Accidents and Injuries

The spine is an intricate structure, but additionally it is delicate. The spine isn’t designed to withstand the harmful effects of an automobile accident. Regrettably, spine and neck injuries are common during auto collisions; the impact damages the muscles and the ligaments in the back, and the facet joints bear the brunt of the force. This could result in injuries, such as compression fractures, disk herniation, whiplash, and spondylolisthesis.

It is essential to be able to spot the symptoms of damage or injury, so if you or someone you love is hurt, its important to understand what steps you should follow for proper care. Some auto accidents may be made worse when the injured individual is moved. You should seek the assistance of a medical professional if you experience back or neck pain following an automobile collision. A muscle strain may heal by itself, but if neck or back pain persists due to a much more serious condition or injury, the affected individual could feel pain for months or years if left untreated.

The cervical spine is C shaped, with its curve facing towards the rear of neck. The upper part of the spine in the neck is called the cervical spine and it’s composed of 7 cervical vertebra. A healthy cervical spine has a lordotic curve and it is anatomically important to bear the head’s weight.

Reduction of cervical lordosis can result in straightening of the cervical spine or in severe cases it may reverse the curve. The condition is also known as kyphosis. Loss of cervical lordosis may lead to stiffness and pain in the neck. It may also lead to referred pain in the hand, vertigo and many other symptoms.

Improper posture and muscular spasm are two important causes for reduction of cervical curvature. The problem is usually detected on X-rays of the cervical spine and it should be treated soon to prevent further deterioration and complications in the future.

Since head acceleration is often the result of head-restraint impact, these peak values might be conducive to whiplash injury and do not reflect loads developed in the tissues of the neck. The kinematics of the head have been computed relative to the axis between the C7-T1 vertebra to supply a better indication of the dynamics. The first peak in the acceleration trace is the result of acceleration of the torso relative to the still-stationary head.

This peak is the larger and later acceleration peak, which is governed by the impact between the head restraint and the head. When head acceleration is measured, a result that highlights the importance of quantifying the relative rather than absolute dynamics of the head, the first negative peak isn’t observed.

Cadaveric, animal, and human subject experiments have led investigators to propose various anatomical sites for whiplash injury, including the cervical facet joints, facet capsular ligaments, vertebral arteries, dorsal root ganglia, craniovertebral junction, and cervical muscles. Muscle injury could be responsible for some symptoms seen in patients, however, of the anatomical sites listed above, only the facet joints have been linked to chronic whiplash pain. The facet joints have therefore become the focus of research directed at understanding the mechanical basis for chronic whiplash injuries.

In this case, the options may include prescription pain medications and massaging the region. Other people may have a significant injury or lasting injuries due to repetitive strain or severe pain. The following is a list of some common, alternative procedures for treating whiplash in patients of different severity. Healthcare professionals must determine the course of treatment depending on the individual’s particular needs and diagnosis.

The doctor may also obtain x-rays of the neck to check for more serious injury. If the doctor is still concerned about soft tissue injuries, he or she may obtain either x-rays with the head leaning forward and backwards (dynamic x-rays) or obtain an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging study).

Whiplash refers to a range of accidents that occur when the neck is subjected to sudden distortion. Most commonly associated with motor vehicle accidents, symptoms of whiplash include: pain in the neck, shoulders and back; sensory abnormalities such as pins and needles; headaches. Recovery time can vary depending on the severity of the injury.

Motor Accident Legal Service is familiar with cases involving whiplash, as this is one of the injuries most commonly associated with compensation claims relating to car crashes. We’ve compiled the information regarding this sort of injury if you’re uncertain as to what qualifies as the best courses of treatment and whiplash.

The authors of the study were from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery in Bristol, England. In 1994, Gargan and Bannister published a paper on the recovery rate of patients and found that when patients were still symptomatic after three months, there was almost a 90% chance they would remain injured. No conventional treatment was shown to be effective in these based chronic whiplash injury patients.

However, high success rates have been found by whiplash injury patients through chiropractic care in the recovery of these types of patients.

In the Woodward study, 93 percent of the 28 patients studied retrospectively were found to have a statistically significant improvement following chiropractic care. Chiropractic care in this study consisted of PNF, spinal manipulation and cryotherapy. Most of the 28 patients had prior therapy with NSAIDs collars and physiotherapy. The average length of time prior to when the patients began chiropractic care was 15.5 months post-MVA (range of 3-44 months).

This study clearly documented what most DCs experience in clinical practice: that chiropractic care is an effective modality for individuals hurt in a motor vehicle accident. Symptoms ranging from headaches to back pain, neck pain, interscapular pain and extremity pain that is related with parasthesias all responded to quality chiropractic care.

The implications of a motor vehicle crash, in addition to interruption of your daily routine because of whiplash, can often lead to injuries or conditions which may take years to recover from.

With much more distracted drivers texting and speaking on their telephones, MVC’s are on the rise, making for even more dangerous roadways. While other people’s behaviors can not be controlled by us, we can drive more cautiously and defensively to avoid being in an auto accident. Because MVC’s can occur, however, having a plan in mind and being prepared is vital to getting up on our feet and recovering fast.

More serious automobile accidents mean more critical injuries, ranging from wounds and cuts to broken bones or fractures, brain damage, and even death. At first, less serious motor vehicle crashes may not look like a major deal, with sufferers walking away without a scratch, believing they’ve escaped the collision unscathed. Others may just complain of a small headache, neck pain, and/or a stiff neck, resorting to carrying over the counter pain killers, or even wearing a neck brace to assist with their healing — something that’s far from treating the source of the injury.

In the prior composing we created the foundation of the significance of tire pressures. Specifically, we demonstrated that a third of the vehicles on the street and additional only a third of those vehicles have an underinflated tire and a warning light, respectively.

We also know a 20% decrease in pressure results in substandard performance, these are the factors we're likely to explore.

Underinflated tires have a different profile and contact patch with the road.

Where the tire meets the roadway is known as the contact patch. Maximizing the touch patch affords the motorist the most performance, specifically steering and braking. What happens if we reduce the contact patch? Under inflation does that.

The contact patch is what connects the vehicle to street, when a tire is properly inflated ( other variables being ignored), the scooter can provide 100 percent of the contact patch (and also the friction between the tire and the roadway) to steering, braking or a combination of both. If the pressure drops performance is also reduced and the contact patch is reduced – but by how much? There are schools of thought on this and a ton of research, for our argument we’ll say tires will have a reduction in performance.

In the last two writings we explored how low speed collisions can have substantial energy transfers with minimal (if any) damage. Here we will discuss the myth of “no damage = no injury” from a vehicle appearance / design point of view and how it relates to injury in a collision.

So as to get into this subject, we need a little history lesson first. With vehicle style being the topic of focus, the industry exploded after World War II. The jet age influenced bumpers, headlights and taillight’s fins. Something else happened too, for the first time in the automobile’s history, vehicles were more than “around town” horse-less buggies; the power of their engines and speeds potential dawned a whole new arena — security. In the 1960’s vehicle aesthetics began to compromise with safety. Automotive designers started to consider topics like; occupant restraints structural integrity, and crash worthiness.

Not only do tires play a vital role in the performance of your car or truck, but a lot of information can be garnered about what happened before, during, and after a crash. Tire marks will be explored by us and, generally, what those marks tell us.

First let us discuss where the marks come from. Skid marks are created by the extreme thermal relationship of a tire against the roadway surface during extreme stresses put on the tire, a simpler way to say this is, a tire will “mark” when it nears, or exceeds, the limits of its relationship with the roadway. These marks occur because the oils in the roadway and/or the tire(s) are brought to the surface and “melted or burnt” into the roadway. If a tire is heated enough since the surface of the tire will have changed, it’ll be obvious, it is going to have a spot and obvious abrasions.

One of the most common issues with low speed collisions is determining the extent of the damage. The real world practice, typical to the situation is to examine the outside of the vehicle and document any damage. The problem with this is not knowing the extent of the damage behind the exterior panels. Very few cases have had a thorough and complete vehicle examination after an automobile accident. The question is why?

The crash re-constructionist has a tedious job ahead of him when facing a collision with what appears to be minimal damage at first glance. Happer et al (2003) acknowledges that different vehicles will have different damage, or appearance of damage, at the exact same speed due to their different designs. The objective of the paper was to provide a sound method. Happer et al (2003) also states that which the physical evidence remaining after the effect has to be reviewed. This process begins with splitting bumpers into three categories. In this writing we’ll focus on reinforcement beams which utilize a polymer absorber.

When the aberrant sequela to victims in car crashes has been investigated, providers often overlook and concurrently underestimate the tissue pathology and resultant biomechanical failures of spinal ligamentous damages commonly known as “strain – sprain.” In addition, the courts have been “blinded” by rhetoric in allowing this pathology to be deemed transient. There is an ever growing body of scientific literature that verifies strain – sprain as permanent pathology, which is the standard being taught in today’s medical and chiropractic academia.

In addition, strain – sprain as sequela to whiplash, renders a 25% whole person impairment based upon the American Medical Association’s Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment fifth and sixth editions.

According to the harshness of your whiplash symptoms, your doctor may prescribe drugs and/or spinal shots to manage the pain. To stress this point: they won’t help heal the injury, although the medications will help relieve your pain. Instead, medicines and/or spinal injections lessen your pain so which you can work on curing the soft tissue injuries (through physical therapy, for example).

Again depending on the seriousness of your pain, you could begin with over-the-counter medicines. If those don’t work to relieve your pain, the physician may prescribe stronger drugs. The doctor may imply shots if prescription drugs don’t work. The progression of treatment depends upon your individual symptoms and pain level.

Spinal cord injuries occur in an assortment of ways. In adults, damage to the spinal column is usually involved and the cord is affected, bruised, stretched or compacted due to movement or an external force. Wear and tear on the spinal column, can lead to narrowing of the canal called stenosis. This results in pressure on the spinal nerves and the spinal cord, causing loss of function. In children, a spinal cord injury occurs by an over-stretching of the spinal cord.

Automobile accidents involving pedestrians or occupants, falls, sport-related accidents and diving into shallow water are considered to be the most common cause of traumatic SCI.

This curve starts to form as early as 10 months of development and is cemented during adolescence and infancy. Holding a child’s head in extension is quite important for infants as it encourages the normal curvature of the neck. Loss of lordosis can begin in early childhood, however, whiplash from automobile accidents, stress, injuries from falls and sports injuries can cause this issue in adulthood. Unfortunately, many of our “normal” daily tasks may also decrease the cervical lordosis, like viewing low lying computer screens (below eye level), sleeping with two pillows, as well as sitting in a recliner.

Many studies are demonstrating a clear causal connection between loss of lordosis and neck complaints, including neck stiffness and pain, headaches, premature degeneration, disc herniation, and numbness/tingling or weakness in the arms. A study from 1974 showed that a sharp reversal of the curve would lead to degenerative changes in 60 percent of patients. Literally, a reversed curve causes arthritis in the neck. A study from 2005 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics found:

“The odds that a patient with cervical pain had a lordosis of 0 degrees or less was 18 times greater than for a patient having a non-cervical complaint. Patients with cervical pain had less lordosis and this was consistent over all age ranges” The authors of this study went so far as to recommend “Maintenance of a lordosis could be a clinical goal for chiropractic treatment”

Whiplash has been difficult to study because its pathoanatomy has remained poorly known, however, the facet joints have been recently isolated as a site of pain in many people that are whiplash-injured.

In a typical rear-end collision, the occupant’s pelvis, chest, and head are hastened forward in rapid succession. The massive inertia of the head leads to a horizontal translation (retraction) of the initially stationary head relative to the forward-accelerating torso, and this movement induces compression, shear, and ultimately tension in the cervical spine.

Recent studies have localized the chronic pain of several whiplash patients to the facet joints. Subsequent experiments involving both human subjects and cadaveric cells have demonstrated that harm to the capsular ligaments may play a part in the pathoanatomy of whiplash injury.

Early rehabilitation will help to prevent chronic pain and disability. Passive modalities include the application of heat, ice, electrical stimulation, massage, myofascial release, and traction. Passive modalities are often used to decrease inflammation or pain and to facilitate participation in an active rehabilitation program, which involves strengthening and stretching. Use of modalities with no more active program is usually inappropriate.

Active therapy refers to healing exercises that are directed at improving the patient’s strength, endurance, flexibility, posture, and body mechanics. The goal is to get community fitness program or an independent house program at the conclusion of formal therapy. The treatment prescription is recommended 3 times per week.

In the United States alone, more than 2 million people suffer from whiplash injuries each year. Whiplash is the name given to a group of symptoms that occur when the neck jolts following an injury or an accident. Whiplash can happen with any impact or blow that causes the head to jerk forward or backward.

In a case of whiplash, the intervertebral joints (located between the vertebrae), discs, ligaments, cervical muscles, and nerve roots may become damaged. Injuries to the neck include strained muscles, ligaments and tendons, and herniated discs. This jerking motion strains the neck and the abrupt force can also injure bones in the spine, discs between the bones, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and tissues in the neck. Any time there is a fiber torn in a muscle or tendon, it’s called a strain. If this occurs in a ligament, it is called a sprain. Whiplash generally involves both a strain and sprain. Type and extent of injuries can vary greatly per individual.

Whiplash is an injury to the neck muscles out of rapid forward and backward motion of the neck brought on by a trauma (eg, a car accident). It can cause acute (short-term) neck pain as well as restricted movement on your neck. This is the reason why it is extremely important to get medical care from a chiropractor if you do not have pain or any visible injuries.

Your spine is evaluated by the chiropractor as a whole. He or she’ll examine the entire spine because other regions of the spine may be affected (not your neck).

Chiropractic Evaluations for Whiplash

The healthcare professional or chiropractor will identify any areas of spinal injury, muscle strain, and joint movement. They may use a technique called motion and static palpation. Your chiropractor will feel for tenderness and make sure your spinal joints move.

Whiplash is a cervical spine, or neck, injury that is caused when the head is jolted either backwards or forward by acceleration or deceleration. The acceleration or deceleration in automobile accidents is typically abrupt, which will cause the head to jerk unexpectedly and be stretched beyond its normal range of motion, straining the neck’s muscles and ligaments. Whiplash can happen at any speed even when vehicles are traveling as slowly 25 mph.

Severe cases of whiplash can even cause fractures to the neck vertebrae. These accidents might need time off from work and physical activity in order to recover and are painful although a complete recovery is likely.

There’s a lot of information about tires, far beyond the reviews and recommendations on a variety of websites. Here we’ll talk about, from a post-collision perspective, car specifications, standard tire information, and how tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) work. We will then analyze how tire pressures relate to automotive collisions.

Vehicles offered in the United States have a placard in the driver’s door jamb or internal door. This placard contains some advice we need to explore the tires including the vehicle manufacturer recommended load rating tire size, and tire pressure.

(There’s a second placard particularly for tires but this should be supported contrary to the above mentioned placard as the next one does not include any vehicle identifying information such as a VIN. In this picture the last six digits of the VIN have been omitted.)

Remember we previously said, “The momentum moving into a collision could be accounted for at the outcome” when we discussed the concept of conservation of momentum. Here we will introduce the formula and walk through its parts; we have to comprehend this in order to explore each other influence.

The full formula:

Let’s walk through this, on the left side of the equation we have which is the weight of the first vehicle before the collision multiplied by which is the velocity (in feet per second) of the first vehicle before the collision. is the weight of the second vehicle before the collision times which is the velocity (in feet per second) of the second vehicle before the collision. On the right side of the equation we have which is the weight of the first vehicle after the collision multiplied by which is the velocity (in feet per second) of the first vehicle after the collision. is the weight of the second vehicle after the collision times which is the velocity (in feet per second) of the second vehicle after the collision.

There are several reasons engineering and accident reconstruction reports are problematic. Let’s address the biggest and first issue, cost. Many attorneys won’t realize the real value of cases if they deal with doctors who do not know how to document the patient’s injuries correctly, leading to issues related to poor documentation management.

This is a massive benefit to the insurance company who have banked on the sloppiness and ignorance of the entire medical-legal community. However, there is a growing number of doctors and attorneys who do know.

In this sense, the insurance carrier knows they’ll pay, a vast majority of this time, a minimum amount for a collision even if the case needs to have a much greater value due to the nature of the injuries. The insurance companies know this for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is cost, not for them but you.

There is an assortment of questions which centered around police reports and accident scenes. We’ll address reports exist, how conclusions are made, and what exactly you should take from the role of the police officer and a report as an investigator. This topic can be broken down into lots of classes; here we will concentrate on collision analysis and general reporting.

Why do police take general reports? The brutal answer is because nobody will recall the facts in just two days, much less two decades and they’ll argue it but it’s also because a third party who should be an impartial fact evaluator is needed by society. “Should” is emphasized, but we need to describe what an impartial evaluator of reality is at the context of the writing. We are currently assuming the officer / deputy has training that is sufficient to ascertain what evidence plays into the circumstance. Imagine if you went into a call for attack involving wife and a husband. Upon arrival you are told that the husband is using drugs and sexually assaulting a young child by the wife. When you question the husband he denies the claim and also has the wife’s prescription bottle in his hand — the medicine’s listed side effect is “hallucinations”. This is relevant evidence that the law enforcement officer should weigh in her or his choice.

We are also likely to assume that the officer / deputy doesn’t have any bias or stereotype towards the parties involved OR they perform however recognize it and adjust accordingly. Imagine if the officer went through a tough divorce and from above is female. Does her life have an impact on thinking the husband? What exactly does should she do about it, if it does?

Title: Conservative care and axial distraction therapy for the management of cervical and lumbar disc herniations and ligament laxity post motor vehicle collision.

Dr. Alex Jimenez, doctor of chiropractic, focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, utilizing several chiropractic methods and techniques. The following procedures may be similar to his own but can differ according to the specific issue and complications by which the individual is diagnosed.

Abstract: This middle-aged female was injured in a vehicle collision causing her to sustain disc and additional ligament injuries in the cervical and lumbar spine. Diagnostic studies included physical examination, orthopedic and neurological testing, lumbar MRI, multiple cervical MRI’s, CRMA with motion cervical radiographs and EMG studies. Typically, conservative care is initiated prior to interventional procedures, and this case study seeks to explore the usage of passive therapy for mechanical spine pain and noted anatomic disc lesions after failure of interventional procedures. She reported both short term and long term success regarding pain reduction along with improvement in her activities of daily living after initiating conservative care, and continued to report further reductions in pain with periodic pain management using conservative care.