Interviewer: You don’t need me to tell you, car accidents can be a pain, literally, it can be a traumatic experience, of course, but that pain doesn’t have to become permanent. Dr. Rudy Gari, from Florida Pain Relief Group, joins us now once again to tell us how we need to make sure these injuries don’t go untreated. It seems like a simple thing, right? But most people are rushed right to the ER after an accident, aren’t they, Dr. Gari? Why is it important for them to see a pain relief doctor as well?
Dr. Gari: Well, what happens a lot in a car accident is you get what’s called a deceleration type of injury. Basically, you’re traveling 30 miles an hour and you come to a screeching halt very quickly. So that deceleration type of injury can cause injuries in and of itself. And normally it involves, it can be the joints, it could be your back, it could be your neck. And so that injury, again, a lotta what causes the pain is some sort of inflammation that is a direct result of that injury. So we take care of patients that have been involved in motor vehicle accidents. And whether it’s a disc herniation in the lower back, the neck, joint, wherever that might be. We even have some patients that, you know, they come and see us. And some of those patients, you know, because of a lot of patients that have been involved in a car accident, may have some sort of legal representation. They may not even have insurance. We will even take care of ’em because of that and we can work with their law firm if that’s what it takes. We just wanna make sure that this patient gets better.
Interviewer: Gets better. Now a lotta times you have a car accident and you might feel something, you’re not really sure if you feel something. How do you know when you should see someone when the pain might just be like a minor, temporary pain?
Dr. Gari: Well, what I tell my patients is if something is not normal, you know it Go see a doctor. Because it may be something a little mild…
Interviewer: Right now.
Dr. Gari: …right now, but it might be something a little, you know, deeper that’s going on. And we have to at least make a diagnosis, maybe physical therapy of something to make sure that you can get better, get back on your feet.
Interviewer: Is it typically…when people come and see after a car accident, is it a neck injury? I know you mentioned back, but neck is even more prevalent more than likely, right?
Dr. Gari: Well, one of the things that we see in car accidents a lot is what’s called a whiplash. So whiplash is when the back of your neck hits backwards and there are these nerves in the back of your neck that can cause a lotta inflammation there and you get what’s called an [inaudible 00:02:37], a really bad headache behind your head. We can help that quite a bit because, again, we just go in there, get that inflammation to go away. There’s different types of procedures we can do for that. So the neck injury is common because the head goes back and forth during that car accident.
Interviewer: Sure, yeah, it makes sense. And let’s talk about prevention because, you know, most people hopefully are wearing their seat belts. What other kinds of things can they do in their car because you never know when you’re gonna be hit from behind?
Dr. Gari: Well, some of the things that they need to be mindful of course is in this…you know, I’m not a driving instructor, but of course, you know, be defensive. If you anticipate something…in fact, there’s some car, I was driving my son’s car the other day and the car started slowing down. So these sensors are actually very helpful right now to try to prevent these injuries. Wear your seatbelt, make sure that your air bag is working, and brace yourself if you’re about to hit.
Interviewer: Okay, all right. Good advice. Thank you so much, Dr. Gari. Now you can contact Florida Pain Relief Group to schedule your same day appointment. You can visit their website, floridapainreliefgroup.com, or give them a call 844-KICK-PAIN, simple as that. Thanks again doctor, appreciate it. We’ll be right back with more “Daytime” right after this.
