Years ago I had a patient who sustained a serious low back injury in what seemed to be a simple, low impact rear-end accident. My patient was stopped at a red light and was hit from behind by a car that was maybe going 10 mph. The impact wasn’t severe enough to require any repairs to either vehicle.
Regardless of the lack of damage to my patients’ vehicle, he knew immediately that there was something wrong with his lower back and his right leg. He told me that when his car was hit, he felt the metal framework of his seat apply a significant amount of force through his lower back. As he got out of his vehicle, he felt weakness and a little pain in his right leg.
I have patients that I treat for certain conditions that are later aggravated by car accidents but this case wasn’t one of those. This patient had no prior history of low back pain or sciatic pain – this current pain was all new.
After four weeks of chiropractic care for his injuries, both the patient and I were frustrated by his lack of progress. I sent him for an MRI of his low back which clearly showed 2 herniated discs in his low back – no doubt these were from his accident.
This patients’ options for care at this point were to go to an orthopedic surgeon or continue with chiropractic care at my office. He elected to continue with chiropractic care with the understanding that if his condition either failed to improve or worsened that he would consider an orthopedic consult.
In this case, this patient made significant improvement with chiropractic care and made a complete recovery. The odd things about this case was how little damage was done to the car by the accident and the fact that the patient experienced no neck pain while suffering significant low back injuries.
The bottom line is that even light impact accidents can create enough force to create a significant injury.
Your’s In Good Health
Dr. Jones
(619) 280-0554
www.JonesPainRelief.com
