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Auto Accident Injury Care

Kissimmee Chiropractors Dr. Louis Grasso IV, Dr. Carina Ortega Grasso and Dr. Louis Grasso III work together as a team to provide fast, effective relief for Kissimmee and surrounding area residents suffering from auto accident injuries, whiplash, as well as back and neck pain.

Gentle and effective treatment protocols are used to help auto accident victims with their pain and return to normal daily activities quickly and safely.

DO YOU NEED TO SEEK OUT CHIROPRACTIC CARE FOLLOWING AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT?

The answer is a resounding "yes!" Why is it so important? Why can't you just rest and take the medications that were prescribed by your medical doctor? Is the insurance company going to give you a hard time about it? The reason why chiropractic care is so important after a car accident has little to do with you being in pain (although it's good for that too). Whiplash and spinal-related injuries can wreak havoc on your spine and its associated nerves. You may not be in a lot of pain immediately following the accident, but research indicates that most people will experience a bulk of their symptoms after a few days. Once you start to feel symptoms, this is a good indicator that that a soft-tissue injury has occurred, and likely that you're experiencing a sprain/strain kind of injury. Sprain and strain injuries don't sound horrible, but they are really describing tears of various tissues in your body which occur following an accident. The severity of the tear will indicate the type of treatment you should probably consider first. The chiropractor can help make the determination. Eventually, your body will heal with scar tissue. Scar tissue is less resilient, less elastic and more sensitive than the previously uninjured tissue. Once scar tissue sets up (this takes about 3 weeks following the trauma), it will become increasingly difficult to get you back to your pre-accident state. Early treatment is vital, especially before scar tissue begins to form.

The sooner your problem is identified and treated, the more likely you can return to being pain-free and functional.

I WENT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM & RECEIVED MEDICATION; SO WHY CAN'T I JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT?

So why can't you just rest and take the medications? That may be your best first course of treatment for a couple of days following your accident, but certainly isn't the best choice long term. The medications are there to help you with pain, to help you get through the difficulty of the initial phase of your injury. However, they're certainly not fixing anything. Your E/R visit might have ruled-out fractures or conditions which are considered a medical emergency following trauma, but it does not take care of the spinal imbalances and soft-tissue injuries that need treatment to heal properly. In addition to the chiropractic adjustment, you can typically receive additional therapies that will help your muscles and other soft tissue heal more quickly than just "resting" alone. The additional therapies also help with pain, swelling, and inflammation and can be a big help in the speed of your recovery. Finally, certain accidents do result in disc involvement of the neck and back. Generally, hospital emergency room physicians order CT scans to find fractures and other conditions in trauma cases but rarely order MRI scans to identify disc bulges or herniations. Spinal Disc Herniations are most effectively diagnosed using MRI studies and must be identified and treated early on. If you are having disc-related complaints, an MRI of the spine is indicated and will be ordered by our doctors immediately, so that the condition can be diagnosed and treated appropriately.

WILL YOUR AUTO INSURANCE COMPANY GIVE YOU ANY TROUBLE?

You have insurance for just this type of situation, when you need health care and you can't afford to pay for it yourself. In the State of Florida (which is a no-fault state), everyone must have PIP insurance and it will cover you, EVEN IF YOU WERE AT FAULT for the accident.

However, recent State Law changes require you to seek medical care no later than 14 days after an accident, or lose all of your PIP Medical benefits.

There are very specific and strict laws in the State of Florida for the timing of filing auto insurance claims. Our office has over 41 years of experience in treating these types of cases and will ensure that claims are handled correctly and in a timely fashion.

Our office will contact your auto insurance company to determine the amount of coverage you have and just how much help the company must provide. We do all of the paperwork and bill the insurance company directly. Ultimately, it's your body and your health and you'll need to make sure your injuries are taken care of following the accident. Where you may have trouble is if months have gone by and you haven't gone to see any doctors, just hoping it will go away, then you decide to file a claim with your insurance company. It is therefore very important that you file a claim on a timely basis so that you can use the coverage you are entitled to.

WHAT IF THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT MY FAULT?

When someone else is at fault for your injuries; State No-Fault laws require that all medical care be initially billed to your insurance company and then your attorney/insurance company will pursue the case with the guilty party's insurance company.

If someone else was at fault, our office will take you through the entire process of documenting your injuries, filing the claim with your insurance company and preparing all of the medical-legal reports which you may need to file a claim against the person at fault for your injuries.

Our doctors are certified and experienced in utilizing The American Medical Association's Guides to The Evaluation Permanent Impairment; the industry's standard for medical-legal rating of injury cases.

If you've been in an auto accident, it's a good idea to see a chiropractor and do it as quickly as possible once you realize you've been injured. The faster you get some type of treatment, usually the better your results.