Motor vehicle accidents
After a crash, see a medical doctor first.
Neck and back pain from a collision often does not arrive until days later, and the first few weeks are what decide how much of it becomes permanent. That period calls for an examination by a physician, testing where the examination justifies it, and a written record of what was found — a soft-tissue or nerve injury that goes undocumented early is hard to establish afterwards.
- An examination by a physician
- Nerve conduction testing where the examination calls for it
- Image guidance for any injection into the spine or a joint
- Findings written into the medical record at every visit
New Jersey auto policies include personal injury protection (PIP), which pays for medical treatment after a crash regardless of who caused it. Call with your policy details and we will go through your coverage with you.
Your path to recovery
- Making an appointment Call with the date of the accident, any insurance information, and a description of your symptoms.
- The first visit Dr. Yoo takes a history and may examine or test you for further symptoms or injuries.
- Treatment Depending on the diagnosis, this may involve physical therapy, medication, or an image-guided injection. Most injuries from a collision are managed without surgery.
- Your records Findings from each visit are documented in your medical record. Copies can be released to you, to an insurer, or to an attorney at your request.
Why symptoms often arrive late
The most common reason a collision injury goes unassessed is that it did not hurt on the day.
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The response to a crash suppresses pain
For some hours after an impact, and sometimes for longer than a day, the body damps down what it would normally report. What you feel at the roadside is a poor guide to what has been injured.
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Soft tissue becomes painful as it swells
Muscle, ligament and joint capsule injuries hurt as inflammation develops rather than at the moment of injury, which is why stiffness and pain typically set in over the following day or two.
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Nerve symptoms can lag further behind
Numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or a leg may appear days or weeks later, as a disc injury or the swelling around it begins to affect a nerve root.
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Low speed does not mean low force
Damage to a vehicle corresponds poorly with injury to the people in it. A collision that leaves a car looking almost untouched can still load the neck well beyond what it tolerates.
What a collision injures
A crash loads the neck and spine in a way nothing else does, and the damage is frequently to structures that do not show on a plain X-ray.
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Whiplash and neck pain
The classic pattern: stiffness and pain that set in a day or two after the impact, often with headache at the base of the skull. The joint, muscle and nerve sources are assessed separately, because each responds to different treatment.
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Herniated disc and radiculopathy
Pain, numbness or weakness running into an arm or a leg. Nerve conduction testing establishes which root is involved rather than leaving it to be inferred from where it hurts.
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Low back and mid-back pain
Including the facet joint and muscular pain that commonly outlasts the initial injury by months.
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Shoulder and knee injuries
Bracing against the wheel and the impact of a belt or a dashboard produce rotator cuff, ligament and meniscus damage. These are soft-tissue structures, so a plain X-ray taken in an emergency room will usually be reported as normal.
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Concussion and post-concussion symptoms
Headache, poor concentration, dizziness and disturbed sleep after a head impact. A concussion does not require losing consciousness, and the symptoms can persist for weeks after one.
How an injury gets established
An accident claim turns on what can be demonstrated rather than on what is reported. These are the tests that turn a symptom into a finding.
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Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction study
Measures what a nerve is actually doing. It is the difference between "my arm feels numb" and a documented nerve injury at a named level.
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Musculoskeletal ultrasound
Live imaging of tendons, ligaments and joints, with no radiation — used to find soft-tissue damage that plain films do not show.
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C-arm fluoroscopy
Real-time X-ray guidance, so a spinal injection reaches the exact level the testing identified.
What accident patients ask
The questions that stop people picking up the phone, answered first.
I feel mostly fine. Do I still need to be seen?
Soft-tissue and nerve injuries from a collision commonly take days to declare themselves, and adrenaline masks a lot on the day. An examination early costs you one appointment; finding out three months later that something was missed costs considerably more, medically and otherwise.
What will this cost me?
New Jersey auto policies include personal injury protection (PIP), which pays for medical treatment after a crash regardless of who caused it. Call with your policy details and we will go through your coverage with you.
I am already seeing a chiropractor. Is this different?
Yes, and the two are not alternatives. Dr. Yoo is a medical doctor: he can order and read imaging, run nerve conduction testing, prescribe, inject under live imaging, and write findings into a medical record. That is a different scope of practice, and it is the one an insurer and an attorney work from.
My attorney asked for records. Can you provide them?
Every visit and every test result is documented in the normal course of care. Call the office and we will explain how to request your records.
How soon can I be seen?
Call the office with the date of your accident and we will tell you the next available appointment. The clinic is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, and Saturday by appointment.
Schedule an appointment
Dr. Yoo Rehab Clinic welcomes new patients from across Northern New Jersey and New York City, including Englewood, Teaneck, Fort Lee, Palisades Park and Ridgefield. Call today to learn more about insurance, scheduling, and how we can help.
