What Does Success Look Like After a Car Accident?

Check out this go-to guide that explains successful treatment after car accident looks like.

Written by CrashMD staff

You wouldn’t naturally think that “success” and “car accident” belong together, but they do. In the event you have suffered a car accident and are left with an injury or injuries that are now causing you acute or chronic pain, you most certainly want to be out of pain as quickly and as comfortably as possible. That would be a successful outcome, for sure. The problem is that there is a lot that happens between the injury and the successful outcome, and it all depends on the specialist in which you place your trust. 

The best case scenario (other than not having a car accident!) if you’re going to have pain is to have a recovery process that both treats your injury and pain symptoms, as well as aligns with your lifestyle and overall wellness goals. While successful treatment after a car accident can vary from person to person, it most often includes fully recovering from any physical injuries, addressing any psychological and mental health impacts, and being able to enjoy your pre-accident daily lifestyle. 

By partnering with a trained pain management specialist, you are giving yourself the best chance of success after your traumatic event. This is because they are fully capable of diagnosing and treating any and all injuries and subsequent pain symptoms, and partner with their patients to ensure that treatment is comprehensive, caring and efficient. 

If you have recently been involved in a car accident and aren’t sure where to turn, make the best decision for your successful recovery and place your trust in the CrashMD team. We know just how damaging acute and chronic pain can be to a person’s overall health and well-being, and will offer all necessary treatments with the goal to help you get out of pain and back to living. 

What Happens After a Car Accident?

You’ve just been in a car accident and your mind is racing. What about your car, your health, your ability to work, your insurance? 

The first step is to first assess how you feel. Even if you don’t have any major injuries, it’s prudent to seek help from a pain management specialist because some minor bumps and bruises can turn into larger issues if not treated. Also, there are some injuries that you might not notice right away, like internal bleeding or an increase of headaches, that could be the sign of a more serious issue. Additionally, if you go home and try to “sleep it off,” you might be doing your body more harm than good. So schedule an appointment, and see a specialist. 

Once you’ve partnered with a pain management specialist, they will use diagnostic tools (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc.) to get a clear picture of your injuries. They will also ask you questions, such as: 

• When was your accident/traumatic event?
• What does your pain feel like?
• Where do you feel pain?
• Is there anything you do that helps with pain relief?
• Is there anything/any activity that makes the pain worse?
• How has the pain affected your daily life?
• Are you feeling depressed or anxious?

It’s important to be completely honest and truthful with your pain management specialist because that is the best way they can recommend treatment. There are many times where an injury in the back can lead to pain in the extremities, so if you don’t give the provider a full breakdown of your symptoms, the treatment might not be as effective or could take longer to resolve. 

Another benefit to seeing a pain management specialist right away is that they are able to provide a health report that directly correlates with the accident. So in the event that you seek legal representation for an insurance settlement, you will have all of the documentation you need. 

Successful Recovery Post-Accident

There are many different ways that a patient could deem injury recovery success, but for pain management specialists, a successful recovery includes treating the entire patient (not just the symptoms) and giving them tools to help manage any instance of chronic or acute pain they might have in the future. 

Key aspects of successful recovery after a car accident include: 

• Healing physically: the main overall goal is to get out of pain, but you want to make sure that you are just paying attention to the symptoms and not the underlying cause of pain. Complete recovery includes helping to heal and treat injuries and their related symptoms, and to ensure that the patient is able to enjoy a full range of motion with complete mobility and flexibility. Even if your pain symptoms are gone after treatment, but you can’t fully use your shoulder, for instance, as well as you could before the accident, this isn’t a completely successful recovery. It might take longer than you hope, but a complete recovery, if possible depending on the extent of the injury, includes having full function of your body as if the car accident never happened. 
• Healing mentally: in addition to physical aspects as a result of the accident, there are also mental aspects that require attention. There is a direct link between mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, insomnia and PTSD, that can affect the person’s chronic pain and actually make it worse. The worse the pain gets, the worse the mental health issues get, and the cycle continues. Without treating mental health, including spiritual and emotional aspects of the pain condition, the patient isn’t getting the comprehensive care they deserve. Therapy and coping mechanisms are helpful for those who suffer from PTSD as a result of the accident, or those who have social anxiety because of not being able to enjoy their daily activities. Additionally, by providing the patient with tools to manage their stress, improve their lifestyle, and strengthen their body, a pain management specialist can help them with life-long ways to better their overall well-being. 
• Enjoying pre-accident lifestyle: the lifestyle that a person has created for themselves is the lifestyle they’d ideally like to return to after an accident. By partnering with a trained pain management specialist, the patient is giving themselves the best option for returning to their work, daily activities, sports, hobbies, mental well-being and overall lifestyle with no or minimal limitations. 
• Financial assistance, if applicable: if the patient does try to get help from an accident lawyer, the lawyer will need medical documents that details the physical and emotional impact of the accident. By having a clear record of how the impact has changed a person’s life, i.e. not able to work, the lawyer will have a better chance of helping the patient to receive needed financial assistance. This assistance can go a long way in paying for medical care, which could include long-term care, as well as lost wages. 

Treatments for Pain Management

The good news is that if you are suffering from acute or chronic pain or emotional distress after a car accident, there are a variety of treatment options that can help you. The best way to have a successful recovery is to partner with a pain management specialist who can recommend the best treatment for you, and one that you believe in! If you want to avoid surgical options at all costs, make sure that you’re making it clear to your specialist that you’d like to exhaust all conservative and alternative treatment options first before anything invasive is even on the table. 

The best pain management approach often includes a combination of methods that treat the entire person, and most often include a few of the below methods: 

• RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation
• Pain medication: short-term use of NSAIDs and pain relievers
• Physical therapy: tools to improve mobility, function and reduce pain
• Occupational therapy: helping patients gain independence by learning how to best manage their body
• Stress management: helpful for reducing the chronic pain and stress cycle
• Alternative treatments: acupuncture, chiropractic care and massages 
• Holistic approach: treating the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of pain
• Joint injections: injection of steroidal medication that helps to reduce inflammation and pain, as well as improve movement and function
• Trigger point injections: the direct injection of medication into the knot in a muscle that helps to relieve pain
• Epidural steroid injections: the injection of steroids into the epidural space around the spinal cord that helps to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain
• Nerve blocks: blocking nerve signals from sending pain sensations to the brain, which helps to treat chronic pain
• Neuromodulation: using mild electrical current or targeted medication to reduce a person’s perception of pain
• Radiofrequency nerve ablation (RFA): using heat to damage or destroy the nerves responsible for transmitting pain

Even if you feel that your pain isn’t a “big deal” or that you feel you’re going to try your hand at self-care methods first, the best chance you have at a successful recovery is to get a proper diagnosis from a pain management specialist. There is no clear way to determine what injury you’re suffering from, or what pain sensations you can expect to feel now or in the future, or even the additional complications you could suffer from not treating your issue. So don’t delay! You’re giving yourself less of a chance of a smooth and comfortable recovery, and what you should be focusing on is the best and most successful outcome possible. 

If you have recently been in a car accident and are looking for professional care, please reach out to the CrashMD team today. We know just how debilitating it can be to experience pain on a daily basis so will partner with you to utilize all methods possible to help you get back to your pre-accident lifestyle and health. Regardless if you only have a minor ache, can’t seem to fall or stay asleep, or are experiencing limited range of motion that keeps you from enjoying your daily activities, we can help. There is a solution for every injury and symptom, and we won’t stop until we help you find complete pain relief. We look forward to hearing from you!