“No Crush, No Injury?”

            Automobile insurance companies often like to use the term “NO crush, NO cash.”  The notion that if there is a lack of serious damage to an automobile that has been in an accident then the occupant couldn’t have occurred any bodily injury, either.  Insurance companies will make the person who suffered injuries from an auto accident, that there was no property damage, feel like a villain.  When in fact they were a common statistic of a rear end low speed auto accident.  In fact, more than half of all whiplash injuries occur in crashes in which there is little or no damage to the vehicle.  How does this occur?

If a car is hit from another car and suffers bodily damage it takes the energy produced from the accident.  Its bumper, frame, and sheet metal parts absorb much of the crash energy.  Therefore, the occupant of the car absorbs less energy.  If a car is hit from another car and doesn’t suffer any property damage then the car doesn’t take any of the crash energy and it is transferred to the occupant of the car.  In the biomechanical world of auto accident injury this inverse relationship of occupant and property damage is known as elastic vs. plastic collision.  This inverse relationship is well known by crash researchers.  However insurance companies use this myth to woe accident victims of low speed accidents to not file a claim. The insurance companies save money and their clients become victims. 

I have personally been sent pictures of the car my patient was driving showing no property damage to the car and a letter asking how my patient could have been hurt.  I called them and talked to the claims adjustor.  She acted ignorant of knowing this relationship and asked for the research.  We sent the research and everything was paid and treatment continued. 

“No Crush, More Potential For Injury” would be a better phrase for accident victims.  But, since this isn’t the case all we can do for victims of minor auto accidents is to keep taking them as patients and fighting with the insurance companies.  When you know a loved one or friend who has suffered injuries from a minor auto accident have them checked for musculoskeletal injuries.  Believe them when they say they hurt even though their car wasn’t injured and get them the appropriate care they need. 

GOUT

Gout is a type of arthritis caused when uric acid crystals accumulate in the joints.  Uric acid is a by-product of purine metabolism.  Purines can be eaten in foods (mainly meat) or made by the body.  Ninety percent of gout suffers are men over 30.  Most first attacks of gout occur at night and involve the joint of the big toe.

            Alternative treatment consist of chiropractic adjustments to T10-L2 region and the parasympathetic to restore nerve supply to the kidneys, rid body of excess uric acid, and prevent urinary tract stenosis. 

Nutritionally you need to eliminate meats and alcohol from the diet or get on a low purine diet (available at our office).

Drink unsweetened cherry juice 8 oz./day.

Folic acid (Folate 5 from Viotron-2 with each meal).  Folic acid is a nutritional aid in inhibiting xanthine oxidase, the enzyme which produces uric acid.