Car Accident Physician in Jacksonville, FL

Car accidents can be painful – After a car accident injury event in Jacksonville, FL some people can feel headaches, neck pain, back pain and or extremity pains immediately or have a delayed onset of pain. This delayed onset period can be a few days to a few weeks. In Florida as of 2019 the “No-Fault” law states injured parties have to seek medical treatment within 14 days of an accident or they forfeit all of their personal injury protection or PIP benefits. The law allows an injured party to seek medical treatment from any licensed healthcare practitioner ie. MD, DO, DC, DDS, DPM and so on. Here is a link to the state statute of our No-Fault law. Soft tissue injuries are common in the acceleration / deceleration type events seen in motor vehicle crashes. The larger the vehicle or the faster the speeds the more force is involved. Although even low-speed type collision events can bring injury to the soft tissues. We hear a general “down-playing” of soft tissue injuries from many different individuals; patients, physicians, insurance adjusters etc… Let’s be clear, our bodies are made of 2 types of tissue, hard and soft. I mean what type of tissue is your brain made of? What type of tissue are your eyes, heart, liver and nerves made of? How about muscles, spinal discs, ligaments and tendons? The majority of our body composition is comprised of soft tissue and the injury of these structures is quite common place in car, truck and other motor vehicle accident injury events. Hard tissue injuries get all of the attention. I mean if you fracture your arm or leg you usually have a gory x-ray image demonstrating this injury. With soft tissue type injuries diagnostics tests can come back unremarkable yet you remain in a lot of pain. Whiplash, headaches, neck and back pain complaints seem to be the most commonly reported injuries when being involved in a motor vehicle or car accident injury event. Shoulder, wrist, knee, elbow, foot/ankle, and hip injuries are also commonly reported as well along with many others.

Car accidents can be stressful – Now that you are injured, without a car due to mechanical damage or the need for repair and your daily routine has been modified, people can become stressed out. The normal routine of dropping the kids off at school, going to work, picking up the kids and taking them to their various after-school activities, shopping or just going out on a “date-night” can be  impossible. Dealing with rental car facilities, body shops and insurance adjusters can be a new / foreign process for most people, and this can add to the stress levels. It is important that you remain calm and realize a lot of the general inconveniences of your daily actives are temporary and the need to focus on your health and healing of your auto related injuries is the really important “number one” item on your list.