A 2015 MRI study found signs of alar ligament injury in 55% of older patients whose chronic neck pain had no other identifiable cause. For Boston and Massachusetts personal injury attorneys, that finding speaks to a familiar problem: the client who still hurts months after a car crash, but whose standard imaging reads as “normal” or “age-related degeneration.”
The number that should stop every elective-surgery patient in their tracks is 94%.
In a large 2017 Journal of Pain Research study of 1,842 people who had undergone lumbar spine surgery, 94% reported some degree of residual low-back pain. That does not mean 94% had severe pain, nor does it mean 94% of the operations were surgical failures. But for an invasive procedure that many patients understandably hope will eliminate their back pain, the persistence of any low-back pain in such a large proportion of respondents is difficult to dismiss.
The same study found that 20.6% met the researchers’ criteria for failed back surgery syndrome —roughly one out of every five patients. Residual numbness was reported by 69.8%, cold sensations by 43.3%, and paresthesia such as tingling or abnormal sensations by 35.3%.
The medical literature recognizes restraint-related injuries to the spine and abdominal structures. Rutherford documented the increase in neck sprains and sternum fractures following compulsory seat-belt use and separately identified an apparent, unexpected increase in abdominal-organ injuries. Later medical literature continued to emphasize the significance of the seat-belt sign and its association with internal injury.
When a person is injured in a motor vehicle crash, the physical evidence of what happened can sometimes be found directly on the body. One of the most important examples is the seat belt sign—a visible bruise, abrasion, or patterned injury corresponding to the path of the restraint.
For attorneys handling Boston and Massachusetts motor vehicle injury cases, a documented seat-belt mark can be important evidence because it shows that substantial restraint forces were actually transmitted through the occupant’s body.
Charles Street Family Chiropractic | Boston, Massachusetts When most people hear the word laser, they picture something from Star Wars, a grocery-store scanner, or perhaps
They evaluated 93 patients with chronic whiplash symptoms and discovered something fascinating. They divided the sample into three groups. The answer depended heavily on what kind of symptoms the patient had.
74% of Chronic Whiplash Patients Improved
The patients received an average of 19.3 treatments over approximately 4.1 months. The treatment consisted of chiropractic spinal manipulation using a high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust directed at specific vertebral segments.
The big result?
69 of the 93 patients improved following chiropractic treatment.
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Researchers Woodward, Cook, Gargan, and Bannister evaluated patients suffering from chronic symptoms following whiplash injuries. Their findings deserve attention from attorneys handling car crash cases in Massachusetts. Gargan and Bannister are two of the most published researchers on whiplash injuries. In this group of 28 patients with chronic whiplash symptoms, 26 improved following chiropractic treatment.
One of the best whiplash review articles was published in the British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in July of 2009. The review by Bannister, Amirfeyz, Kelley, and Gargan provides several important points for understanding these cases. The article has 100 references. Dr.’s Bannister and Gargan are probably the most published individuals in history on long-term recovery outcomes of whiplash injuries.
Whiplash from a car accident can leave you with lasting neck pain and stiffness. Discover how chiropractic care at Charles Street Family Chiropractic in Boston restores mobility and eases pain.
But nearly 70 years ago, neurosurgeon Emil Seletz, M.D., was already warning physicians not to dismiss these patients.
In his landmark 1958 JAMA article, Whiplash Injuries: Neurophysiological Basis for Pain and Methods Used for Rehabilitation, Seletz described whiplash as a legitimate traumatic condition capable of producing persistent neurological and neurovascular symptoms.
The real concern may be the cumulative effect of repetitive head impacts over a lifetime.
Researchers studying deceased former NFL players found striking evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive head trauma.
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