As a personal injury lawyer I frequently represent clients who have been in a Chicago car accident. Low back pain is a frequent injury based complaint. Over my 35 year career, I have advised and represented many clients suffering from low back pain as a result of a motor vehicle collision. In representing them in litigation, I have had many hundreds of occasions to sit with their treating physicians, chiropractors, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and orthopaedic surgeons to discuss the mechanism of their injury, their complaints, the human anatomy involved, and the various treatments available. Over the years I have passed this information on to my clients, and here pass it on to our readers.
Low back pain following a motor vehicle collision can arise from a multitude of injuries or micro-injuries to the various tissues that make up the human anatomy. The various structures involved can include bones, tendons, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and the various components of an intervertebral disc including the annulus fibrosis and/or the nucleus pulpous. Sometimes the onset of symptoms is immediate, other times they merge over days, weeks, or in some cases up to a year or more.
Physical therapy is usually prescribed to help regain range of motion, reduce swelling, and decrease spasming. Spasming is the human body's normal reaction to some type of back injury or insult. One of the first things that would be addressed by a physical therapist is an attempt to reduce the spasming. This will be done gradually by most therapists because spasming is actually a good thing. Spasming sometimes also called "splinting" is the human body's reaction to injury and keeps the affected body part from moving and thus sustaining more injury or producing more pain. Gradually through such methods as hot packs, massage, stretching, and strengthening exercises, the therapist will attempt to alleviate the pain, restore range of motion, and, of course, reduce the spasming.
If the client continues to suffer low back pain after a period of four to six weeks of physical therapy, most physicians will refer them to an orthopaedic surgeon who will usually order an MRI scan to see what exactly is going on with the various structures that make up the components of the human anatomy but do not show on x-ray.
For more information concerning the effects of motor vehicle accidents on the human body and particularly the low back, please continue reading within this blog and the Morici, Longo & Associates website. Our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer are available for free consultation seven days a week and often clients can get a call back within an hour by filling out an appropriate contact form within the site. For further questions or to seek compensation for low back and other injuries caused by the negligence of others, please do not hesitate to contact us.