What Kinds of Accident and Injury Issues Can You Treat?

We can treat a lot of different injuries. Whether you’ve injured yourself in a car accident, sports or physical activity, fall, or other traumatic event, we can help you get the treatment you need to recover quickly and painlessly. Unfortunately, most of our patients come to us because of an auto accident. Luckily, we’re pros at providing injury treatment for patients in this situation.

Whiplash Treatment in Dallas, TX

By far the most prevalent injury that happens after a car accident is whiplash. It happens when your head is whipped back and forth by a sudden jarring impact, such as hitting an object with your car or being hit by another vehicle. When this happens, your neck is unprepared, causing it to be forced past its range of motion and straining the soft tissues that support it. The vertebrae of the neck and spine can also be pushed out of alignment by the powerful force. At first, you might not even realize you have whiplash. This is because the symptoms don’t appear right away. In fact, they can take several days to several weeks to appear. Typically, symptoms are more severe if there was a big impact or the headrest was placed too low. Most people experience:

• Neck pain and stiffness
• Dizziness and headaches
• Problems swallowing or chewing
• Shoulder or back pain
• Burning or prickling along the spine and head
• Problems turning or moving the head
• Difficulties sleeping
• Depression
• Blurred vision
• Numbness in the hands and arms

In order to prevent permanent damage and suffering, we recommend visiting our injury rehabilitation clinic within a few days of your car accident.  We can provide a thorough examination and x-rays to determine how extensive the damage to your spine and neck really is. That way, we can offer you personalized auto accident treatment to help you get back on your feet in no time.

Brain or Traumatic Head Injuries

The other most common car accident injury is a closed head injury. These can range from a simple concussion to a traumatic brain injury. Because traumatic brain injuries are usually medical emergencies that require hospital care, we focus on efforts on treating the effects and symptoms of concussions. Concussions are a mild brain injury that occur when the head receives an impact, jostling the brain against the skull. This causes damage on a microscopic level, interfering with neurotransmitter connections. It is not as serious of an injury as a traumatic brain injury, but can still cause a number of irritating and dangerous symptoms. Some of these head injury symptoms include:

• Headaches and neck pain
• Memory problems
• Changes in mood
• Fatigue and irritability
• Coordination and balance problems
• Dizziness
• Nausea and motion sickness
• Sensitivity to light and sound
• Inability to concentrate
• Anxiety and depression

Note that not all symptoms occur right away. Some people may feel dazed or confused after the initial impact, but others may not notice any problems at all. The majority of symptoms begin to develop within one to two weeks after the initial impact. While these symptoms do decrease over time, it can take weeks or months for them to fully dissipate. Most people take three to six months to make a full recovery. In some cases, patients suffer from post-concussion syndrome, in which the symptoms of the concussion continue to exist even after the brain has healed. In order to diagnosis you with a concussion, we can perform an MRI scan of your brain and spine to take a closer look. Luckily, if you do have a concussion, there are a number of head injury treatments we offer to reduce your symptoms and give your brain the time it needs to heal. We will recommend that you rest more than usual as well as avoid the computer, TV, and reading. Because a concussion is a mild brain injury, it is important to seek treatment right away. Ignoring the signs of your concussion could lead to permanent long-term issues that affect your well-being. Under the care of a doctor, the prognosis for a person with a minor brain injury is very good.

Psychological Injuries

Car accidents aren’t something to laugh about. In many cases, you may have suffered the loss of a loved one or developed a severe injury that resulted in a decreased quality of life. These depressing circumstances can cause many different psychological injuries, such as emotional distress or post-traumatic stress disorder. While we aren’t psychologists, we can help to provide physical therapy for these maladies by offering spinal manipulations and massage therapy. This can reduce stress, help your body relax, and improve your mental function.

Back Injuries

Another big reason for seeking car accident treatment is a back injury. These can occur for a number of different reasons, including a sharp and jolting impact, twisting and torqueing of the body during impact, or even being whipped around too quickly. There are a number of different back injuries that can happen in an auto accident, including herniated and protruding discs, sciatica, sprains, strains, thoracic and lumbar spine injuries, or fractures. Often, pain from these injuries does not occur right away, meaning you might not realize you are injured until days after the accident. To play it safe and avoid long-lasting pain, it is best to visit our spinal rehabilitation center right after your accident. Rehabilitation of the spine can help you heal faster as well as reduce lingering symptoms that prevent you from working.

Neck Injuries

Similar to a back injury, a neck injury also causes pain and suffering if left untreated. It can be caused by the same jolting and torqueing forces that cause back injuries. Mild forms of neck injury include problems like a strain or whiplash, while more serious injuries include an injury to the disc or cervical radiculopathy. Getting accident rehab for your neck injury is vital to reducing pain and preventing long-term complications.

Face Injuries

Because car accidents often involve the breaking of glass or the deployment of airbags, facial injuries can be quite common. Your face is unprotected during a collision and can be bruised or scraped by any kind of debris. While these superficial cuts will heal on their own, more serious injuries such as fractures, dental traumas, or temporomandibular disorders of the jaw will not. We offer a number of treatments at our physical rehabilitation center to help you overcome these issues. Our treatments work to promote healing and restore the bones and joints of your face to their natural alignment.