The goal of care is to facilitate your return to maximum improvement or pre-injury status. Such care helps to stabilize your condition and prevent permanent residual pain or impairment from occurring.
Your treatment plan is designed to correct the physical cause of your pain and restore proper function back to your body, without endless physical therapy or medications that dangerously cover up your problem. All treatment that is reasonable and necessary to help you attain optimum recovery and stabilization will be provided through direct care at our office, recommended self care strategies, and if necessary, through referrals to other specialists.
Because the purpose of treatment is to have you return to your pre-injury status as quickly as possible, we promote an increased frequency of initial care in order to speed recovery time. Following initial relief, focus continues on the full rehabilitative process. This involves correcting underlying spinal instabilities resulting from your accident, restoring them to full ranges of motion, while strengthening and stabilizing your spine and surrounding soft tissue areas.
Please be aware of the fact that soft tissue related injuries involving muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the spine and nerves, are usually more dangerous than broken bones. This is because non complicated fractures can be expected to heal in about eight weeks without serious consequences. But improperly treated or ignored spinal and soft tissue injuries will form lifelong scar tissue and osteoarthritis. Without proper care, degenerative processes that never recover back to normal will later occur. Under ideal healing conditions, soft tissue injuries may require twelve to eighteen months, or sometimes longer, to reach their maximum healing improvement.
REHABILITATION PROCESS
Whiplash injuries usually involve soft tissue tearing of muscles (strains), ligaments (sprains), and surrounding connective tissue fasciae. Vertebrae of the spine become fixated in misaligned positions (subluxations). This in turn causes nerve impingements and their pathological consequences. These injuries need to be properly rehabilitated and fully stabilized through proper healing attention and time. Otherwise, permanent damage and residual pain will result.
AVERAGE HEALING TIMES REQUIRED
• Mild Whiplash injuries can typically expect to heal within
Six Weeks to Three Months.
• Moderate Whiplash injuries typically require
Three to Twelve Months to heal, and usually require periodic followup maintenance care to
provide stability.
• Severe Injuries (that do not require surgery) can take
One to Three Years, and Even Longer, to reach limited maximum recovery.
FACTORS THAT DELAY OR LIMIT FULL RECOVERY
• Pre-Existing Factors (e.g. prior improperly healed injuries, scar tissue, poor physical
condition, obesity, diabetes, drug abuse, nutritional disorders)
• Delays in Starting Treatment
• Poor Compliance with Keeping Treatment Appointments
• Poor Compliance Following Doctor’s Recommendations
• Poor Compliance with Suggested Rehabilitative Exercises
• Biomechanical Stressors causing Flareups
(e.g. Improper posture, bending, lifting, physical overuse, etc…)
• Emotional Stress (causes muscle tensions, spinal compressions, hormonal imbalances)
• Second (New) Injury
FEES FOR CARE RENDERED
Doctors’ fees for care rendered for Personal Injuries are regulated by statewide regional apportionments that determine usual and customary fee setting. (This is also true for Workman’s Compensation fees for services rendered, which are all strictly regulated by State Guidelines.)
Despite this well known fact, some insurance companies are guilty of telling patients that their Doctor is charging too much for the services being rendered. Personal Injury and Workman’s Compensation cases almost always result in more costly treatment visits and higher case fees than average patient visits. This is because the rehabilitative process for such injuries typically requires additional modalities, services and documentation. Adjunctive therapies may include Traction, Myofascial Release Techniques, Massage Therapy, Electrical or Muscle Stimulation applications, etc..
FACTS ABOUT INSURANCE COVERAGE
(A more thorough explanation of financial and insurance coverage
is explained later.)
When injury results from an automobile accident, there are two areas of insurance coverage that may be responsible for reimbursing the injured parties for care rendered. There may also be personal settlement awards for lost wages and suffering, in addition to reimbursements for treatment.
Please keep in mind that it is extremely rare for patients to be reimbursed for “pain and suffering.” Financial awards are almost always only for actual lost wages or other tangible costs and expenses incurred.
It is recommended that you keep an organized journal of any financial losses you may experience as a result of your injury, including wages lost from missed work, traveling expenses for treatment, etc..
Automobile insurance policies typically cover liability, fire, theft, collision, uninsured motorist, and medical payment coverage. Your “Med Pay” coverage pays for “reasonable and necessary” Chiropractic/Medical care for injuries resulting from an automobile accident. It pays for the driver’s and all passengers’ health care services regardless which vehicle was at fault.
If the accident is not your fault, your Med Pay portion of your insurance may still be billed by all Health Care Providers who treat you, and your insurance company will acquire its reimbursement from the liability coverage of the at-fault party’s insurance company. Ultimately, your Med Pay coverage is responsible for paying for your Chiropractic/Medical services, up to the limit of your policy.