Are Golden-Agers Doomed to Obligatory Pain?
September 2, 2014
Lower Back Pain after a Car Crash
By Matthew J. DeGaetano, DC and Shana B. Singer, DC – Certified in Personal Injury
In 2012, Jenny Jones was a 45-year-old, self-employed woman with two young sons, when a
Jeep traveling at high speed crashed into the car she was driving. While initially she appeared uninjured, the accident resulted in her becoming a sufferer of chronic back pain, a poorly understood condition, which she says has ‘consumed’ her and ‘affected every facet of her life’.
“I was turning right on a busy road in Dallas on my way home. The car was stopped when suddenly and without warning I felt an impact from the rear end of my car. I looked up in my rearview mirror and there was another car parked on top of mine.”
Because the force of the crash caused her car to surge forward, the car also hit the car in front of her. The car had a double impact. Jenny appeared to be uninjured and actually remembers being “ok” after the accident.
“I remember telling the guy who hit me to call the police. I took his name and his insurance details. I can even remember writing my details down for him. My hands were shaking but I was “ok”.”
“The accident meant that I was going to be late getting home to my kids and I was more concerned about that”, she says. The car was pretty banged up and Jenny had to get in the car through the passenger side to drive home. She says that she was still very shocked, her legs were shaking and she was beginning to feel pain, “but I had to get home and I would never let anyone down.” She says it was only after arriving at her house that she realized that she was nearly killed. As the evening went on, the pain got worse.
She did not attend her GP until the next day, when she was in ‘excruciating pain’. She was sent to the hospital for X-rays, where she was told she only had a “sprain / strain” and that she’d be better in couple of days.
This occurs in the US every day, and it is unfortunate. Jenny is not the only victim; thousands will suffer with chronic neck and back pain.
A car wreck can cause many things – emotional stress, trauma, physical injuries and even financial strain.
One of the most common complaints after a car crash is back injury. Car crash victims sometimes regard it as a mere cumbersome condition, but when examined closely, it is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Lower back pain can be self-limiting, but if the pain persists, you shouldn’t hesitate to set an appointment with a doctor who specializes in treating injuries from car crashes. Since the type of lower back pain Jenny had was caused by a car crash, it’s best to not self-medicate. Probable treatments that doctors could recommend include surgery, spinal manipulation performed by a qualified chiropractor, ultrasound, cold laser, spinal decompression, TENS or Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (the use of electrical stimulation by surface electrodes), back exercises, and many other options.
On your first visit to a doctor that specializes in treating motor vehicle crash victims, make sure to carefully follow you doctor’s orders. Doing so will improve the rate of your recovery, which is what any car crash victim should aim for.
If you have any questions or if you would like more information, please contact Dr. Shana Singer at contact@wellnessinstituteofnv.com or 702-896-2700.
