What to Do About Spinal Disc Herniation after a Car Accident
If you’ve ever been in a car accident, then you know that some injuries aren’t always so obvious. While you can easily spot cuts, bruises, and even broken bones after a car accident, you may not realize you have a spinal condition right away. That’s why you should always visit an auto accident clinic after you have been in a wreck. These doctors specialize in identifying, diagnosing, and treating car accident injuries, even those that can go unnoticed by general practitioners at first. Car accidents can put a lot of stress and pressure on your spine, which can lead to spinal disc herniation.
A herniated disc refers to a type of issue with the spinal discs that separate each of the vertebrae in your spine. This spongy tissue protects vertebrae from rubbing against one another and also helps to absorb shock from your natural movements throughout the day. In the event of a car accident, you may experience an injury like whiplash where your neck and back get shaken up during the wreck. This can lead to misalignments in the spine, including a spinal disc herniation. If you have a spinal disc herniation, that means the spinal disc that separates two vertebrae is bulging outside of its normal area.
Signs of Spinal Disc Herniation
You may have a spinal disc herniation if you experience prolonged back or neck pain after an auto accident, accompanied by tingling, a pins and needles sensation, and even numbness in certain extremities. That is because a herniated disc can put pressure on nearby nerves, which disrupts their functioning and causes these uncomfortable neurological symptoms. A herniated disc can occur anywhere along the spine, from the neck to the lower back. A herniated disc in the neck is known as a cervical spine disc herniation, which can occur due to a neck trauma in an auto accident. It is also possible to experience a lumbar spinal disc herniation, which is a herniated disc in the lower back. The most common spots for a herniated disc after an auto accident are in the neck or lower back.
When to See a Doctor for Spinal Disc Herniation
If you are experiencing neck or back pain after a car accident, then you should visit an auto accident clinic to get checked out as soon as possible. Both neck and back pain can take hours or even days to really settle in, so you might not realize you have a serious injury at first. Sometimes people think their back pain is soreness from the accident and that it will go away on its own. However, auto accidents can cause issues like spinal disc herniation and what are referred to as hidden injuries because they don’t always present with obvious symptoms right away. An auto accident doctor has the skills to properly diagnose and treat these types of hidden injuries with delayed symptoms because they work with these types of injuries every day.
Diagnosing and Treating a Herniated Disc
When you visit an auto accident clinic for pain in and around the spine, your doctor will want to do a physical examination of the area. During the physical exam, they may also look for any misalignments in the spine that might be contributing to your pain and discomfort. The doctor will also want to hear about when you started experiencing symptoms, how long they have lasted, and whether or not the pain has gotten worse over time. In order to rule out other possible car accident injuries, your doctor may also want to run some diagnostic imaging tests like an X-ray or CT scan to get a clearer look at the affected area. An X-ray can help rule out any bone fractures, while a CT scan can show a more detailed look at any affected soft tissues. Once your doctor has determined the diagnosis of spinal disc herniation, they can develop a comprehensive treatment plan just for you.
At Fox Integrated Healthcare auto accident clinic, our specialized team of doctors provides a unique approach to your treatment through an integrated healthcare approach. Your treatment plan will be individualized to your diagnosis and address the herniated disc as well as your associated symptoms. The auto accident clinic team at Fox Integrated Healthcare is dedicated to providing you with pain relief and an expedited healing time with our integrative approach.