A spinal disc has a tough outer ring and a soft centre. A collision can load the spine fast enough and at enough of an angle to tear the outer ring, and the soft centre then presses outward against a nerve root. The pain that follows is usually felt in the limb the nerve supplies rather than in the back or neck itself, which is why people describe it as a leg problem or an arm problem.
You can be seen without a referral, usually within the same week, and the first visit is an examination that establishes what the nerve is doing before anything is decided about imaging.
The pattern is more telling than the intensity. What points toward a disc rather than a muscle:
Loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness in the groin or inner thighs, is an emergency department visit rather than an appointment.
An MRI is not the first move for most people, because the examination usually tells the physician which nerve root is involved and conservative care often settles the symptoms without changing the plan. Imaging becomes the right step when there is weakness rather than only pain, when symptoms are not improving on a reasonable course of care, or when an interventional procedure is being considered and the target has to be confirmed.
Where imaging shows a disc change, the physician records what the examination found and how it relates to what is on the scan. Disc changes are common in people who have never had a crash, so the finding on its own is not the whole picture, and the record says so.
Every Mountain View Pain Center chiropractor is trained in whiplash and auto-injury care. That is where it starts, not where it ends. Your care is delivered by a team — board-certified Pain Management physicians, the advanced-practice providers they supervise, chiropractors and physical therapists — all working from one chart, so the record your adjuster or attorney receives is complete and consistent. Medical transportation is available for accident patients, and it can be billed to the lien, so getting to appointments is not the thing that ends your treatment early.
Care usually begins with Chiropractic care and Physical Therapy aimed at unloading the nerve and restoring movement the injury took away, with Acupuncture available where it helps. When the nerve pain persists, the Pain Management physicians can place an epidural steroid injection around the irritated nerve root. Interventional procedures are performed in office at Northglenn, Interquest, Mesa and Westgate, and the same team manages the case before and after.
Where the pain is mostly in the low back and has not started travelling, back pain after a car accident covers the earlier stage.
Accident care at Mountain View Pain Center can be billed to the med-pay portion of an auto policy, to a lien where an attorney is involved, or to your health insurance. The billing team sets the route up at the first visit, so it is settled before treatment starts rather than after.
Most major commercial plans are accepted in both states, and Medicare Advantage is accepted on most plans in both states. Medical transportation is available for accident patients and can be billed to the lien. Real-time translation is available through Lumi at every clinic.
Care is delivered at clinics across the Denver metro, Colorado Springs, northern Colorado and the Phoenix metro. The car accident injury treatment hub lists every location, and each city page names the clinics that serve it.
Every clinic below has Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management on one chart, so care can move between them without a new referral.
Downtown out through the north, west, south and east suburbs.
Academy, Interquest and Tenderfoot cover the north, central and south of the city.
Harmony in Fort Collins and our Greeley clinic serve Larimer and Weld counties.
Across the Valley, from the West Valley through Phoenix to the East Valley.
A collision can load the spine quickly enough and at enough of an angle to tear the outer ring of a disc. Whether a particular disc change is new is a clinical question the physician addresses in the record, using the examination alongside any imaging.
Often within the first few days, and sometimes later as inflammation builds around the nerve root. Nerve symptoms that are getting worse should be examined promptly.
No. You can book directly, and appointments are usually available within the same week.
Not usually at the start. Imaging becomes the right step when there is weakness rather than only pain, when symptoms are not improving on a reasonable course of care, or when a procedure is being considered.
No. Most cases are managed without it. Mountain View Pain Center treats conservatively first and escalates to an interventional procedure when the nerve pain persists.
Chiropractic care and Physical Therapy aimed at unloading the nerve, with Acupuncture available, and a Pain Management physician reviewing the case throughout.
Accident care can be billed to the med-pay portion of an auto policy, to a lien where an attorney is involved, or to your health insurance. The route is set up at the first visit.
At any Mountain View Pain Center clinic in Colorado or Arizona. Interventional procedures, where they are needed, are performed in office at Northglenn, Interquest, Mesa and Westgate.
No referral is needed to be evaluated, appointments are usually available within the same week, and accident care can be billed to med-pay or to a lien.
