- Spine Injury
Spine injuries can be devastating, causing long-term complications and permanent disability. Damage to the spinal cord can reduce nerve function, cause muscle weakness, impair the functionality of body parts, and more. The effects of these injuries go beyond the spine, potentially affecting mobility, daily activities, and more.
While a spine injury can be life-changing, chiropractic treatment can promote healing, improve your symptoms, and help prevent further deterioration. Our Plantation spine injury treatment professionals at Specific Chiropractic Care have experience with a wide variety of techniques that can help with spinal injuries.
Call 239-369-9109 today for more information about the spine injury treatment we can provide.
What Is a Spine Injury?
Many people confuse back injuries with spine injuries, but they are not the same thing. A back injury affects the soft tissues of the back, such as muscles and tendons. A spine injury affects the spinal cord, which is a bundle of nerves running down your back that is protected by your backbone.
Spinal cord injuries can be complete or incomplete. Complete spinal injuries cause the loss of all nerve function below the injury site, resulting in paralysis. Incomplete spinal injuries cause damage to nerve function but allow partial nerve function on one or both sides of the body. These injuries may affect sensory function, control of body parts and organs, and mobility.
Common Causes of Spine Injuries
Many injuries to the spinal cord result from traumatic incidents such as auto accidents, slip and fall accidents, sports injuries, and gunshot wounds. Surgical complications can also injure the spinal cord.
Always seek prompt medical care after an accident, even if you think your injuries are minor. You may injure your spine without knowing it, and delayed treatment can lead to long-term complications.
Common Symptoms of a Spine Injury
Because spine injuries can impair nerve function, they may cause a loss of sensation and a feeling of weakness in the affected area. Other symptoms include severe pain in the back or neck, difficulty breathing, loss of bowel and bladder control, and lumps on the spine. Seek treatment immediately if you notice any of these symptoms.
Chiropractic Treatment Can Help With a Spine Injury
Our doctors will begin your treatment with a thorough evaluation of your spine injury, including X-rays of your spine. We will examine the impact your spine injury has on your limbs and other body parts, as well as your overall health. We will then develop a customized treatment plan to promote healing and minimize your symptoms.
Our treatment plans consist of four phases.
Acute Phase
When you sustain an injury to your spine, it shifts away from its natural position. This shift can impede nerve function, leading to many of the symptoms you may experience.
Our doctors will manually adjust your spine back into its natural position using short, powerful thrusts. While you may feel immediate improvement after each adjustment, your spine will shift back slightly after treatment. Regular chiropractic adjustments will prevent regression.
We may also recommend physiotherapy with our licensed massage therapist as well as suggest stretches you can do on your own at home. These complementary therapies will reduce muscle pain, increase flexibility, and help you maintain your progress.
Rehab Phase
Our doctor will regularly evaluate your progress. Once you have made significant improvements, we will move you to the rehabilitation phase. Here, you will continue to come in for chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy.
You will also progress from stretches to a light exercise regimen to increase your strength. Strong muscles will stabilize your spine and reduce your spine injury symptoms.
Strengthening Phase
In this phase, you will continue to receive chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy. Your focus will be on strengthening your muscles with an increasingly challenging exercise regimen. Our doctors will prescribe a series of exercises that you can perform on our in-office equipment.
Maximum Medical Improvement Phase
According to Florida Statutes § 440.02, maximum medical improvement occurs when you can no longer reasonably expect further recovery from or lasting improvement to your spine injury.
At this point, our doctors will recommend a long-term treatment plan to help you maintain your health and prevent the recurrence of your injury and its symptoms. You will continue to receive chiropractic adjustments but will not need to come in as frequently.
We Can Help With Your Personal Injury Case for a Spine Injury
If another person’s negligence caused your spine injury, you may have a valid personal injury case. If you were hurt in a slip-and-fall accident or auto accident, the at-fault party may be responsible for your medical bills and other losses (such as loss of income and pain and suffering) related to your injuries.
We can work with your lawyer if you have one. If you do not have one already, we may be able to refer you to a personal injury lawyer. Our office can assist with your case in several ways such as:
- Provide evidence by giving your lawyer copies of your medical bills and records
- Document your spinal cord injury with X-ray imaging and medical analysis
- Give expert medical testimony concerning the location and severity of your injury, the length and expense of your expected treatment, and your long-term prognosis
Flexible Payment Options for Spine Injury Treatment in Plantation
Our Plantation office works with insured patients and patients without insurance. We offer several flexible payment options so that patients with any budget can afford the chiropractic care they need.
- Insured Patients: We accept most insurance carriers, including Medicare. Benefits vary between plans, so contact our office to see what type of coverage your insurance provides. We are happy to let you know what your insurance covers before you come in.
- Noninsured Patients: We can work out a direct payment plan for patients who do not have health insurance or whose health insurance does not cover chiropractic treatment.
- Personal injury patients: If your spine injury is part of a personal injury case, your settlement may cover your treatment.
Start Your Plantation Spine Injury Treatment!
At Specific Chiropractic Care, our team is committed to helping you recover from a spine injury. We will tailor a plan to your needs to maximize your recovery, preserving your current nerve function and restoring nerve function when possible.
Contact our Plantation office today at 239-369-9109 to learn more about the spine injury treatment options we can offer you.