Check this out: a whopping one out of seven Americans has an orthopedic impairment to deal with on a regular basis. As if that’s enough, more than seven million patients have to be hospitalized for their orthopedic conditions every single year. Don’t want to become another statistic?
Let’s face it. Sustaining car accident injuries can be a traumatic experience. If you’re wondering if you should see an orthopedic doctor after a car accident, we got your back (literally!)
If you’ve been in a car accident recently, figuring out exactly what doctor to see afterward can be a real headache and a half. To tell you the truth, the pain and the trauma after a vehicular accident is not only scary but also to bring some pretty serious injuries for everyone who’s involved.
In addition to that, dealing with injuries after a car accident can result in a lot of mental and financial stress as well. Not to mention the medical bills that you might have to pay following your crash can be astronomical too. So, if you’re unsure about which doctor to see and which insurance plan sign-up for, we highly recommend that you speak to the right health provider for you.
Have you been in a car accident recently? If that’s the case, getting the proper treatment and diagnosis by a medical team of doctors who can treat you is the smartest thing that you could do. And despite how you may feel, playing off your action as a minor injury is probably not the best idea.
Get this: even if your car accident wasn’t that crazy, the small injuries that you could sustain from that up to something major later on. Okay, so know that we’ve gone that down, what should you do after you’ve been in a car accident?
We’re not going to lie, most people think that they should see their primary care physician right after a car accident. Surprisingly enough, a lot of family physicians refuse to take care of patients for injuries related to a car accident.
Of course, this depends on the type of injuries that you sustained during your accident. However, don’t be surprised if your primary care doctor sends you to an expert like an orthopedist or chiropractor instead!
As we mentioned above, seeing your primary care physician after a car accident may only result in a reference to the right chiropractor or orthopedist. Naturally, this is a wise decision on your primary physician’s part, especially since they don’t have the training to properly treat you.
Despite this fact, sending you to the perfect specialist will make sure that your primary doctor is still in the loop on your progress too. So, why should you see a chiropractor and an orthopedist following your car accident? We’re glad you asked.
Similar to an orthopedist, chiropractors specialize in treating spinal related issues for people that have been car accidents. By diagnosing your spinal injuries, they’ll be able to better inform your orthopedist about what’s going on in your body. That means that along with your primary care physician and orthopedist, a chiropractor might be a great option as well.
For those of you are playing to see a chiropractor, prepare to have your x-rays taken, to submit a full medical family background, and to have a more comprehensive diagnosis of your injuries. After you receive the right diagnosis, your chiropractor can team up with your primary care physician and orthopedist to create the perfect care plan.
And the best part about seeing a chiropractor after a car accident is that they can refer you to an orthopedist that you can trust, as well as any other medical professionals. On top of giving you MRIs, CAT scans, and ultrasounds, chiropractors can work with your other doctors to explore your condition and see what treatment method is best for you.
Plus, chiropractors are helpful because they can assess how injured you really are. Besides that, they can also tell you if you have any permanent damage to take care of in the future. Lastly, the recommend that you receive ongoing care, which definitely includes seeing an orthopedist.
In case you didn’t know, orthopedic doctors focus on something called the musculoskeletal system. The craziest part about orthopedists is that they can give you a ton of nonsurgical and surgical treatment for your pain too. As if that’s not enough, orthopedic doctors are the right choice for those who suffered pretty severe injuries after their car accidents.
We can’t emphasize this enough: seeing an orthopedist after your automobile accident is the key to recovering quickly. So, phoning your closest orthopedic doctor for an appointment should be a no-brainer if you ask us. How do you see an orthopedist?
Basically, if your injuries are extreme enough, the chiropractor that you visited earlier on will most likely refer you to a local orthopedic doctor. That’s because your injuries will clearly need to be assessed further by a real specialist. By teaming up to take care of your wounds together, your chiropractor and your orthopedic doctor will make sure that you will receive the best results for your treatment.
What happens next is that your orthopedic doctor will recommend some sort of surgical procedure for you. After that, your primary care physician and your chiropractor might join forces to write your treatment plant together. If you’re suffering from extreme pain after your accident, visiting an orthopedic doctor could be the cure, especially if you’re suffering from any of the following injuries:
What if you’re not sure what’s wrong with you? For those of you are scratching your head, have no fear. That’s because your orthopedic doctor can run a series of tests to figure out what’s truly causing you pain after your car accident.
Can’t beat that!
Everyone loves to procrastinate, but when it comes to your health after a car accident, waiting to see an orthopedic doctor is the biggest mistake that you can possibly make. For those who are unaware, Orthopedic physicians will help you treat your car accident injuries, as well as help you avoid developing any potential diseases triggered by your incident.
Yes, you read that right. And some instances, getting hurt in a car accident is only the first step. It gets worse. Those that fail to visit a doctor after their incident may not ever fully recover from what happened to them. Obviously, this can result in a downward spiral of degenerative diseases.
Although it may not seem so bad, these degenerative diseases can become progressively more painful as time goes on. Not sure what we mean by that? Allow us to enlighten you.
In a nutshell, some diseases that your orthopedist can help prevent you from developing include things like:
Let’s take a moment to talk about arthritis. For the uninitiated, this painful disease can cause joint pain, which can be mild or excruciating. Moving forward, spinal stenosis happens when the channel in the center of your vertebrae gets too narrow. And if you guessed that this was the result of a” traumatic injury,” you’d be dead right.
When your vertebrates channel narrows, this can have a really negative impact on your body’s nervous system. Not only is this condition dangerous, but it’s also super painful as time goes on. That being said, sciatica occurs when your sciatic nerve is pinched.
Running from your lower back to your feet, the sciatic nerve can give you mild, throbbing pain if it is pinched. Like car accident-related injuries, the pain levels of sciatica vary from person to person.
For those of you who have been in a car accident recently, sometimes suffering from arthritis, spinal stenosis, and sciatica aren’t the only potential diseases triggered by car accidents.
In fact, those that have been injured in a vehicular accident are at an even greater risk of developing a degenerative disease called hip bursitis as well. Feeling totally confused right now?
Here’s the breakdown. Once someone’s been involved in a painful car accident, this could cause their bursae to become inflamed. In layman’s terms, bursae are the so-called shocks of your hip bones. So, having inflamed bursae might result in unbearable pain levels that can only be treated by a qualified orthopedic doctor.
Did we mention that you can get an infection from any fractures sustained in a car accident injury too? That’s not all. When a bone is broken, it often tends to poke out of your skin.
Due to its exposure to the elements, this could end up in a nasty infection. And if you don’t take your infection seriously, it could cause even more illnesses. Last but not least, there’s tendinitis.
To put it simply everyone has a bunch of tendons that go throughout their bodies. These are created to connect your bones to your muscles. But here’s the kicker: when your tendons become inflamed or irritated, the irritating can range from mild discomfort to extreme pain. Nobody wants that, right?
In spite of this fact that an automobile accident isn’t always responsible for these diseases, car accident-related injuries can spark them. From that point on, you’ll start to feel worse and worse until you seek emergency care. But when should you see an auto injury doctor?
When it’s all said and done, we suggest that you see an auto injury doctor as soon as the accident occurs. So, if one happens to be at the scene of the wreck, you need to consult with them immediately. Since most people are in shock after an auto accident, they may feel like they don’t have any injuries that need to be taken care of by a doctor.
But here’s the catch. You may not even be able to feel the lacerations, broken bones, or other injuries until you’re seen by a professional orthopedic doctor at the hospital. To make it easier for you, some of the delayed symptoms that you may experience include swelling, the inability to move, and intolerable pain.
In addition, using over-the-counter pain reliever and ice packs at home to treat injuries such as bone fractures simply isn’t enough. To be quite honest with you, the sooner that you see an orthopedic doctor treat your fractures, the better.
Instead of wasting time, you could be healing yourself at the hospital, which could make the difference between wearing a cast or recovering from surgery. Trust us, we promise that you won’t regret it.
For those of you who still not convinced to see an orthopedic doctor immediately, think about it this way. If you make the mistake of treating your injuries at home, you might actually lose your right to file a lucrative insurance claim. Plus, receiving a settlement if your injuries show up, later on, is basically out of the question in this worst-case scenario.
This is crazy: failing to take care of your car accident-related injuries could even result in a huge stack of medical bills with little to no compensation from the insurance company!
Admit it. Getting hit by a car is a really big deal. That’s why we suggest that you get checked out by an orthopedic doctor before it’s too late.
Still, need help finding the perfect orthopedic doctor for you? If so, then you’ve come to the right place. That’s because our handy guide has everything you need to decide which doctor you should see after a car accident.
From teaming up with your primary care physician to creating a treatment plan with your orthopedist, we’ve got everything you need to have a speedy recovery. We hope that you feel better soon!
Were you injured in an auto accident? Don’t hesitate to contact top medical experts today!
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