[Leica] Medical Advice

[rbaron at concentric.net (Robert D. Baron)]

I almost said something the day you reported the accident but I didn't
want to jinx you.

I'm not a doctor but many years ago as a young lawyer I handled a lot
of car wreck cases.  I learned from the docs that when you have this
type of trauma there is a lot of stretching and tearing of the deep
muscle tissue and then there is some internal scarring and associated
pain in said muscle tissue. I hate the word whiplash - it was used
over and over, derogatorily,  by insurance companies and their lawyers
to make juries think plaintiffs really aren't hurt - but it does
accurately describe the stretching forces that are at work.

Hopefully it will go away in a reasonable length of time, but this is
(sadly) exactly the result I expected you to report.

I think Dr. Steve is absolutely correct.  You need to be seen by a
competent M.D. or D.O. sooner rather than later, and appropriate xrays
need to be made and interpreted and appropriate drugz and physical
therapy may be prescribed.

Putting my lawyer hat back on for a second - even though I'm
definitely no longer young -   my advice then and now is never settle
a claim until some time has elapsed and you are certain as to the
nature and extent and duration of the injury.

In your particular instance I would suggest considering a consultation
with your orthopedist to make sure nothing in your new shiny knees
became deranged.  The dynamics inside the vehicle at the time and
immediately after impact are such that a lot of stress is put on the
legs, whether or not they hit the dashboard or anything else, and I
would have myself checked out.

Orthopedists understand these dynamics and force direction - they are
in part engineers - so make an appointment.

We'll hope this is just a soft tissue injury but that can still be
deep and painful so take it easy and get thee to a good physician.

Hope this helps.

--Bob

===On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 5:36 PM, Steve Barbour
<steve.barbour at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Apr 28, 2010, at 3:28 PM, Ric Carter wrote:
>
>> the adrenaline rush MASKS pain and much of the soreness takes a few hours 
>> to show itself.
>>
>> On Apr 28, 2010, at 6:00 PM, Tina Manley wrote:
>>
>>> I know there are lots of medical people on the LUG and I need some 
>>> advice.
>>> I was in a wreck Monday - smashed from the rear into a dump truck in 
>>> front
>>> - so two big jolts. ?The car is several feet shorter. ?At the time, I 
>>> didn't
>>> think I was hurt at all. ?Tom had whip lash. ?Both of us had our seat 
>>> belts
>>> on. ?Today I can barely move. ?All of my joints hurt so bad! ?Nothing is
>>> bruised. ?The only connection I can imagine to the wreck is a very sore
>>> shoulder from the seatbelt. ?It's my artificial knees that hurt the 
>>> most. ?I
>>> can't put any weight on them, so I can't get up and down. ?Is there
>>> something like residual soreness from an adrenaline rush? ?I went back to
>>> Rock Hill and soaked in a jacuzzi for about an hour, but then I couldn't 
>>> get
>>> out! ?I was there by myself and it took me longer to get out than I spent
>>> soaking.
>>>
>>> I hope this will be gone tomorrow!!
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>
> I agree with Ric...
>
>
> likely the soreness is related to the crash... deep musculoskeletal pain, 
> soreness, bruising...secondary to the incident, related to whiplash and 
> associated deep trauma....
>
> I'd get checked out by a competent MD, do have the complaints and findings 
> well documented in the medical record for your insurance company...
>
> not surprising, your complaints sound bothersome and collectible, ?often 
> evolving with time, initially occult, and somewhat masked by the 
> adrenaline surge, and other things.
>
>
> Steve
>
>