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Car Accident Injury & Chiropractic Rehabilitation in San Leandro

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San Leandro ChiropractorCar Accident Injury & Chiropractic Rehabilitation in San Leandro

This patient was referred to my clinic by one of the personal injury attorneys that I have been working with. When I spoke to a patient on a phone I did not expect that this is going to be a case when I would need to treat a spine with a compression fracture, protruded disc , subluxated rib and sever neck and back pain. This particular patient was very lucky to be alive after I saw the pictures on a phone and whatever was left over from her car after it was crashed by an AC Transit Bus. Ambulance was called and patient was taken to a nearby Hospital for observation and diagnostic studies. X-Ray did not reveal any life threatening fracture to a cervical and lumbar spine.

Examination:

During examination patient had severe amount of pain and did not know what to expect from a chiropractic care as she has never been to a chiropractor before.  Every single orthopedic test was positive during an examination. Any way patient moved would cause pain and discomfort. She was not able to go to sleep without taking heavy dose of pain medications and muscle relaxants. Lack of sleep adds extra stress to an already injured body, which creates a wishes cycle in a recovery process after such a serious car accident. Posture revealed uneven pelvis base, which is an indication of sacroiliac joint misalignment, lumbar spine was painful upon digital palpation. Sever pain at T12 vertebral level (later MRI revealed Compression Fracture at that vertebral Level) with radiating pain along intercostal nerve on a right side which did not allow patient to freely inhale and exhale.  Severe neck pain with minimal range of motion and muscle spasm.

Treatment:

The rehabilitation process began right after examination has been concluded. The frequency of visits was set at 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Each visit would include Electric Stimulation from Interferential Machines, Moist Heat at 140F from automated Electric Blanket both for 15 minutes. After this passive therapy this patient would get full spine chiropractic adjustment as well as rib adjustment in order to eliminate intercostal referral pain. Next stop would be a deep tissue massage from my in house Certified Massage Therapist. This frequency was kept for 4 weeks.

After two and a half weeks of care I have ordered MRI study of the lumbar spine due to persistent pain and minimal improvement. This study has revealed that this patient had severe disc protrusion both anterior and posterior and L5 vertebral level. This is most likely the cause of the persistent pain and discomfort in a lumbar spine. We have scheduled this patient with an Orthopedic surgeon for evaluation and possible treatment. MRI has also revealed a compression fracture at T12 vertebral level. The anterior portion of the body has been compressed under tremendous amount of force during the collision of the car and a bus. Rib and neck pain have improved since the beginning of the treatment.

Result:

At this point we are approaching a third and a final month of a rehabilitation process. Patient comes in once a week. Her rib pain, mid back and neck pain have improved quite a bit. However, she still feels pain and discomfort in a lumbar spine. Orthopedic surgeon did not offer anything exciting regarding treatment and management of the lumbar spine – it was the usual taking drugs or performing a surgery which can bring only 50% of success. I have discussed with patient specific lumbar exercises and stretching program in order to manage lumbar spine pain level and discomfort. Overall this lucky patient is very happy with an outcome of a rehabilitation process at our San Leandro Chiropractic Clinic.

 

Personal Injury Case and Arbitration

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PERSONAL INJURYToday’s post is not so much about health but about personal injury case, arbitration and insurance company which does not wish to compensate injured patient after he was involved in a car accident. I had an opportunity to present the case for one of my patients against insurance company which is not willing to compensate him for pain and suffering post motor vehicle accident. Besides my patient and me, the plaintiff attorney was in the room and neurologist who helped to manage the care when the pain level was unbearable for my patient. On the other side was a defense attorney and defense orthopedist (insurance company is using this orthopedist deliberately for reporting purposes only – about this later). The last person was a gentleman who was in the middle of this madness – the Arbitrator.

The arbitration process is not as serious as a deposition or a trial for personal injury cases. The process began by cross examining the patient from defense and plaintiff sides. I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. The second cross examination was for a neurologist who was co managing the care for this patient. Again I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. I was a third person to be crossed examined by both sides. Plaintiff attorney began asking me questions about pre and post health condition of this particular patient. The main complaint of the patient was persistent lower back pain which radiated down his left lower extremity. The questions were very specific and were leading to a specific conclusion – that this particular injured individual has never had shooting lower back pain prior to this accident. My thorough documentation has proved that this was the case. When the time came for a defense attorney to cross examine me, that person completely relied on an orthopedist’s report, which was obviously geared towards the benefit of the insurance company. The problem is that the defense orthopedist spent perhaps at the most thirty minutes with this patient and can not possibly know everything about his health history. Some anecdotal studies and examples were included in the report which had no supportive values for defense attorney and insurance company. Orthopedist does not have much of a clinical experience and is specializing in report writing only. This doctor was called for cross examination right after me.

The third party has wasted thousands of dollars on defense work instead of simply compensating the injured person. I am pretty sure that arbitrator will award this man a proper compensation for his pain and suffering.

 

Car Accident During Rainy Season In San Francisco Bay Area

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CAR ACCIDENT DURING RAINIt has been raining very hard in San Francisco Bay Area during this rainy season. The last couple of weeks was heavier than usual. Land slides, damaged properties and numerous car accidents on the road. During summer people get used to driving in constant dry conditions knowing that there will not be a drop of rain water on a freeway. However, when rainy season arrives and freeways and roads are being washed with the first drops of rain and old oil and grease from the vehicle turn the concrete on freeways into and ice skate ring. Californians loose a guard of driving over the summer. Thus, is the reason for high number of car accident in the entire State of California and San Francisco Bay Area in general. My San Leandro Chiropractic Clinic and five other clinics see way more patients during the rainy season. All drivers must understand how to drive during the rainy season and what can cause automobile accident.

A great number of drivers do not know how to drive during a rainy season. There are two types of drivers during bad weather conditions: those who lack confidence and those who are reckless drivers. Both types are dangerous on the roads.

Those drivers who lack confidence on the road during rain have a tendency to overestimate the danger of weather conditions and driver slower then the rest of the traffic flow on a freeway. This type of driver can be the cause of a back up traffic, and increasing the risk of rear end collision which can cause whiplash injury. This soft tissue injury is very common type of an automobile collision.

Those drivers who are reckless drivers often ignore the warning signs during the bad weather. These type of drivers are more than happy to see almost empty freeway and will use an opportunity to drive even faster than usual with low visibility and drenched roads. Even SUVs with all wheel drive systems and 4x4WD vehicles can easily loose traction with a road and easily skid. When a heavy vehicle like that is loosing traction during high speed it is recipe for a disaster. Please do not test your limits – the risk is far greater than a few seconds of an adrenaline rush.

Rain Makes the Road Slippery

Rain can make it much harder to stay on a road, being able to stop, or avoiding a collision with another motor vehicle. As I have mentioned above the road becomes very slippery because the oil rises to the surface and creates a greasy surface. If one can not stop a car on time, car accident is inevitable.

Rain Decreases Visibility

 

Make sure that your vehicle has functional windshield wipers. During rain storms, the visibility on the road is very minimal and it is hard to see other cars. Dirty water splashed from other vehicles on your windshield can block your view completely. It is like driving with your eyes closed on a freeway. Properly functional wipers will reduce this risk.

 

Car Accident Prevention Tips For the Rain

 

1.  Drive slower.

This tip is for a better reaction times.  Rainwater causes grease and oil built up on the road to surface and tires traction suffers as a result.  If you drive slower, your tire traction will improve and you will also have more time to brake and slow your vehicle down.

 

2.  Keep your eyes on the car ahead of you.

Pay extra attention to the traffic ahead of you during rainy days. During beautiful sunny day, you can see the traffic situation a couple hundred feet ahead and react accordingly.  On a rainy day, it is important to pay attention to the reaction of the driver ahead of you.  When that driver brakes, you brake as well.  Still keep a safe following distance from the car in front because you’ll need to brake more slowly on a slippery road to avoid skidding.  Keeping the distance is the key in order to prevent car accident and soft tissue injury.

3.  Do not brake suddenly.

 

Sudden braking may cause a skid.  Since the roads are slippery, stopping the wheels too quickly may cause them to lose all traction with the road, and an imminent car accident becomes a distinct possibility.  In the case that skidding occurs, however, remain calm and do not make sudden turns because doing so may make the skidding even more dangerous.  Just try to remain calm and steer straight until you feel the car regain traction.

4.  Correctly defog your windows.

 

The windows on your car might fog, further limiting you visibility.  You try to defog with the heater, but that will only further fog up your windows.  To defog, keep your air conditioning blowing at both your windshield and your back window.  If your car has a defog function, just press the button, and defogging should start automatically. Try not to wipe fogged window with your hand as it is going to make things even worse.

5.  Avoid standing or flood water.

Middle of the road is usually higher that the left and right shoulder of the road. Staying in the middle will help you to avoid driving in buildup rain water. Most of the vehicles will not be able to drive through the pool of water and have a firm grip in deep water like SUV or 4×4. Try to stay away from those pools of water. If for some reason you do need to go through standing water, lightly tap a brake pedal couple of times and shake your tire with excess of water.

It would be great if everyone would stop driving during a heavy rain. However, that is impossible. In modern days society people are too busy and they have places to go and things to do. You can always pull over to the side and wait it out if you really think it’s raining too hard to drive.

If you were involved in a Car Accident and sustained soft tissue injury feel free to CONTACT one of our San Francisco Bay Area Chiropractic Clinics and we will be more than happy to help you. Most of the cases are on lien bases. That means you do not have to pay out of pocket for care. We do all of the paper work for you and deal with insurance paperwork.

Whiplash Injury Prevention Technology

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whiplash injury prevention technologyThousands of claims for in-road accidents are submitted each year and the leading injury claim submitted is for whiplash injury. This type of traffic accident occurs during low speed driving with a rear impact collision. In fact, Europe has the title of being the capital of whiplash as millions of pounds of insurance money are claimed each year for this injury alone.

A simple solution for this problem, according to US research from the Georgia Institute of Technology, is with some mathematical calculations. Rear end collisions could easily be avoided with algorithms that are inserted into the computer of a car that will inform the driver if the car that is in front is going slow down. Research shows that a trailing driver’s perception of the leading driver’s speed is usually wrong. They are less capable of calculating the right speed of the car that is in front of them for speeds that is less than 8 mi/hr. That means for slow driving, the trailing car usually miscalculates the true slow speed of the vehicle in front.

From the result of these studies, an early warning system was developed by scientists. This mathematical algorithm of the speed of the front vehicle will hopefully minimize the possibilities of rear end collisions that lead to whiplash injury for the drivers of front vehicles. This new algorithm copies the behavior of the driver and it takes over once a rear vehicle is speeding too quickly to the vehicle in front. This new technology will take some control away from the driver and is now being explored by Mercedes Benz and other high end vehicle manufacturers. This type of algorithm, through researches in Georgia, could be incorporated into a huge range of car brands to reduce the amount of rear end collision cases, and eventually reducing the cases of whiplash.

This algorithm will follow the style of driving and braking of the driver and copies it. It can also put in pre-programmed protocols for safety so the driver would be alerted of the speed and distance of the car in front. This way collision could be avoided. Mercedes Benz also included emergency brakes that will stop the vehicle right before the impact. This is Mercedes’s way of kicking it up a notch over the technology from Georgia researchers.

These safety algorithms could really make a big difference as it could greatly reduce the number of rear-end impacts on our roads especially during low velocity driving. And because these minor car accidents lead to serious whiplash injuries that costs a lot of money, this technology is being improved by the leading research scientists which shows that they do take this problem seriously. Our modern technology is improving and advancing at a great speed. Eventually these problems will be avoided completely through the help of modern gadgets and computer programs.

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