After an automobile accident, victims must inventory their injuries. Even minor accidents may cause whiplash, and accident victims must know how the injury looks.
Mayo Clinic explains how medical professionals diagnose whiplash. Personal injury victims must understand the extent of their harm to seek proper compensation.
Physical examination
Doctors move a patient’s arms, neck and head during a physical examination for whiplash. The exam tests range of motion, movements that cause pain or discomfort, and tenderness in the upper body. Initial exams also test the patient’s strength, reflexes and ability to feel sensation in their arms.
Imaging tests
While imaging tests cannot diagnose whiplash, they can help doctors rule out other injuries. Computerized tomography scans create cross-sectional visuals of bone to pinpoint damage. X-rays uncover neck arthritis, dislocation and fractures. Magnetic resonance imaging tests build 3D images of the body using magnetic fields and radio waves. MRIs can uncover spinal cord, ligament and disk damage.
Questions
Medical care professionals ask about experienced symptoms to diagnose whiplash. They may ask patients to rate their pain and list accompanying symptoms. Car accident victims should share whether they use other treatments or take medication for their symptoms. Dietary supplements and herbal medicines count as medication.
It makes sense for patients to note how the car accident happened and share the account with their doctor. The more details physicians have, the more accurate a diagnosis they provide.
Car accidents cause various injuries victims may not realize. With a medical professional’s help, they get the insight they need to build a case and seek compensation.
Prescription errors occur all the time despite various measures to prevent them. Some actions during the process from prescribing to the medication ending up in your hand can lead to mistakes.
An error could mean you end up with the wrong medication or wrong instructions for taking the right medication. In any case, a mistake could have serious health consequences. The Pharmaceutical Journal explains prescription errors are preventable, so understanding what causes them can help to negate them.
Wrong directions or dosage
Whether your doctor prescribes the wrong dose or something gets messed up at the pharmacy, getting the incorrect directions or dosage of a medication can cause harm. If you take too much medication, it could lead to an overdose. Too little could mean you do not get the benefits of the medication. Not having the right instructions may only cause slight discomfort. For example, if you should take a medication with food to avoid stomach upset, but those instructions are not given to you, then you may end up with an upset stomach.
Medication interactions
If you do not tell your doctor about other medications you are taking or your doctor fails to realize you are taking other medications, it could lead to an interaction that causes trouble. Some medication interactions are mild but they can be severe in some cases.
Allergic reactions
Sometimes, allergic reactions are unpreventable because you have not had the reaction before, but if you know of allergies to medications, it is essential to alert your doctor and pharmacy. Letting both places know should help to prevent issues with one of them missing the allergy. If not caught, you could suffer a reaction with minor to severe symptoms.
Prescription errors can happen to anyone. Staying alert and aware of your medication details can help you to stop medical professionals from making such mistakes.
