9 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE YOU CHOOSE WHICH CHIROPRACTOR TO TREAT YOU FOR YOUR CAR ACCIDENT PAIN/INJURIES.
How Soon After My Car Wreck Should I be Examined?
IMMEDIATELY! Do not wait to be examined. Even if you have to symptoms after accident you should be thoroughly examined. Waiting could cause you to suffer long term consequences, like denial of your claim or arthritis.
Do you work with other professionals?
YES. If you’re not getting relief, you should not have to ask for a referral, your chiropractor should already have recommended one for you. Some chiropractors will not refer you out…. they keep trying even though what they are doing is clearly not working…which causes your bill to continue to rise. Our goal is to make you feel better, so if we can’t heal you, we’ll send you where you need to go.
Should Everyone in the car during the accident be examined, including children?
Absolutely! It does not take long to be examined! Medical doctors will look for broken bones and prescribe drugs that only cover up the pain. Chiropractors are the only doctors trained to find and treat misaligned vertebrae. Wouldn’t it be better to get to the cause of the problem and treat the cause of your pain rather than just masking it? Children often have a hard time telling you when and where they are in pain as well, so an examination could reveal many things that they cannot communicate.
How Quickly Can I Be Seen?
Normally, we can see you the same day you call us. Our goal is to get you out of pain as quickly as possible. We have great office hours, and are even willing to make exceptions to those hours in extreme circumstances.
Is Chiropractic Care Safe?
Not only is Chiropractic care safe, it is also non-invasive and drug free!
How Long Will My Treatment Take?
The duration of your treatment really depends on how fast your body responds to care – everyone is different. You will be given a customized treatment plan and given an approximate time frame for how long your treatment will take. We don’t use cookie-cutter care plans because your injury is as unique as you are. You will get exactly what you need, no more and no less.
Do you Take X-Rays?
Yes. Which means that there is no need for you to have to visit the Emergency Room. ER’s make you wait forever and your time is valuable! Plus, you don’t pay for x-rays so long as the car wreck was not your fault!
Do I Need a Referral to See Dr. Steve or Dr. Hall?
No way! After your accident you are free to choose whichever doctor you think is going to help you most! We think that is Dr. Steve, but come in for a free consultation to see for yourself!
WHY CHOOSE CHIROPRACTIC CARE & WHAT TO EXPECT?
Why Chiropractic?
Chiropractic pain management is scientifically geared for victims of car accident and other injuries. Most people come to us experiencing headaches, neck pain, and back pain, but here at Hall Chiropractic, our doctors also treat and manage things like sciatica, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle injuries. Our doctors’ approach to care is gentle, safe, and always drug-free.
Our goal is to help your body naturally restore mobility and flexibility while reducing stiffness and soreness that sets in after the car wreck. Patients commonly see a drastic reduction in acute pain and swelling, increased motion, reduced headaches and an overall sense of wellbeing after their first few adjustments and therapy sessions.
What to expect at your first visit?
Before your Free Chiropractic Consultation, you’ll be asked to fill out forms that provide detailed background knowledge about your medical history, current condition, and the symptoms you’re experiencing. Typical questions include:
- When and how did the pain start?
- Where is the pain located?
- Did the pain start as a result of an injury?
- For us, it’s especially important to know if the physical damage resulted from a Car Accident.
- Describe the pain – is it sharp, dull, numb, pins and needles, or burning? Does it come and go, or is it continual?
- What activities/circumstances make it better or worse?
After you’ve answered the questions, you’ll receive a diagnostic assessment from Dr. Hall. This will likely include the following:
- Physical examination: identifies and focuses on areas that are hurting and uncovers other potential problems to your overall health.
- Range-of-motion testing: assesses how your injury is affecting your mobility. Remember, motion is life!
- Muscle Testing: identifies areas of weakness that are negatively affecting your recovery from injury. Unaddressed muscle weakness can make you more likely to re-injure the area of complaint and set you up for worse injuries. Don’t let that happen to you!
- Orthopedic Testing: these tests identify probable strains and sprains you wouldn’t be able to see with the naked eye. They also identify injury to the nervous system, which controls every cell in your body!
- Flexibility and posture analysis: identifies what your flexibility is and how it is affected by the injury. Posture analysis can help us determine if your posture is affecting the injury or causing other issues. Whether you work in an office or in construction, repetitive stress motions in modern life have an effect on the structure of your body. Our job is to return you to normal, pain free motion as quickly as possible.
- X-Rays: these will be taken to look for proper alignment, disc spacing, and subluxations impacting your nervous system. We also take X-Rays to ensure it’s safe to proceed with treatment.
After these evaluations are performed and the results are analyzed, you’ll receive chiropractic services right away and your doctor will come up with a treatment plan specifically geared for your body and the pain you’re experiencing.
What therapies can you expect?
After you’ve answered the questions, you’ll receive a diagnostic assessment from Dr. Hall. Chiropractic Personal Injury Care is designed specifically to help victims by using the following therapies:
- Chiropractic Spinal Adjustments – manual manipulations help to facilitate proper motion in an individual joint area (spine or extremity) that is stuck or is currently experiencing a reduced range of motion.
- Electrical stimulation – “electrical stim” helps dull muscle and nerve pain in a local area where the pads are placed on the body, this numbing effect acts like a topical NSAID, reducing inflammation without all of the problems that come with oral medication.
- Intersegmental traction – “traction” provides a gentle stretch at the joint level. This pressure relieves tension from subluxations and allows the discs to move more freely.
- Vibration therapy – Much of our nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is programmed to figure out where we are in space. When we are injured, signals from our surroundings can be misinterpreted by our nervous system. Vibration therapy “re-educates” the nervous system to interpret our environment correctly.
How will billing work?
Paying for treatment is normally one of the biggest concerns our patients have when they come to see us. If you were in a car accident and suffered injuries that were not your fault, we think you should not have to pay anything out of your own pocket.
So, to make sure you get the treatment you need without having to worry about paying out of pocket, our billing office will bill the at-fault driver’s insurance company immediately and, if appropriate, your medical pay provider, making sure you don’t pay any out-of-pocket costs.
Not Finding what you are Looking For?
Have more questions than we are able to answer here? That is okay! Give us a call and we would be happy to help!
Contact Us!
Hall Chiropractic Sports & Injury Clinic
3570-B Vest Mill Road
Winston Salem, NC 27103
Get Care Now!
WHAT TO DO AFTER AN AUTO ACCIDENT
If you’ve been in a car wreck that’s someone else’s fault then the insurance company for the person who caused the accident is supposed to pay for your injuries and damages. You’re entitled to get paid for what you’ve suffered even if you’re a passenger in the car of the person who caused the wreck. That insurance company, however, is financially motivated to pay you as little as possible. To keep the insurance company from taking advantage of you, there are some important things to remember:
- Always call the Police to the scene of the accident
- If you are in even a little pain, make sure to tell the Police at the time of the accident
- Take pictures of the scene
- Take pictures of your injuries
- Inform your insurance company about the accident as soon as possible
- Be VERY wary of early settlement offers
- SEEK MEDICAL TREATMENT AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN
- GET PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR INJURIES TO ENSURE YOU GET THE SETTLEMENT MONEY AFTER YOUR CAR WRECK THAT YOU DESERVE.
Document everything that happened
The insurance company is going to do everything it can to limit what they have to pay you for what you go through because of your auto accident. They won’t believe you if you don’t have the paperwork to back up how bad the accident was or how badly you’re hurt. So, you first have to document the accident and how bad it was. This means:
- Make doubly sure that the police record in their Accident Report everything that happened, the severity of damage to your yourself, and the severity of damage to the vehicles and property involved.
- Make sure your accident images are clear and understandable.
- If any of your injuries are visible, even if they are only bruises, make sure the images are also clear and understandable.
Be careful when speaking with Insurance
You have to tell your own insurance company when you have an accident, even if the accident is not your fault. After all, you may have medpay insurance, which could cover some of the costs of your treatment. But if the at-fault driver’s insurance company calls, be very careful.
**You probably shouldn’t talk to them about settling early on because you have no idea how bad you’re hurt, how much treatment you’ll need, or how long you’ll be out of work. **
Even if they offer you several thousand dollars to settle early, remember that your treatment could cost 10x that much!
See a Chiropractor ASAP:
Waiting to seek medical care from a medical or chiropractic doctor after you’ve been hurt in a car crash can have a devastating effect on your chances of getting the settlement money you deserve. If you wait, this will be identified by the insurance company as a “gap” in your care.
An insurance adjuster will look at how soon after the wreck you sought medical or chiropractic care. If you wait too long, then they’ll argue any conditions you later suffer from weren’t actually caused by the accident.
Even minor injuries should be accounted for and documented because in time they may lead to chronic pain. It’s best to see your chiropractor immediately after your car wreck, even if you don’t feel any pain at all. Research shows that you can suffer injuries even in accidents that happened at 5 mph. The adrenaline you experience during the accident, no matter how minor, can keep you from feeling the severity of your injuries for days or even weeks.
If you’ve suffered a minor or major accident and feel any pain whatsoever, schedule an appointment to see Dr. Hall at Hall Chiropractic Sports & Injury Clinic IMMEDIATELY.
- We’ll see you the same day you call.
- We won’t charge you a dime if the accident wasn’t your fault.
- We will make you better!
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT ACCIDENT CASES
How soon after my car wreck should I see a chiropractor?
Do NOT wait to be examined! Even if you feel normal after your car wreck, with no symptoms, you should be thoroughly examined. Your health is our number one priority. We don’t want you to suffer long-term consequences, like arthritis, because you didn’t get examined and treated when you could have. In fact, to make sure you’ll be seen immediately, we block out appointment times every day to make sure we can see people who’ve been in car wrecks.
Are Adjustments the only thing chiropractors do?
A proper chiropractic adjustment is one of the single most powerful experiences that you can have in achieving overall health and wellness. Dr. Hall is well-versed in Active Release Methods, Trigger Point Therapy, Nutritional Counseling, Supplement Recommendations, Hot/Cold Therapies, Rehabilitative Treatments, Therapeutic at home exercises/stretches, and Intersegmental Traction.
Recovering after an accident injury is often about finding the right combination of treatments rather than just doing a series of adjustments.
How quickly can I see a doctor at Hall Chiropractic and do you have extended hours?
We at Hall Chiropractic pride ourselves in offering same-day appointments. In fact, we offer extended hours to work around your schedule. If you have been in an accident, please call right away.
How much will my treatment cost?
It will cost you absolutely NOTHING to be treated at Hall Chiropractic if your injuries are from a car wreck that wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry if your case is denied by the insurance adjuster later down the road. We will NOT charge you for our services if that happens, though most offices do.
How long will my treatment take?
It depends on how fast your body responds to care because no two people are alike. After examining you, our chiropractor will develop a customized treatment plan and give you an approximate time frame for how long your treatment will take. We will treat you for what you need; no more, no less.
Should I see a chiropractor even if I’m not hurting right after the car wreck?
Yes! We strongly recommend that you take a little time and come in for a free Consultation. If you’re ok, then it didn’t cost a thing except a few minutes of your time. However, adrenaline keeps a lot of people from feeling their injuries immediately after a car wreck – they can take days or even weeks to surface. But, by then it could be too late to get you coverage through your auto insurance.
Should everyone in the car be examined, including children?
Definitely. Like we said, even if they’re not in pain they should see us just to make sure they’re not injured. The consultation is free. It doesn’t take long. And we might catch an injury no one knew about. Also, medical studies show that since children’s bodies are smaller, they typically don’t handle trauma as well as adults. Therefore, they can really benefit from chiropractic care after a trauma.
Do you take x-rays?
Yes. There’s no need to go to the hospital emergency room. We realize your time is valuable. So, we won’t make you wait like the ER does. And just like with treatment, you don’t have to pay for x-rays so long as you’re seeing us because of a car wreck that wasn’t your fault.
Can I still be treated if I received a traffic ticket (i.e., No driver’s license, tags expired, etc…) but the car wreck wasn’t my fault?
Yes. No problem at all, even if the insurance adjuster doesn’t like it, we’ll treat you at no charge. Our main concern is getting you out of pain.
Do I need a referral to see you?
No. You don’t need a medical referral to see us. In fact, we recommend that you see us first because we are specially trained to treat car wreck victims, where MD’s might only be able to mask your pain with pills.
Do gaps in medical/chiropractic treatment reduce the amount of money the insurance company will pay to settle your case?
Insurance companies look for any excuse they can find to pay you as little money as possible. If you don’t get medical/chiropractic treatment for your injuries, they will say that you’re not hurt as bad as you say you were and/or that your pain wasn’t caused by the accident. This is why it is so important to seek chiropractic care as soon as you possibly can after your accident. We are trained to take your medical history, complete a thorough exam and determine what treatment you need. We are also very well trained in how to document your injuries and why they caused you to miss work, etc , which is extremely beneficial to your auto insurance claim. After that, if you decide you need a lawyer, you will already have the proper paperwork that they will need to help get you a better settlement.
The ER Doctor said I was fine, but I am still in pain.
Emergency Departments are just that: to treat you in case of a life-threatening event. When they do an exam or X-Rays, they are looking for things that could be life-threatening; fractures, internal bleeding, etc. They won’t necessarily note the things that Chiropractors are looking for, like soft tissue damage and damage to your nervous system. It is very important for your health to have a properly functioning nervous system. In a nutshell, unless you are about to die and require surgical intervention, the emergency department is NOT equipped to help you after a car crash. They will typically prescribe pain medications and muscle relaxers, which will only mask your pain, not heal the source of it.
Chiropractors, on the other hand, diagnose and treat injuries to the structure and alignment of your spinal column and extremities. We are masters of soft tissue injuries and cut the time you are in pain down drastically. Even if you are not feeling pain, injury to these soft tissues (discs, ligaments, and tendons) are best treated in a chiropractic office. At Hall Chiropractic Sports & Injury Clinic, we have an X-Ray unit in-house and rule out life-threatening emergencies before we start any treatment. Unlike the ER, we won’t make you wait hours and charge you for greatly overpriced care.