Pain management for auto accident injuries begins with a correct diagnosis. In some cases, patients suffer for years as the result of injuries they unknowingly incurred during a minor car crash. Whether your problem is chronic pain, neck pain, headaches, or a general, overall sense of poor health, Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation has the diagnostic and rehabilitation tools to help.
After an auto accident, most people experience a number of different psychological and physical reactions. No two people will ever experience comparable crashes the same way; too many factors play a role in how we emotionally perceive and physically react to stressful events.
There is, however, one common and unfortunate auto accident response that can have a lasting and painful legacy—this is when we assume that a minor auto accident has not inflicted damage on the body. It’s important to understand that collisions that occur at slow speeds can cause serious injury on the soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system, including the spine, regardless of whether or not the vehicles involved have been damaged.
There are two basic types of injuries associated with auto accidents. Hard tissue injures are obvious and include broken and fractured bones. Soft tissue injuries are a different story altogether. These affect the spine and neck (mostly commonly seen as whiplash), and may remain asymptomatic for days, weeks, even months after an accident. This phenomenon is known as the delayed onset of injury. (This is discussed in greater detail here.)
We know that the spine must be properly aligned in order for the body to function correctly. When any type of injury or disease creates misalignments in the spine (we call these subluxations) the result is usually pain but may also be any number of other conditions, even seemingly unrelated problems such as allergies. This is due to disorder within the central nervous system, which governs all of the functions of the body.
When it comes to soft tissue damage or whiplash from a minor auto accident, some patients may not even recognize that their general poor health or painful condition is directly related to that minor auto accident they suffered last month or even years ago.
Chronic Pain, for example, occurs when acute pain conditions are neglected and left untreated. Eventually, intense pain will begin to subside and your body will start to experience a dull, achy, or stabbing pain. You might also suffer from depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and weakened immunity. Even worse, you probably won’t even understand where these symptoms are coming from.
Fortunately, Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation has a number of diagnostic tools and practices specifically aimed at making the most correct diagnoses possible. Our office has incorporated traditional X-ray, Ultrasound, Fluoroscopy ( which produces live, moving images), and we also read and interpret the results of your MRI. We also use Electrodiagnostic Nerve Testing when painful conditions are related to nerve dysfunction.
In some cases, our Medical Director might recommend a more targeted diagnostic process in order to administer the most precise and effective programs of pain management and rehabilitation. In such situations, a Sympathetic Nerve Block may be used. (If you’ve ever had Novocaine at the dentist’s office, then you’ve already experienced a nerve block.) Nerve blocks are helpful in determining both the exact location of pain as well as offering relief to patients in serious pain.
Auto Accident Injuries at Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation
For minor auto accident injuries, chiropractic is an extremely effective approach; this type of treatment normalizes spinal health after the body has been affected by a trauma. At Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation, we offer chiropractic, physical therapy, and acupuncture.
As I’ve mentioned above, our office also has a Medical staff which offers a number of diagnostic and minimally invasive procedures designed to help patients minimize painkiller use and stay away from the operating table. Surgery inflicts further trauma on the body and is rarely necessary.
To learn more about auto accident pain management in Red Bank, NJ, please contact our office to schedule a consultation.
