Articles Posted in Neck and Back Injuries

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Music Artist Sting Requires Neck Surgery

The 64-year-old music legend Sting recently revealed he is tying up loose ends so he can present himself for surgery. This after he suffered a painful neck injury on September 20, 2015, at the WWE Night of Champions. Sting entered the ring in a match with Seth Rollins. During that match, Sting suffered a whiplash injury which he adamantly blames on no one but himself. Sting told Ric Flair in an interview that he experienced two “buckle bombs” in the ring where his neck whiplashed. He described symptoms associated with his whiplash injury. Sting revealed he felt a shocking sensation running down both sides of his body. He had the sensation of not having control over his legs. Sort of like a temporary paralysis. He sought treatment from a surgeon and revealed he will be having surgery soon.

Rancho Cordova Senseless Shooting
I have represented a great many people over the years injured in auto accidents and motorcycle accidents.  A very common, and unfortunate outcome of a physical injury is depression and anxiety.  It can be a vicious cycle.  Hurt people become depressed, and the depression amplifies the physical pain.

A sad and all too common outcome of injury from a motorcycle or auto accident is depression and anxiety.

Elliot_xray_2-1Because the lower neck or cervical region and the lower back or lumbar region are most subject to stress and strain these are the common sites for herniated discs following a motorcycle or auto accident.  I have represented many people over the years who have unfortunately suffered from these injuries.

So long as the displaced disc is confined to the space surrounded by the annulus fibrosus there is no discomfort or disability. Once the nucleus begins to ooze through a defect in the annulus fibrosus trouble is apt to begin. The initial defect is usually small and may occur at any point.

retinal detachment from traumaBack injuries, and more specifically slipped disc injuries, go hand and hand with auto and motorcycle accidents.  I’ve represented a great many clients over the years that have suffered these injuries.

MEDICAL ASPECTS OF THE “SLIPPED DISC”

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Many auto and motorcycle accidents result in whiplash injuries.  Many also unfortunately involve a brain injury.  Perhaps not so coincidentally, there are many similarities between whiplash and brain injury.  Both includes many similar symptoms.

The biggest challenge with treating auto injuries is getting a proper diagnosis. Countless studies show that whiplash patients have objective, organic injuries; unfortunately; many of these injuries are difficult to pinpoint with conventional diagnostic imaging techniques, such as CT or MRI.

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In a previous blog, I wrote about dysphagia.  Dysphagia is a complication that occurs in some people after a cervical spine surgery.

In a nutshell, dysphagia is a condition where a person has difficulty swallowing.  My previous blog discussed  what dysphagia symptoms include as well as some of the reasons why cervical spinal surgery causes dysphagia.  It should be noted that dysphagia is not a complication that occurs in all people who have cervical spine surgery.  However, certain groups of people have a greater risk for this complication.

Did you know that as of September 16, 2014, California motorist have been required to “give bikes three feet” when passing in the same direction of travel as the bicyclist?   Three feet of clearance has been recommended by the California DMV in its’ driver handbook for several years, but this new law makes it official.

With summer upon us, more bicycles are out on the area road, and it is a good time to familiarize oneself with this fairly new law.  The three feet distance extends to any part of the bicycle, the bicyclist and any part of the motorist’s vehicle.  Prior to the passage of this law, the California law was that motorists were to pass at a less specific “safe distance”.

By the late 1980s, states in the U.S. began adopting a variety of bicycle helmet laws to improve safety and reduce serious injuries. Studies have found that helmets can reduce reduce the occurrence of head injuries by about half and the frequency of neck or facial injuries by about one third. These studies are not without controversy, however, as other studies and anecdotal data indicate there may be much less protection from helmets. Currently, more than 20 states have some form of a statewide bicycle helmet law and hundreds of cities have individually adopted similar requirements. Only about a dozen states have neither statewide nor local bicycle helmet laws.bicycle helmet laws

Since 1999, standards for helmets in the United States have been mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The primary protection offered by this type of helmet is a reduction in impact acceleration to the head from an inner liner of polystyrene that absorbs energy as it crushes, similar to how a car’s structure is designed to absorb energy by crushing so as to protect its occupants. In order to offer this crush protection, however, it is crucial that bicycle helmets be in good condition (no prior impacts) and properly fitted to each individual rider’s head. Unfortunately, this often doesn’t happen — one study published in 2003 found that although nearly three-quarters of the studied children reported wearing helmets when bicycling, more than 90% of children had helmets with either condition and/or fit problems. When the fit of the helmet had been selected by the parent alone without any expert input, none were found by the study to fit properly. Expert assistance is key.

When a person has spinal pain, plain film x-rays can be done that will show the outline of the bone and will detect the presence of bone spurs in facet joint disease. Discs, however, are made of soft tissue and are not detected on plain films. Plain films can, however, show narrowing of the disc space as is seen in degeneration of the discs.

A CT scan or MRI scan of the body can show a great many more things than a plain x-ray. These can show disc material impinging upon the spinal cord or on the spinal nerves. They can also show the presence of bone spurs at the level of the facet joints.

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