Driving or riding in a car has become such normalcy, it’s easy for us to think nothing of its dangers. But auto accidents are very common and can happen to anyone at anytime. Musculoskeletal or head injuries can come up after an accident, which sometimes can cause chronic pain. Coping with that pain is just as important as recovering from the injury, so contacting one of our Atlanta Orthopedic Doctors is the first step you should take to get evaluated and on the path toward managing that pain.
Seek Out A Credible Accident Orthopedic Doctor
There are many different specialties a car crash doctor can pursue when getting licensed, as there are too many complexities within the body to have a full understanding of it all. Atlanta Orthopedic Doctors are trained especially to treat injuries you can obtain in an auto accident, and have vast experience in doing so. They can help diagnose your injury sooner than other doctors because of this experience, and they will help relieve you of your pain as soon as possible.
Visit AICA Orthopedics ASAP
After an accident, there are three things that can happen. You can come away with some sort of injury and feel immediate pain, you can come away with no injury at all, or have an injury that you don’t experience pain from right away. Such pain can come within hours, days or even weeks after obtaining an injury. That’s why you should visit an Orthopedic Doctor after the accident. They can evaluate you and determine your musculoskeletal health.
Pain Management Options
A lot of victims feel pain after a car accident, often from injuries to soft tissue or from whiplash. Discomfort can occur in multiple areas of the body from an injury, but there are several ways to overcome it.
– Ice: By icing an area where you feel pain, you can reduce the swelling and discomfort of an injured muscle, tendon or ligament.
– Neck or Back Brace: By wearing one for a brief period, a brace can be useful to manage pain and even help with recovery. Yet, restoring normal range of motion and movement is vital in recovery, so your muscles need to move.
– Medication: An accident victim can alleviate the pain and swelling from an injury by taking anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants and painkillers. Such also help the injured area heal with reduced tension and pain.
– Physical Therapy: Nerves and muscles can be damaged by an accident, resulting in discomfort and limited range of motion. Physical therapy enables healing a strengthening of those affected areas.
– Massage Therapy: The force on the body from an accident can easily damage soft tissue. The damaged muscles can heal the wrong way or tighten, which causes even more pain. Massage therapy can alleviate muscle pain and better blood circulation to the damaged tissue.
– Epidural steroid injections: These injections can treat inflammation in the legs, arms, neck or back, and therefore alleviates pain and actually improves recovery
– Radiofrequency ablation (RFA): Those with more serious, chronic issues can benefit from RFA, as it uses radio waves to create an electrical current that heats up a small region of nerve tissue. Pain signals from that area are reduced as a result.
Recognizing The Dangers of Medication Overuse
Atlanta Orthopedic Doctors are very educated and experienced in treating accident injuries for recovery and pain management, which goes well beyond prescribing pain medication. While pain medication, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory medications can all help reduce discomfort and aid recovery, relying on them for more than a short period can be dangerous.
Opiate painkillers should be used as a short-term treatment, as using them numerous times each day for several weeks can lead to addiction. That leads to a long-term use, which can result in brain damage, slow breathing and other significant side effects.
Talk to Atlanta’s Orthopedic Doctors about potentially using medication, or pursuing other remedies to an injury obtained in an auto accident. Make an appointment by calling (404) 855-2141.
