Brain Injury Law Blog : Head Injury : Coma : Personal Injury : Las Vegas Nevada Lawyer & Attorney Tim Titolo

 A common legal defense in cases of traumatic injury is that pain complaints, like low back pain, are the source of brain injury symptoms and reported cognitive impairments.  For instance, depression.  And while it is true that chronic or lasting pain can have symptoms that mimic those found with cognitive impairments, those symptoms are often not caused by pain or are at least exacerbated by pain components.

The Journal of Neuroscience recently published a study that supports relief of chronic pain as a precursor to the relief of brain injury symptoms and cognitive impairments.   Those with chronic pain also experience cognitive impairments and reduced gray matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression and anxiety.

Traumatic Brain Injury Attorneys must be able to distinguish cognitive impairments caused by organic brain injury from those associated with chronic pain.  A competent Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney works closely with neuropsychologists, neurodiagnosticians, and neurologists.

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New research of several sources confirm that spinal manipulation such as is received with chiropractic care is at least on par with medicinal treatment.  Pain killers do not heal the injury but simple mask the pain until the body heals with often reduced range of motion and compromised function.

If you're suffering from chronic lower back pain, a new review of existing research finds that spinal manipulation, the kind of hands-on regimen that a chiropractor might perform on you, is as helpful as other common treatments like painkillers.

Back pain affects 80% of Americans at some time in their lives. It comes in many forms, from lower back pain (lumbar-sacral), middle back pain, (lumbar-thoracic) or upper back pain (cervical) to low back pain with sciatica. Common back pain causes include nerve and muscular problems, degenerative disc disease, and arthritis. Many people find relief from symptoms of back pain with pain medication or pain killers.  But this is not the best way to cure what ails you.

Surveys suggest that half of working Americans suffer from back pain each year. An estimated 25 percent of American adults reported that they suffered from back pain for at least a day within the last three months, according to a 2006 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, and lower back pain is the fifth most common reason that people go to the doctor.

Patients frequently turn to painkillers, which can cause side effects and be addictive, or to physical therapy, which is time-consuming and expensive. The new review looks at a third option - spinal manipulation.

Blogger D. Denoon writes of the 9 Painkiller Mistakes.

They are:

• Pain Medications Mistake No.1: If 1 Is Good, 2 Must Be Better
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 2: Duplication Overdose
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 3: Drinking While Taking Pain Drugs
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 4: Drug Interactions
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 5: Drugged Driving
•  Pain Medications Mistake No. 6: Sharing Prescription Medicines
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 7: Not Talking to the Pharmacist
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 8: Hoarding Dead Drugs
• Pain Medications Mistake No. 9: Breaking Unbreakable Pills

 Consider seeing a chiropractor if you experience back or neck pain.  Even if you are referred to your family doctor, inquire of a chiropractor for treatment rather than simply taking pain medication.

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According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary scoliosis is:

Abnormal lateral and rotational curvature of the vertebral column. Depending on the etiology, there may be one curve, or primary and secondary compensatory curves; scoliosis may be "fixed" as a result of muscle and/or bone deformity or "mobile" as a result of unequal muscle contraction.

Scoliosis is a condition in which the spine bends to the side abnormally; either to the right or left. The curvature can be moderate to severe. Any part of the spine can be bent in scoliosis; but the most common regions are the chest area (thoracic scoliosis) or the lower part of the back (lumbar scoliosis).

Scoliosis is thought to be caused by heredity but some other reasons are different leg lengths.  Scoliosis affects 2-3% of the population, or an estimated 6 million people in the United States, and there is no cure.

Signs and symptoms of scoliosis may include:

■Uneven shoulders
■One shoulder blade that appears more prominent than the other
■Uneven waist
■One hip higher than the other

The National Scoliosis Foundation can be contacted at  NSF@scoliosis.org  to help answer questions you may have or seek care.

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Over the years, Chiropractors have taken a lot of heat about their brand of healing.  Insurance companies discredit their treatment everyday.  But Chiropractic care, in this emerging age of preventable care as a way to reduce health care costs, may be ready to make a grand re-entrance.

I previously blogged about a Seven Year Study that revealed Chiropriactic was an excellent care technique.

I work with Chiropractors in appropriate cases where client care can be managed by such a physician.  These doctors often refer patients on to other specialists if the needs arise.

Low-back pain sufferers can seek relief from any number of health professionals, orthopedists, physical therapists and osteopaths among them.

Many choose chiropractors, which typically combine spinal manipulation with such treatments as exercise, massage, heat or electrical stimulation. This approach is modestly  successful in reducing pain of recent onset and improving disability, at least for a few weeks, according to a new Cochrane review. However, the review found no evidence that chiropractic works significantly better than care provided by other clinicians.

Cochrane Reviews investigate the effects of interventions for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in a healthcare setting. They also assess the accuracy of a diagnostic test for a given condition in a specific patient group and setting.

Low-back pain is one of the most common and costly musculoskeletal problems in modern society. About 80% of the population will experience low-back pain at some time in their lives. Many people with low-back pain seek the care of a chiropractor.  

For Cochrane's review, chiropractic was defined as encompassing a combination of therapies such as spinal manipulation, massage, heat and cold therapies, electrotherapies, the use of mechanical devices, exercise programs, nutritional advice, orthotics, lifestyle modification and patient education. The review did not look at studies where chiropractic was defined as spinal manipulation alone as this has been reviewed elsewhere and is not necessarily reflective of actual clinical practice. Non-specific low-back pain indicates that no specific cause is detectable, such as infection, cancer, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fracture, inflammatory process or radicular syndrome (pain, tingling or numbness spreading down the leg).

Twelve randomised trials (including 2887 participants) assessing various combinations of chiropractic care for low-back pain were included in this review, but only three of these studies were considered to have a low risk of bias.

This tells me that chiropractic care is a useful protocol in the effort of reducing pain and healing in many circumstances.

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As a back and neck injury lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada, I encounter untreated or undiagnosed spine injury often.  Even though back pain can affect people of any age, it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years.

Experts say that back pain is associated with the way our bones, muscles and ligaments in our backs work together.  

There are several diagnostic tests to assist physicians in detecting and treating back and neck conditions.

An interesting review entitled "Physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy due to disc herniation in patients with low-back pain" (Van der Windt DAWM, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010) reveals that diagnosing back pain is not a simple matter. I read the findings.

While lower back pain ranks as a common cause of disability in the United States, determining what causes a person's back pain is often challenging. A new review on diagnosing back pain finds that no single diagnostic test is good at discriminating between patients who have a herniated disc and patients who do not.

Lawrence Kurz M.D., an orthopedic spinal surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., agreed with the results of this review: No one test is specific and sensitive enough to be used as the sole guide for making an accurate diagnosis of disc herniation as the cause of sciatica.

Healthy discs are spongy cushions of cartilage that fill the spaces between vertebrae in the spine. They act as shock absorbers for the spine and allow flexibility. A herniated disc can occur when a disc incurs damage because of trauma or stress and bulges outside of its normal position to press on a nerve. This can result in pain that radiates down to the lower leg - also called sciatica.
 

In other conditions, including osteoporosis and similar aging disorders, bony structures could press on nerves, causing pain.

Representing injured people with back and neck pain complaints requries diverse diagnositic testing.  Insurance company representative all too often point to one test to either deny or rule out a condition.

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