Sports Medicine and Motor Vehicle Collision
Sports medicine is a perfect match for patients who have suffered a motor vehicle collision (MVC). The hallmark of sports medicine is a comprehensive examination arriving at an accurate diagnosis, using cutting-edge (patient-centered and evidence-informed) treatment to expediate recovery (with a patient population who requires a high level of physical performance) and return to health/sport.
Why are sports medicine doctors ideal for treating injuries sustained in a MVC?
Due to the forces involved in a MVC, there is often more than one injury encountered.
Sports medicine doctors have additional training in the examination and diagnosis of soft tissue injuries of the entire body.
Sports medicine doctors are armed with knowledge to treat and rehabilitate these injuries.
Doctors of sports medicine have additional training in what to look for in case further testing/imaging/labs/examination is warranted and who to refer these patients to if another discipline is needed.
Differences between normal MSK injury and MVC MSK injuries
Sports medicine offers great insight into the basics of musculoskeletal (MSK) examination and treatment, but another essential component to a physician’s skill set is understanding the differences between a normal MSK injury and the MSK injuries seen in victims of motor vehicle collisions.
One of the biggest differences is healing time.
The healing time of an MVC MSK injury is longer than the same MSK injury in the non-MVC patient.
All things being equal, the two patients have the same injuries/diagnosis, the patient who was a victim of a MVC will take longer to recover.
This is why there are established treatment guidelines for victims of motor vehicle collision. There are two well-established guidelines: The Québec Task Force Guidelines and the Croft Guidelines. The Croft guidelines are more detailed and offer a more comprehensive classification system, thus we use the Croft guidelines at Agape Health to help manage these difficult cases.
Croft Guidelines
The Croft guidelines have five grades of injury, graded 1-5 with 1 being least injured and 5 being the most severe injury requiring surgical intervention. We have worked with all of the grades of severity. It has been our experience that most motor vehicle collision patients are a grade 3. Additionally, the guidelines give treatment parameters and a basic treatment timeline. Statistically, we at Agape close most personal injury cases and discharge our motor vehicle collision patients before the guidelines have been exhausted. We are able to help these patients get back to their normal lives faster than most other clinics due to our in-depth and comprehensive examination, our accurate diagnoses, and cutting-edge treatment techniques. We are also able to help this patient population because we not only do traditional Chiropractic and advanced soft tissue treatments, we incorporate functional rehabilitation, traditional strengthening and conditioning exercises and perform advanced physiotherapy techniques under one roof.