cause a lot of pain.
Symptoms to look out for include neck pain and stiffness, limited motion in the neck, and even headaches. The pain can last from weeks to months to even years if not treated properly. It can also spread to other places, such as the arms, if not dealt with for too long.
Vertebral Fractures
Vertebrae can fracture in an accident, causing bone fragments to scatter around. These fractures may be small, but they can cause a lot of problems when the tiny fragments pinch the nerves in distinct places. If not treated quickly, fractures can cause decreased blood flow to the spinal cord when the pieces of bone press on it. In general, these injuries can severely affect a person’s movement and quality of life if left untreated.
Herniated Disc
There are many vertebrae in the spine, and even one of them going out of place can create a lot of problems. Occasionally there are people who are lucky and only have one pop out of place or shift without experiencing any major pain. However, for most others, there is extreme pain caused by the shifted disc pinching nerves in the surrounding area. Although this mostly happens in the lower part of the spine, it can still cause pain in the neck as well.
What We Can Do
At RightPath Pain & Spine Centers we have a variety of safe and up-to-date treatments available for anyone who has just been in a car accident. No matter what neck or spinal injury you have, we will find the treatment plan that works for you.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy
Most people know about how platelets help stop bleeding in the body. This therapy uses plasma differently to help the body regenerate more quickly than it otherwise could. The proteins in platelets allow healing to happen, so we create a high concentration of them to apply to the injury site. Since they are ideal for regenerating tissues, people who have had tearing from whiplash due to a car accident can recover better.
Kyphoplasty
This treatment is specifically used to repair fractured vertebrae. The bone will be smaller since it has been split, so a balloon gets inflated inside of it to expand the size. Once the bone is at its original size, it gets filled with cement so it can provide support again and you experience relief from pain.
Spinal Cord Stimulator
A lot of pain after a car accident comes from the nerves being pinched in the neck. This treatment directly targets nerve pain using electricity. Nodes are placed close to where the pain is. After that, a controlled amount of electricity is sent through them into the back to calm them. This allows the pain to stop without having to do anything to the vertebrae.
Stem Cell Therapy
Our bodies have multiple types of cells in them, such as nerve cells or blood cells. Stem cells can divide and turn into any other type of cell in our bodies. Because of this, they are useful for healing any part of the body. For example, in severe neck injuries, these cells can repair ligaments. A doctor may recommend this to you depending on the extent of your injuries and whether or not you need surgery.
It’s important to note that although the body has these cells, they do not repair the injury site on their own. That is why therapy is used to stimulate the cells by taking them from bone marrow or fatty tissue in the body. They then can be applied to the injury through injection, where they will grow and develop on their own to repair the body. Treatment can be done on the same day, and there is no preparation or special care to worry about after.
Organ Disc Fusion
This treatment is used for discs that are damaged or out of alignment, which weakens support in the back. As the name implies, parts of the spine can be fused together to provide support. Some places use metal for this, but we can now use bone grafts by taking bone tissue from another place in the body and applying it to the injured location. These grafts have been shown to offer great long term results.
The Road to Recovery
It is important to find a personal injury doctor immediately after an accident. Not only will they be able to help you make a claim, but they will also be able to give you treatment options and provide you with excellent documentation along the way. The most common injuries happen in the neck and spine, so it’s likely you’ll need to find the best neck and spine specialists available after an accident.
If you have recently been in a car accident and are experiencing pain, reach out to RightPath Pain & Spine Centers in Davenport, Florida today to get the help you need. We are dedicated to the well being of all of our patients and have a wide variety of treatments and payment plans available. Contact us today! We are excited to assist you along the road to recovery and a life without pain.
