Global Courant
What to Do After an Accident in Panama City FL (Chiropractic or Medical)
Accidents happen. But finding the right doctor and treatment shouldn’t be a coincidence. After an accident, you face many challenges, not the least of which is how to find the right doctor to solve your problems.
Usually people first seek help at the local emergency room, usually Bay Medical or Gulf Coast Hospitals and if the injuries sustained are significant then this is indeed where the person should go. People need to remember that these emergency rooms are designed to assess how serious your problem is and determine if the injuries you have sustained are life-threatening. Emergency care is not designed to treat non-life-threatening conditions, such as those commonly encountered after an accident. If your condition is not an emergency, the ER will usually give you short-term medications and instruct you to see another doctor if you continue to have problems. Often, soft tissue injuries such as torn ligaments, sprains and strains, as well as concussions, are underestimated by the patient. Left untreated and unchecked, these injuries can lead to permanent damage and lifelong consequences.
At this point, patients can become confused about their treatment and lost in the muddle of what to do. They are constantly harassed by advertisements from lawyers telling them to come see them and OPEN a claim and then get calls from insurance companies trying to get them to CLOSE the claim (sometimes for a few pennies). The question to answer BEFORE making a decision is “AM I INJURED” and will the treatment for these injuries be short or long or permanent? Your insurance person can’t answer that question, nor can any attorney you see. The only person who can truly answer these questions is a physician trained to evaluate and detect both the obvious injuries and the more subtle injuries that can occur in motor vehicle accidents.
So what kind of doctor? This may depend on where you live and what is available in your area, but usually it should be someone who has the following qualifications and services:
1) Experience: The clinician must be familiar with trauma cases and how to treat them, and be able to articulate the recovery process in a way that the patient understands the treatment. Look for doctors who have additional training in this area and who have been treating these types of cases for some time. Chiropractors are often used for the types of trauma associated with neck and back injuries sustained in a car accident, but other physicians may be needed to achieve complete healing, such as neurologists, orthopedists, and pain relievers. Look for offices that not only provide chiropractic treatment but also employ a board-certified pain management physician to assist with the evaluation and treatment of serious injuries. Look for accident reconstruction training and applied spinal biomechanics training on the physician’s resume, as well as certification to perform Impairment Ratings under American Medical Association guidelines.
2) Services: Does the firm provide the types of services I need? Many different types of treatment can be helpful in recovering and recovering from the types of injuries seen in motor vehicle accidents. Does the office have a fully serviced pain management suite with state-of-the-art equipment, including a C-arm fluoroscope (video X-ray machine) that allows the doctors to see directly the source of the pain and allows documentation of what procedures are being performed . Look for a state-of-the-art decompression table, the DRX9000C, that allows doctors to treat not only cervical spine injuries, but also the lumbar spine for herniated discs and degenerative changes of the spine. A full range of physical therapy should be offered, from targeted exercises to ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation and interference current and cold laser treatments.
3) Does the office accept cases like this: Many doctors do not accept cases that have the option of litigation, including car accidents. You need to know this before you wait weeks to see a doctor only to find out you don’t even accept car insurance and your regular insurance is billing us personally. A good office will work with all the carriers in the area and will also work with local and foreign lawyers when necessary to make sure you get the treatment you need.
4) Will the doctor cooperate with lawyers or go to court? This can be the key in many cases. In this part of Bay County, we often see doctors get involved in cases initially, but when the case seems to go to court, they back off, leaving the patient without a doctor to document their injuries. This leaves the patient and attorney in a real situation and should never be done. Ask if your condition requires you to go to court, the doctor will take the time to testify on your behalf.
Choosing a doctor in Panama City or anywhere in the country as you can see can be a daunting experience and most people are subjected to so much misinformation that finding the right treatment sometimes seems impossible, but with a little time and research you will hopefully choose the right way. The choice can change the direction of your life, as improperly treated or neglected joint injuries usually become permanent problems that can plague you for the rest of your life, but a multidisciplinary treatment program can help you recover and heal as much as possible and a neck or back save from lifelong pain.
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