An auto collision is likely one of the most serious, and often underestimated, traumas you’ll ever experience. Research has shown that even low impact collisions, where the car itself is not noticeably damaged, is sufficient to cause whiplash injuries including muscle trauma and ligament damage. Dr. Bucknell noticed early in his career that often times patients could trace their injuries back to an auto collision in their past. Then through research using Digital Motion X-ray it became clear that not a few, but the vast majority of patients who had recently suffered a motor vehicle collision had clear ligament laxity and vertebral slippage. Following this discovery, Dr. Bucknell started communicating with the top personal injury lawyers in the region to properly diagnose and address these injuries for their clients as the standard of care to that point was merely symptom based chiropractic and medical approaches. Today Liberation Chiropractic provides not just pain relief, but measurable and provable injury recovery to hundreds of patients every year. If you have recently suffered an automobile accident, contact our office right away regardless of how you feel and we will make sure you have proper diagnosis and treatment.
Proper Diagnosis
The majority who are in auto collisions are not brought to the hospital, nor do they see a doctor in the days following. For those who do, it’s important to understand what different doctors are looking for if you want to avoid long term repercussions. For those who go to the emergency room, the job of an emergency physician is to find out if your life is in jeopardy. With this in mind they may not perform any diagnostics at all if they feel confident you don’t have any major problems. If they do any testing it may be x-rays to look specifically for fractures, a CT to evaluate for concussion, or possibly an MRI if they suspect organ trauma. If your life is not immediately in danger, they are most likely going to prescribe pain killers, muscle relaxers, and anti-inflammatory medications to ease your symptoms and suggest you schedule with your regular doctor so they are free to see the next patient whose life may be in danger. If you then go to your medical doctor, again unless they suspect a fracture or organ trauma they are most likely just going to prescribe more symptom relieving medication.
Most of the time a qualified corrective Chiropractor is going to be the only physician who will even look for the less obvious problems like ligament damage, subluxation, etc. Most Chiropractors, if they perform x-rays, are able to detect subluxations and provide appropriate care. But for ligament injuries, Digital Motion X-ray is the gold standard for detection where other diagnostics like x-ray, CT, and MRI are likely to miss.
Liberation Chiropractic is one of only a handful of clinics in the nation, and one of only a couple in the entire state of Alabama, to have a Digital Motion X-ray. With this technology we routinely discover injuries that were completely missed by other doctors and diagnostics.
Corrective Treatment
When it comes to treatment, not all chiropractic care is the same. Many Chiropractors in fact don’t take basic x-rays before seeing and treating patients. In the case of auto collisions not only can it be dangerous, but it can risk your chances of having your care covered. Even if x-rays are taken, many Chiropractors simply focus on the symptoms, treating with adjustments and various electrical physical therapy devices what a medical doctor would treat with drugs. When you feel better, they assume you are better and may move you to wellness care or release you from care without complete recovery. A qualified corrective Chiropractor focuses only on symptoms as a tool to know how the underlying cause is recovering. After thorough diagnostics to completely understand and validate your injuries, a corrective Chiropractor will set up a care plan that includes chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, home therapy, and possibly even nutrition or other measures to restore your body back to pre-collision status or even better.
Legal matters
With Liberation Chiropractic’s experience in auto collisions, we have developed relationships with the top lawyers and firms on the Gulf Coast. If you do not have an attorney and would like a referral to somebody who will take care of you and your case in a responsible manner, we will gladly provide you with some options of those we trust. It is in our best interest of course that your case is fully covered, therefore it is in our best interest to provide you with top notch legal advisors. Contact us and we will gladly assist you.