Welcome to my second edition, and thank you for having a look! In the last newsletter we talked about minimizing the negative effects of sitting. We also had a look at the benefits of intermittent fasting!!! Let’s shift gears for now:

Car vs Spine

Car accidents, even minor fender benders, can create injuries to your spine that should not be ignored. Whiplash can damage the discs and ligaments that hold your vertebrae in alignment. Left untreated, such injures can result in a lifetime of pain. NOTE: Your car insurance covers treatment here in this office! Little or no cost to you!!!

Symptoms of Whiplash - Often Delayed

“I felt fine at first”. That is a comment I’ve heard hundreds of times from folks who were in a fender-bender and ended up on my office in pain. While symptoms of whiplash can be immediate, believe it or not, some symptoms of spine injury from auto accidents can be delayed for a few days, to as long as 2 weeks!!!

Early warning signs of whiplash injury:

• difficulty turning head right or left

• tingling/numbness in fingers/hands/toes/feet

• headache

• brain fog

• dizziness

• sleep disturbance

And of course we can add neck and back pain that worsens with each day following the accident.

What can we do?

1. PREVENTION - Don’t tailgate! Don’t be tailgated? Keep safe distance between your car and others at all time. The great majority of whiplash injuries are from rear-end collisions.

2. DRIVE LIKE A PIMP!!! - Adjust your seat ( and your passenger’s seats) so that you are leaning back - enough to allow you to keep your head resting on, or very close to you car seat headrest. By having your head close to, or touching the headrest, if you get rear-ended, your head will not be able to ‘whip’ backward - reducing the severity of the whiplash motion.

3. IF YOU DO GET HIT - Ice for 20 minutes every 3-4 hours the parts of your body where you feel pain or stiffness.

4. SEE US FIRST!!! COME GET CHECKED! Let us examine you if you have even mild symptoms. We can keep them from worsening. We can help prevent a lifetime of suffering.

Why See Us First?

These kinds of injuries damage the joints of the spine. Very often all of the pain and suffering is coming from damaged soft tissues that connect the vertebrae together (discs and ligaments). Only skilled chiropractors are capable of working directly at this level.

OF FINANCIAL IMPORTANCE!

Your auto insurance covers treatment in our office - up to $10,000, as well as with other medical providers. The Florida No Fault Law states that your auto insurance covers your doctor’s bills for accidents - regardless of who is at fault. However under Florida law, if you wait beyond two weeks from you date of accident to see a doctor, you cannot use this insurance benefit. So don’t wait. Get yourself checked. Remember that symptoms can be delayed. Don’t let those two weeks go by, and then have to pay for care out of pocket that could have been covered very well by the car insurance you already pay for.

I’m not an attorney, but I could play one on TV!

The No Fault Law can be confusing…so here it is in simplified form. In an accident here is how your auto insurance works:
If you are the At Fault Party - your insurance covers vehicle damage for both parties. Settles for the victim’s pain/suffering. Cover’s your own doctor’s bills.

If you are the Not at Fault Party - your auto insurance covers your doctor’s bills. The at fault party picks up everything else.

Beware of Uninsured Motorists - they are out there!

When you buy auto insurance please consider having ‘uninsured motorist coverage.’ If you get hit by someone with no car insurance, or are the victim of a hit nd run, you are out of luck when it come to things like getting a settlement for pain and suffering - unless you have uninsured motorist on your policy which will cover all of the things the at fault party’s insurance would normally cover.

If you are the victim in a car accident, you should file a claim for pain and suffering?

There can certainly be a little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That, of course, is up to you… however, I have a couple things for you to consider.

1. Though we have all been lead to believe we are suing the at fault party, in reality a settlement is simply utilizing an auto insurance benefit that you have already been paying for! When you pay your premium a portion of it goes toward funding settlements. Shouldn’t you get what you pay for?

2. Permanent injuries are real. If you have damaged joints from a car accident, they heal with scar tissue. Scar is weaker, stiffer, and more sensitive than normal tissue. This can result in long term problems. We work to minimize this effect with our patients, however the reality is that there may be long term issues. And while a monetary settlement does not fix this situation, it certainly is way better than nothing.

3. We can provide the names of competent local attorneys to assist you , if you so desire! The insurance companies have attorneys working for them. You should too!

Thanks for reading! Call us first if you get hurt in a car accident.

If it has been a year or more since you have seen us and you are in need of any other kind of help, ask about any “re-connection’ specials we may have!!!

(727) 787-3991

Catch you on the next one! Blessings to you!

Dr. Seiler