Common Injuries After a Car Accident

When you have been involved in a fender bender accident that does not seem serious at first, you still can suffer injuries that need to be addressed. An exam after any type of car accident is vital to ensuring that you do not have any long-term health effects. 

Here are some common injuries that can happen after a minor accident: 

Soft tissue: This broad category includes any injuries to your muscles, ligaments or tendons. These can be disruptive to your daily life and linger after the accident. Whiplash is a common soft-tissue injury that occurs after a wreck. Whiplash happens when muscles or ligaments are stretched due to a sudden movement of the head and neck during a collision. Your head whips forward while the car abruptly stops during the impact. 

Possible effects of whiplash: Also known as acceleration/deceleration trauma, you can have a range of symptoms related to whiplash such as pain and stiffness in your neck, loss of a range of motion where you cannot turn your head one way or the other, headaches that begin at the base of your skull, or tenderness in your upper back or arms.

Treatment: At Pain Control Associates, our team of physicians approaches whiplash in a myriad of ways that will help get you back on track. After a thorough exam and discussion of your symptoms, we may recommend spinal interventions, epidural steroid injections, trigger point injections, nerve blocks, coping skills, behavioral strategies to help manage your pain, medication, massage or occupational therapy.

Back injury: Your back can also be affected by the sudden impact of a car wreck just like your neck. The back absorbs a large amount of force and pressure from the impact, which can cause lingering symptoms, pain and conditions.

Symptoms: Back injury issues can be felt after a wreck in the form of not just pain in your back, but also numbness, stiffness, tingling, muscle spasms, difficulty walking or numbness or pain that radiates down your legs or in your arms.

Treatment: How we approach your back pain can be similar to whiplash and depends on the severity or areas of yours. We can recommend a mix of physical therapy, medications and holistic practices to address your pain and other symptoms.

Getting You Back on Your Feet

No matter where your soft tissue injuries are, our physicians will work with you one-on-one to delve into what is the best treatment to get you back at your best after a car accident. Our team will want to see you and hear where you are feeling the pain the most or your other symptoms. We will review with you your health history, perform a thorough physical exam and possible order tests before we put together a personalized treatment plan. If you have been in a car accident, reach out to us through our online contact form.