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Is Nerve Damage From a Car Accident Permanent?

A car accident can change a person’s life in just one moment. A serious collision can cause a lifetime of trauma, and victims can suffer from several injuries due to the force of impact, and many are left with significant nerve damage. There are over 100 types of nerve damage, ranging from mild to severe. Unfortunately, some nerve damage is permanent. Read on to learn more about car accident nerve damage injuries, and what you can do to treat them.

What Are Car Accident Nerve Damage Injuries?

Nerves are the key component of the nervous system, a network that’s involved in everything your body does. Nerves are responsible for countless functions, from controlling your muscles to regulating your breathing, sensing cold and heat, and more.

Impact injuries from car accidents often lead to nerve damage injuries. They occur when a nerve is compressed, crushed, pinched, or stretched due to trauma. Since nerves are so integral to essential bodily functions, any nerve damage can have a big impact on your overall quality of life.

Degrees of Nerve Damage Injuries

There are many types of traumas that can affect nerves, and “nerve damage” is an umbrella term for these injuries. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, visit a doctor immediately who can diagnose and treat your condition, including nerve injuries. Your doctor will quantify your nerve damage by its severity, as follows:

• Neurapraxia: Nerve injuries that fall within this category are the least severe. Full recovery is often possible, as the structure of the nerve remains intact.

• Axonotmesis: This more serious nerve injury can result in long-term or permanent paralysis of sensory and motor functions since the structure of the nerve is compromised.

• Neurotmesis: The most severe of all nerve damage injuries, neurotmesis results in permanent damage since the nerve is severed entirely.

Many types of common car accident injuries can cause nerve damage, including:

• Blunt force trauma
• Herniated discs
• Pinched nerves
• Whiplash

Treatment for Pinched Nerves

Regardless of whether you were in a major collision or a minor one, seek medical attention immediately after a car accident. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent the damage and symptoms from getting worse—even if you feel no symptoms immediately following the incident.

As with other medical conditions, treatment varies from person to person. Some patients may recover with rest, while more aggressive symptoms may require medical treatment like medication, physical therapy, steroid injections, and nerve ablations. In some cases, surgery is necessary to remove scar tissue, disc material, or even pieces of bone that may be affecting the nerves.

Recover From Car Accident-Related Nerve Injuries With the Help of Impact Medical Group

If you’re living with nerve damage following a car accident, the team at Impact Medical Group of Port Richey is ready to help. Our team of doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists work together to provide diagnostic and treatment options that provide lasting relief from your injuries. Get back on the road to recovery today by calling us at (727) 848-3377 to schedule your free consultation.

Can a Seatbelt Cause Internal Damage?

While it’s always a good choice to wear a seatbelt while driving or riding in a vehicle, this critical safety feature can also cause serious injuries in an accident. Seatbelts can damage internal organs of the abdomen, an injury collectively known as “seatbelt syndrome.” Here’s what you need to know about the internal damage seatbelts can cause in serious collisions.

What Is Seatbelt Syndrome?

Seatbelts can cause significant internal damage when it compresses the abdomen during a collision. The impact can damage both internal organs and the abdominal wall. Seatbelt syndrome can injure the spine, as well as internal organs including:

• Bladder
• Colon
• Kidneys
• Small bowels
• Stomach

Common Seatbelt Syndrome Symptoms

If you’ve been in any car accident—whether major or minor—you should always seek medical attention immediately. Injuries may not present themselves until the days, weeks, or even months after the incident, and early diagnosis and treatment can prevent conditions and symptoms from worsening.

Unfortunately, symptoms of seatbelt syndrome can be hard to detect. You may notice bruising to the abdomen, but it’s hard to determine if internal organs have been damaged until other symptoms manifest. Seek medical care right away if you notice the following symptoms after an accident:

• Abdominal pain, or pain between the ribs or hips
• Blood in stool or urine
• Bruising and straining of muscles around the abdomen
• Bruising or seatbelt marks across the abdomen
• Changes in bowel movements or urination
• Dizziness or weakness that could indicate internal organ damage
• Swelling or discoloration in the midsection that doesn’t disappear in a few days
• Vomiting or coughing up blood
• Weakness in the legs

Complications of Seatbelt Syndrome

Since seatbelt syndrome often involves damage to internal organs, the condition can be life-threatening or cause permanent damage if left untreated. Seek medical attention and have a doctor perform a physical. In some cases, your medical provider will order a CT scan or focused abdominal sonography in trauma (FAST). In other cases, more invasive techniques like a laparotomy may be required for the diagnosis of seatbelt syndrome-related injuries.

Since seatbelt-related injuries may not manifest with visible symptoms for several days after a collision, many people delay treatment simply because they don’t know that a problem exists. Any delay can cause complications, including infection and organ failure. It’s critical to seek emergency medical care immediately after an accident—even if you have no symptoms. Only an accident care doctor can determine whether you’re dealing with a seat belt injury that’s merely a bruise, or if your symptoms are a sign of something more serious.

Injured by a Seat Belt in a Car Accident? Seek Compassionate Care From the Dedicated Team at Impact Medical Group

Thousands of people are injured by seat belts in car accidents each year. If you’re suffering from any of the symptoms detailed above, don’t wait to seek medical attention. The caring team at Impact Medical Group of Tampa will perform a full medical examination, diagnosing and treating the problem and supporting your full recovery. Call us today at (813) 283-1910 to schedule your free consultation.

What Helps Pain After a Car Accident?

Despite being something that many of us do daily in Wesley Chapel, getting behind the wheel of a car is one of the most dangerous activities that the average person participates in.

Car accidents are one of the leading causes of injuries in the United States, and those involved might experience a variety of pain and symptoms in the aftermath.

Knowing how to best treat your soreness and pain after an accident can be critical to expediting your recovery. Our team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel outlines the steps that you can take to deal with pain after an accident.

Common Car Accident Injuries

There are many different injuries sustained in car accidents, ranging from minor to life-threatening. Common types of accident injuries include:

• Whiplash: This injury occurs when a person’s head is jerked forward and snapped back violently; like a whip cracking.
• Back and Spinal Cord Injuries: These injuries can result in various physical ailments including fractures, disc slips, and sprains or strains.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Brain injuries are a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, especially in accidents. Head injuries sustained in car accidents can range from minor to severe, depending on how hard the head is hit.
• Fractures: Broken legs, ribs, arms, ankles, and wrists often occur in car accidents. Some people suffer from pelvic fractures, which require surgery to repair.
• Shoulder Injuries: Shoulder injuries often occur when someone braces their hands against the steering wheel or dashboard during a car crash, causing the shoulders to absorb excessive force.

Treating Car Accident Pain

Pain is one of the most difficult things to deal with after an accident, but it doesn’t have to be debilitating. Here are the best ways to manage your pain and get back on your feet after an accident:

#1. Get Enough Rest

Resting can give your body time to recover; you were just involved in a traumatic event after all. While light exercise and therapy are important, you need to give your muscles time to rest and revolver from the damage they experienced during the accident.

It is also to take a break from work after a car accident to allow your muscles to recover. There is no set amount of rest you need, it will depend largely on the extent of your injuries, so listen to your body and don’t overdo it. Rest as much as possible.

#2. Stay Hydrated

Of course, water is extremely helpful to your muscles in general, but even more so when they are healing. Muscles that are not properly hydrated won’t function as they should, and you may experience cramps and tight muscles; which is no good when you are recovering.

Drinking water will help loosen up your muscles and help them heal more quickly.

#3. Physical Therapy

Physical therapy can be quite beneficial to your healing, especially for any kind of muscle injury. At Impact Medical Wesley Chapel, you will work with a therapist who will design a personalized routine for you, tailored to your injuries and goals.

The work you do in physical therapy might initially prolong how long your soreness lasts after an accident, but it will allow your muscles to heal properly and fully, making it worth it in the end. 

#4. Visit a Chiropractor

Depending on the severity of the accident, those involved can experience pain and soreness anywhere from a few days to years afterward. A chiropractor can help determine the injuries and how to best relieve the pain.

Our chiropractors are trained in alleviating all kinds of pain and use techniques such as spinal manipulation, manual, and more to reposition areas of the head, shoulders, neck, and back to relieve pain.

#5. Manual Therapy

As you heal, manual therapy can relieve pain and encourage recovery in your muscles. This might include deep tissue manual, stone therapy, or general manual techniques.

It is important to share the pertinent details of your accident with your manual therapist so they do not perform any manual that will worsen your injuries.

#6. Stretch It Out

When your muscles are tense and stressed by a car accident, light stretching, or gentle yoga poses can help relieve the stiffness that might have built up.

When stretching, try to breathe as deeply as possible to boost oxygen in the body and improve overall muscle function. The combination of stretching and breathing will promote recovery while helping your muscles relax.

Relieve Pain After an Accident

If you are experiencing any kind of pain following an accident, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel as soon as possible. We offer various treatments and therapies such as manual, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and more that will help you on your road to recovery.

Don’t suffer from accident pain. Contact our accident care clinic at (813) 953-1002 today.

4 Most Unprotected Body Parts of Motorcyclists

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of driving a motorcycle—or riding on the back. Since motorcycles are relatively small vehicles and occupants are very unprotected compared to cars and trucks, motorcycle injuries can be severe. Recovering from a motorcycle accident often takes time, medical intervention, physical therapy, and more. Here are the four most unprotected body parts of motorcyclists, and what you should do to recover from some of these common injuries.

1. Lower Extremities

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) leg and foot injuries are the most common motorcycle injuries. From fractures to broken bones, road rash and more, 30% of all motorcycle-related injuries occur in the lower extremities. While most of these injuries aren’t fatal, they can be very painful and lead to long-term disability if not examined and treated by a medical professional.

2. Head and Neck

The CDC states that the head and neck injuries are second only to lower extremity injuries when it comes to motorcycle accidents. These are some of the most serious injuries a motorcyclist can suffer, and they can even result in permanent physical, mental, and emotional disability.

Motorcyclists who are thrown from the vehicle may suffer skull fractures and other head trauma like Traumatic Brain Injuries. When motorcyclists are struck from the rear, they often suffer from whiplash that occurs when the neck is “whipped” back and forth from impact. These injuries should be examined by a medical professional immediately, since head and neck trauma can cause permanent impairment if not diagnosed and treated immediately.

3. Upper Extremities

Most motorcyclists are ejected from their vehicles during a collision. As with other accidents, it’s human nature to use the arms to brace for a fall. As a result, motorcyclists are likely to suffer upper extremity injuries, like shoulder damage or torn rotator cuffs, from a collision. Other common injuries include broken arms, elbows, and fingers.

In some cases, injured motorcyclists may suffer from permanent nerve damage to the upper body. Early diagnosis and treatment of any upper extremity injuries is essential for post-accident recovery.

4. Thorax

Motorcycle accident victims often experience blunt force trauma to the chest. The impact can cause internal bleeding and damage to the heart, lungs, and other internal organs. Some victims also suffer from broken ribs that could puncture the kidney, liver, or spleen. Many of these injuries require surgical intervention, so immediate medical attention is necessary.

Hurt in a Motorcycle Accident? Call Impact Medical Group of Brandon Today

If you’re injured in an accident, seek medical treatment immediately—even if you don’t experience symptoms. Even minor aches and pains can lead to major problems down the road if they aren’t treated immediately. The medical team at Impact Medical Group of Brandon is ready to help you recover and heal after a motorcycle accident. Call us today at (813) 522-8885 to schedule your free consultation and receive your personalized treatment plan.