Motor Vehicle Injuries: Gentle, Safe and Effective Car Accident Treatment

Canberra has safe roads, but...

Canberra has one of the safest road systems in Australia; you just have to listen to the National traffic report on ABC radio about accidents and traffic jams around the country, yet quite often you will hear them say, “Nothing to report in Canberra”. However, people still receive whiplash injury and other car accident injuries and, sadly, do die from car accidents in Canberra.

According to ACT Policing Online News¹ there were only 6 deaths in 2019 and by early May 2020 this image on that site revealed only 2 deaths.

Accessed on 13.5.20 https://policenews.act.gov.au

However, fatalities are not the only thing we have to be concerned about. Injuries affect many more people here in the ACT than we realise. For example, in the first 6 months of 2019 there were 4220 road crashes in the ACT, which is an average of more than 600 crashes per month or 23 per day. Speed is a significant factor in many of these crashes. In fact, it is estimated that in a 60 km/h speed limit area, the risk of involvement in a casualty crash doubles with each 5 km/h increase in travelling speed above 60km/h.

Those are some sobering statistics especially when we learn that the number of hospitalised injuries is on the rise and "Injuries sustained in road accidents are 27 times higher than those of fatality rates". Accessed on 13.5.20 https://www.budgetdirect.com.au

According to the Budget Direct website "While Australia’s number of road fatalities is roughly half of those in the US, our fatality rate is nearly twice as bad as the UK’s."

The Canberra Times stated that “In the 12 months to June 1269 people died on Australian roads – 99 more deaths than in the same period in 2014-15.³

Gentle, safe and effective car accident treatment

Over the past 25 years of clinical practice as a chiropractor, I have successfully treated many dozens of people suffering whiplash. This has included a wide range of symptoms, many of which were severe in both their intensity and negative impact upon daily life. These symptoms were caused by car accidents, sports injuries as well as numerous people with work injury. The accidents resulted in mild to serious soft tissue injuries such as ligament and disc damage. I have also taken care of people with spinal fractures, arm, wrist, ankle, shoulder, pelvic, leg, knee and ankle fractures. ITHere were others with significant dislocations. In most of these cases, I worked on their injuries in the chronic stage after they had been released from hospital. In fact, in some cases, I was able to assist people get closer to a more complete recovery, even though the event that injured them had occurred many years earlier.

Safety of Chiropractic

“Chiropractic care has a very low risk profile, especially when compared with more invasive methods of spinal healthcare.” ⁴

Elsewhere on this website you can read about and watch videos describing the very gentle chiropractic method I use at the Body Mind Empowerment Centre called Network Spinal Analysis (NSA care). Another name for this method is Network Care. People suffering the consequences of injury appreciate NSA care due to its gentleness, safety and effectiveness.

“Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change, adapt and learn new tasks. One such task is to heal after significant injury.”

At Body Mind Empowerment Centre, we believe that NSA Care achieves its effectiveness due to its ability to access the body’s neuroplastic potential by teaching the brain and body to learn what Professor Bob Blanks ⁵ called “A strategy of self-correction”.

For more details on NSA Care as a neuroplastic treatment, click here

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Perhaps you or someone you know has been involved in a motor vehicle accident? 

It is important to know that even at low-speed crashes, injury can occur. No matter what the speed of the crash is, it is always a good idea to have this checked out by your GP as well as a chiropractor. Many chiropractors have the knowledge, experience and skills to detect subtle yet potentially serious injuries. Even if you or a loved one may not be experiencing significant symptoms immediately after a car accident, that does not mean you escaped injury.

Not all symptoms start immediately after injury

One medical study concluded that delayed onset of neck pain, paraesthesia (pins and needles in arms and legs), pain between the shoulder blades, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), headache, dizziness, and visual disturbance can occur after 1 week. Then, between 3 months and 1 year 4% more people began to experience these symptoms and between 1 and 2 years after the accident another 22% started to feel these symptoms.⁶

This knowledge has important practical implications for you if you or someone you know had an injury in the past and did not notice pain or other symptoms right away. This is especially rather then if a year or so later then began to feel symptoms.

I have been able to use that research, along with other car accident studies, to successfully present a case for my patients that the symptoms they began to feel many months after a car accident was a result of injury from that event.

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Even a low-speed crash of just 5 km/h can tear spinal ligaments and cause arthritis.

Did you know even a low-speed car accident can lead to increased risk of arthritis? It certainly can, and here's the evidence... The Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine reported that strain injuries to the spine, like injuries, typically received in vehicular accidents, increase (the risk of) arthritic development by more than 6 times ⁷. If you have experienced delayed symptoms after a car accident then I hope research like that helps you to understand how it may have been related to that event. It can take years to turn into mechanical deformations in the bones of the spine but the abnormal forces caused by stretched ligaments (soft tissue injury) in the neck or back, can lead to inflammation which drives the pain. In summary, Inflammation is a key factor in the development of arthritis that can cause new problems a few years after the event minor spinal surgery.

I was sitting on the verandah of a restaurant, enjoying my holiday in Tasmania last year when I heard a huge crash just across the road. The driver, carrying four others, had taken his eyes off the road for a moment and ploughed into the back of the parked car without even having a chance to apply the brakes. This is an example of a high-speed collision.

If you have experienced symptoms after a car accident, the sooner you get evaluated by a health care professional who is experienced in both injury evaluation and car accident treatment, the better your chances of a more complete recovery. However, if you were injured many years ago and are still suffering, then improvement may still be possible, so my advice is to keep searching for a healthcare professional with experience & expertise in the area of car accident treatment.

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What Is “Soft Tissue Injury”?

I have noticed that many people who have come to me seeking solutions to their symptoms and limitations after injury were diagnosed with “soft tissue injury”. If there are no broken bones then the only other conclusion for persistent pain or other symptoms is probably “soft tissue injury”. However, it is often given as a very general diagnosis without specific diagnostic evidence. As a result, I find that most of the time there is neither a specific tissue identified nor the exact location of injury. For example, for tissue identification is a disc a specific ligament or a muscle or tandentent. For location is the injury between C1 , C2 and C3 or something else such as between 5th and 6th i.e., C5 and C6.

“What are these soft tissues?” The tissues that can be injured in the spine are the vertebral discs, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, but I suspect the most commonly injured soft tissue are the ligaments. If ligaments are injured, and if that can be clearly identified, then it can be of great value to the injured person and to any healthcare provider taking care of that person. For example, it can help us to know where to treat and where not to treat, as well as what types of advice to give such as exercises to do and not to do.

In my experience, identification of the specific tissues involved as well as the specific spinal levels of injury, will assists me in making a more definitive prognosis.
(*Prognosis: a forecast of the likely outcome for a clinical condition.)

The precise location and cause of “soft tissue injury” need not be elusive. A more definitive diagnosis is important.

I have been able to assist many patients with a detailed determination of the specific location and severity of spinal injuries using a particular form of x-ray analysis called Computer-aided Radiographic Mensuration Analysis (CRMA). I used this with many of my patients who had been involved in a car accident while working in the USA.

I also directed a company that used CRMA to analyse hundreds of x-rays sent by other chiropractors in order to create detailed reports on soft tissue injuries in the spine. I was the senior partner in that company called Injury Documentation Consultants with an orthopaedic surgeon as my consultant. We met regularly to go over my reports and he taught me a great deal about documenting spinal injury as well as its management. After I would do the careful computer analysis of the flexion/extension radiographs, I would discuss the case with Dr Sutton. He had many interesting stories and lessons about people he had taken care of over his 30 years as a surgeon. He explained how, in his opinion, a surgeon has the unique advantage over the radiologist, in that he would read the x-rays and MRI's and then get to see what it looked like during surgery. I no longer have the CRMA equipment but I can still put all that experience to good use when evaluating and treating injured patients.

I have presented seminars in several US States to dozens of other chiropractor’s on the topic of “The Diagnosis, Documentation and Effective Treatment of Car Accident Injuries”. The seminar also included a section on writing detailed reports for third parties such as solicitors and insurance companies. I taught the participants how to use numerous scientific articles to help explain the nature and implications of injury, including the prognosis. The Oxford dictionary defines prognosis as “An opinion, based on medical experience, of the likely course of a medical condition”. In those seminars, I would explain to treating providers how to use the scientific literature to respond to insurance company doctors who would deny treatment in cases where those denials appeared to be unwarranted.

Long term pain in multiple areas of the body

The majority of people who still have persistent pain after a car accident feel that pain in just a few location. I have helped many people in that situation. However, a condition that results from injury which I am both experienced and confident in assisting people with, is one where over a period of many months or even years, the symptoms migrate from the location of the original injury to other areas of the body. One location of injury can turn into pain and other symptoms in many locations. It is not uncommon for me to identify over 10 different symptoms like this. In fact, I have treated dozens of people who have had over 20 significant symptoms. One case had over fifty. In the reports I write for my patients, I use the scientific literature to explain this condition to third parties (i.e. GP, solicitor or insurance company).

I was recently pleased to see where neuroscientists have begun to study this phenomenon of 'migrating pain' more closely, as it is something I have commonly seen over the past 2 decades of practice. Unfortunately, in my work providing Independent statement dated evaluations of car accidents victims, and as a injury consultant using CRMA, I found many cases where doctors and insurance companies have argued against people with this condition, essentially saying “These new symptoms are not related to the original accident because they are not at the site where the original injury occurred” or “because the symptoms did not begin until months later”. In some cases, that may be correct, but it is certainly not true in every case. I feel a responsibility to my patients, to look at the clinical evidence and if possible, provide an honest and rational argument explaining why their injuries and new symptoms are in fact the result of the original injuries.

There is power in the detail

Performing a detailed initial history and physical evaluation is something that I believe is very important to do well for people with injuries that seek my assistance. Unfortunately, this is not always done. In fact, I can say with confidence, that for most of the injury cases I've seen where there were ten or more symptoms, I was the first health care professional to have specifically identified each of their symptoms and defined them in detail. With the personal help of Dr Bob Blanks, who was at the time a professor at Irvine Medical College, I have developed a system to quantify symptoms in a relatively objective way that illustrates a more documentation of the true nature of symptom usually discovered and documented.

If you or a loved one have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, you may need to consult with several healthcare professionals in order to find one who you are comfortable with and feel confident in their ability to help you gain an optimal recovery. Just because one practitioner cannot help you, does not mean another can’t. All too often, I have seen people give up hope before exhausting all avenues in order to receive the help they needed. Before giving up, think about the ramifications of that decision, not only to your own quality of life, but on your family and friends, not to mention your current & future productivity at work.

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What are your barriers and are they actually real

There truly are many different approaches and talented professionals who are well placed to help you to achieve your optimal recovery from injury. However, for years I have seen numerous barriers get in the way for people with injuries. It has stopped them choosing to find and receive effective treatment. Here is a list of just some of the barriers that I have seen:

• Not enough money to pay for treatment

• Cut off financial support by insurance

• Not enough time in the day

• Can’t get off work in time

• Hard to get out of the house

• Can’t get transport

• Too depressed or just “foggy in the head brained” to make the effort

• Family don’t support it or actively discourage it

• I’ve had it so long nothing seems to help anyway, why bother

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What Are Your Goals?

Most people have come to me with the goal "I just want to have less pain" and others say "I am worried about taking so much medication". There are also people who say they want to become more mobile and functional so they can be more fulfilled and productive again.

If you or someone you know has been in a Motor Vehicle Accident or had any form of injury, then please feel free to contact me at Body Mind Empowerment Centre and schedule an appointment for a 20 min low-cost consultation to answer your questions (without treatment) or to schedule a detailed initial evaluation (with treatment if deemed necessary). For more details on initial consultation options please click HERE.

If you would like to know what to expect at your full initial chiropractic consultation then please see my 6-minute video titled “What To Expect On Your First Two Visits” and be sure to tell our receptionist that you have been injured.

Jason W. Barritt B.Sc (Hons) DC
Chiropractor

For more details on car accidents and injuries, click here

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References:

1. Accessed on 13.5.20 https://policenews.act.gov.au

2. Accessed on 13.5.20 https://www.budgetdirect.com.au

3. The Canberra Times, July 22, 2016

4. Blanks, R.H.; Shuster, T.L.; Dobson, M.A. Retrospective Assessment of Network Care Using a Survey of Self-Related Health, Wellness and Quality of Life, Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, 1997,Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 15-31.

5. www.chiro.org.au/chiropractic-faqs accessed 24.10.20

6. Eur Spine J 3:162-164, 1994

7. Carroll, et. al., Objective Findings for Diagnosis of Whiplash, Journal of Musculoskeletal Medicine, March 1986

8. http://www.aihw.gov.au/injury/publications (Accessed 16.7.2016)

Accidents, Injuries & Chiropractic

Sometimes our world can be a pretty dangerous place; many of us have experienced a traumatic brush (or collision) with reality. Accidents may be unavoidable, but much of the resultant pain and suffering may, in many cases, be safely and gently addressed with chiropractic care. That is likely because many people who have experienced trauma also have subluxations: structural spinal distortions causing nerve interference that can lead to many symptoms. I have been studying and practicing chiropractic since 1990 and have taken many seminars in the area of injury documentation and treatment. For more information about my approach to treatment please click HERE.

Chiropractors play a vital role in the care of injured people

Doctors of chiropractic focus on locating and correcting subluxations using relatively safe, gentle, “adjustment” techniques.

From what I have seen in my practice, people can leave the emergency room with as many subluxations as when they entered it. I lived and worked as a chiropractor for many years in the USA. In America, some hospitals have employed chiropractors to assist in these situations. I worked near Fort Carson, Colorado where chiropractors (commissioned military officers) had such long lines of soldiers waiting to see them with a range of injuries and symptoms including chronic neck pain, knee pain, shoulder pain and other issues that a few consulted with me, even though they had to pay for it, rather than wait in those long lines.

Physical problems after injury

Accidents can cause injuries leading to shoulder pain, arm pain, wrist, hand, leg pain, headaches as well as back pain, arthritis pain, and even jaw and facial pain. I have assisted many injured people with those symptoms. Some people present with one or two conditions and others have had dozens of symptoms develop as a result of a single event such as a car accident. For example, I had one person here in Canberra that was referred to me by her GP, who had 52 different symptoms.

Since, for me, one of the main objectives of chiropractic is to reduce nerve interference caused by spinal subluxations in order to restore optimal nerve function, and since chiropractic can, in some cases, profoundly assist the above-listed health issues, it's no wonder why 300 000 people seek chiropractic care in Australia every week. (Reference here https://www.chiro.org.au/patients/about-chiropractic) With NDIS, car accident insurance, DVA and workers compensation schemes paying to some extent for chiropractic care, people with access to those programs are seeking assistance after injury.

There is a substantial amount of scientific support for the use of chiropractic in the care of injuries. One example can be found in a British study titled Chiropractic treatment of chronic ‘whiplash’ injuries, “Twenty-eight patients were selected at random from chiropractic referrals for chronic ‘whiplash’ syndrome…” The patients’ symptoms before and after treatment were assessed blind by an independent chiropractor and an orthopaedic surgeon. The authors made the statement:

“… chiropractic treatment has been shown to be advantageous compared to conventional medicine in the treatment of low back pain.”

They then concluded “The results of this retrospective study would suggest that benefits can also occur in over ninety percent of patients undergoing chiropractic treatment for chronic ‘whiplash’ injury.” A follow-up study by some of the same authors in The Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine, reported:

“Our results confirm the efficacy of chiropractic, with 69 of our 93 patients (74%) improving following treatment.” The study concluded “The results from this study provide further evidence that chiropractic is an effective treatment for chronic whiplash symptoms.”

For more information on our experience in working with accidents, click here

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“You'll have to learn to live with it”

Many people have been told that they’ll just have to “learn to live with it," but it isn’t always true. Anyone who has been in an accident or had various forms of trauma, no matter how long ago, may still be able to make substantial progress in their efforts towards recovery with chiropractic care. I have taken care of dozens of people after hospital treatment for injuries ranging from fractured neck, fractured back and two cases of multiple pelvic fractures, to repetitive injury as well as work injuries and car accidents. While I cannot guarantee results in every case, I have seen many times when chiropractic care has made the difference between struggling with a life of pain, restriction and suffering to a life of ease, productivity and improved overall quality of life.

The Value of Experience

While it is not possible for any treating provider to predict the level of anticipated success in every case, over 20 years of experience helps me to assess injured people and have a reasonable level of confidence about whether or not I can help them to make progress towards a more complete recovery.

Having provided written chiropractic opinions as an official state “Independent Medical Evaluator” to dozens of car accident victims in Colorado, who were being treated by other chiropractor, I have seen cases where people have received excellent care as well as cases where that care was not ideal. This experience leads me to believe that it is important to do a very detailed initial evaluation, and if applicable, to then include treatment, in order to be able to make a prediction about whether or not the person is likely to make progress.

If, after my detailed initial evaluation, I find good evidence that progress is likely, then I will recommend a specific treatment plan with a thorough re-evaluation in 4 to 6 weeks. At that point, I will usually provide a detailed written report documenting my findings to the managing GP. I am usually also able to include notes on a range of symptomatic and functional improvements in that report.

Working As Part Of Your Accident Recovery Team

Several GPs and solicitors in the ACT have found that this approach has been helpful in better understanding the nature of injuries for some of their patients and clients. Another goal of mine is to document the negative impact that injuries have had upon the lives of my injured patients. I do this primarily to help me monitor the progress of my patients which helps me to ensure my treatment continues to be beneficial, however, in the process of doing this documentation, it can be very useful to the injured person's GP and solicitor.

I have benefited from physio myself and all of my children have sought assistance from physiotherapists. I have had some injury cases, where I have had the opportunity to interact with the patient's physiotherapist to the benefit of the patient. My objectives and methods are usually very different to the physio and a physio's work is very beneficial, therefore, with good communication, there are times where both chiropractic and physio together, can offer more to the patient than just one or the other.

Jason W. Barritt B.Sc (Hons) DC
Chiropractor

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References:

1. A symptomatic classification of whiplash injury and the implications for treatment. Khan S, Cook J, Gargan M. Bannister G The Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine 21[1] 1999.

2. Hadley LA. Intervertebral joint subluxation, bony impingement and foramen encroachment with nerve root change. Am J Roentgenology and Radiological Therapeutics. 1951;65:337-402.

3. Braaf MM, Rosner S, Gukelberger M. Trauma of cervical spine as cause of chronic headache. J Trauma. 1975;15:441-446.

4. Gukelberger M. The uncomplicated post-traumatic cervical syndrome. Scand J Rehabilitative Med. 1972;4:150-153.