Welcome to Dr. Joseph Refkin
Your Merrillville Chiropractor
Call us at (219) 769-2222 today.
Auto Accident Treatment, Chiropractic Care, PT and Physical Therapy in Merrillville, Gary, Crown Point, Hobart & Portage Area of Indiana
When you are in need of Chiropractic care and PT, or physical therapy you are in need of Dr. Joseph Refkin serving the Merrillville, Gary, Crown Point and Hobart area of Indiana. Our Clinic specializes in non-invasive wellness and spinal rehabilitation programs and nutritional answers. have you had a work place injury or been in a car accident that has left you in pain? Low back pain, lumbar strain, neck pain, headaches, pinched nerves and auto accidents can all be improved or resolved without drugs or surgery. Spinal arthritis and spinal stenosis can be controlled or improved. Let Dr. Refkin help you get back to your life without chronic pain. Medication can be a quick fix but won't treat the cause of the pain or pathology. Whether you are needing to restore function and movement or ease chronic pain, Dr. Refkin, D.C. in Merrillville, IN can help. Call our clinic today for an appointment.
RESTORING FUNCTION AND MOVEMENT
Dr. Joseph Refkin, D.C. is able to provide you with a customized physical therapy plan that will enable you to get back to an active lifestyle the fastest. He has over 25 years of experience helping people take back their lives. Call Dr. Refkin today to relieve pain, increase your mobility and start living again.
EASING CHRONIC PAIN AND ARTHRITIS
Easing Chronic Pain
Dr. Joseph Refkin, D.C. offers (non-invasive) physical medicine including cold laser therapy that will enhance your healing and relieve your pain. Stop hurting, call Dr. Joseph Refkin, D.C. today. Our Treatment for pain management is customized to your personal needs. At our chiropractic clinic we take a patient focused approach to chronic pain management.
Headache pain and migraine headaches including cluster headaches can all be treated with great success.
Are You In Pain As The Result Of An Auto Accident?
Has a recent car accident turned your life upside down? Is the pain you’re experiencing preventing you from working? Do you feel overwhelmed trying to find the right care provider to treat your injury?
The aftermath of a car accident can be overwhelming. If you suffered an injury, you’re probably struggling physically. Perhaps your injury has made it painful to walk or bend down and has limited your range of motion. If you’re experiencing the symptoms of whiplash, you might have pinched spinal nerves leading to numbness in your arms, hands, legs and feet. Or perhaps you suffered a concussion and you’re experiencing severe headaches, memory loss, difficulty concentrating or ringing in your ears.
When you’re in pain after a car accident, it makes everything you do more difficult and harder to enjoy. Your injury could be disrupting your daily routine, limiting your ability to exercise, walk the dog, or carry your children. If you can’t even perform simple tasks around the house, you’re probably tired of being reminded that your body isn’t functioning properly. Worse still, the pain you’re in may prevent you from going to work or performing your job duties, creating uncertainty about your livelihood.
Additionally, your injury might be affecting your mood and overall outlook on life. The pain you’re in and the implications of your injury may lead to feelings of depression and anxiety. You might be worried that if you don’t get properly treated for your injury, you will have lifelong physical challenges or experience chronic pain as a result of the accident.
If this is how you feel, I have the expertise and resources to support you in your recovery. Auto accident treatment can help you resolve the pain you’re in and help you get back to living life.
Auto Accident-Related Injuries Happen Everyday
Unfortunately, auto accidents resulting in injury are somewhat commonplace in our country. In 2019, there were almost 6.8 million highway accidents reported in the United States.[1] Of these accidents, an estimated 4.4 million people sustained injuries that required medical attention.[2]
Oftentimes, when we are seriously injured from an accident, our primary fear is not being able to function, make a living or run a household anymore. We may feel overwhelmed by the experience because not only are we suffering physically, but we’re also trying to navigate the foreign terrain of insurance claims and seeking appropriate medical care. Because we are so consumed with these pressing issues, we seldom realize that if our injury is left untreated, spinal arthritis becomes a very real probability
Normal mobility of healthy vertebrae pump extravascular and interstitial fluids that enable the exchange of blood and oxygen to the vertebral joints and disc. As long as our spine stays healthy, it functions well even into old age. However, when our spine suffers trauma, our vertebrae can be twisted, rotated, jammed, or totally fixated, preventing these interstitial fluids from pumping through them properly. This in turn sets the stage for the arthritic process to take hold. Research has shown that if spinal manipulation isn’t performed within two years from the time of the injury, spinal arthritis will develop in about 50 percent of the time, regardless of the patient’s age.[3]
Many of us who suffer an injury in a car accident may put off seeking treatment, hoping that the symptoms will go away on their own. Usually though, the pain and related problems are so overwhelming that we have no choice but to seek treatment within a few days or weeks. At that point, we are often confused about what sort of treatment to seek. For example, we might not understand what the differences are between chiropractic therapy and physical therapy.
Fortunately, there is treatment available that can help you recover from your injuries and begin the healing process. With the proper treatment, you can get back to normal.
Auto Accident Treatment With A Chiropractic Physician Can Help You Heal From Your Injury And Avoid Spinal Arthritis
You may be thinking that you have to live the rest of your life in pain, but this isn’t the case. With over 30 years of experience treating auto accident-related injuries, I take a comprehensive approach to treatment. By providing physiotherapy, chiropractic spinal manipulation, rehabilitation, and strengthening to the injured and affected areas, your treatment will be well-rounded and thorough enough to allow you go about life with ease again.
The first priority in your treatment is helping you experience pain relief. We will begin with passive therapies and once you are more stabilized, we can move into more active treatments. Initially, I make use of electric muscle stimulation and hot packs. Used in combination, they promote blood circulation and release endorphins, thereby reducing muscle spasms, relieving pain, and allowing the healing process to begin.
From there, I use spinal decompression equipment to reduce the pain of spinal facet imbrication caused by the accident—a condition where the cartilage between the joints breaks down and becomes inflamed. Spinal decompression treatment reduces disc bulge, which can cause nerve irritation or impingement. I may also use ultrasound to reduce local inflammation and swelling in your back.
When your pain level has been reduced by 50 percent, I shift from healing and pain control protocols to strengthening and rehabilitation. I use Russian Stim—a powerful electronic stimulation machine that builds muscle mass—to build up strength in your weakened muscles. I will also use intersegmental traction when tolerable to stretch muscles and separate pairs of fixated vertebrae. Additionally, you will be taught exercises you can do at home to bolster some of the treatments done in my office.
Spinal manipulation is used throughout treatment based on your pain tolerance. This restores—or improves the normal function of the spinal joints. Ultimately, spinal manipulation resolves the physical injuries to the back and neck and, more importantly, stops or slows the arthritic process so common after an auto accident.
Treatment is ended when 2 things occur: your pain levels have returned to pre-accident status and I can no longer detect any spinal abnormality. Both of these things tend to occur at the same time. My patients’ symptoms typically resolve within the expected timeframe and number of visits reported in studies concerning these therapies. This avoids excessive treatment, which runs the risk of not being covered by your insurance provider.
With a step-by-step process that has been demonstrated to resolve your back injury, it’s possible to return to the life you had before your auto accident. You can regain mobility, be relieved of pain, and get back to work again.
You may still be wondering whether auto accident treatment is right for you…
Shouldn’t I be going to a physical therapist instead of a chiropractor?
Physical therapists do a good job rehabilitating muscles. In Indiana, they are not licensed to perform spinal manipulation. What’s important to know is that without spinal manipulation—there is a 50 percent probability that spinal arthritis will develop within two years. A chiropractic is licensed to provide PT and rehab. A chiropractor is a primary care physician and is trained and tested and licensed to diagnose human ailments for proper referral to other doctors when necessary.
Isn’t auto accident treatment expensive?
Typically, auto accident treatment is covered by medical payment coverage. This is usually included with your automobile insurance policy.
I heard that chiropractic treatment is painful.
I can assure you that treatment will be comfortable and will be based on what you can tolerate comfortably. Treatment will actually feel good. You should begin to feel incrementally better as we transition from chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy to chiropractic spinal manipulation and rehabilitation and, finally, strengthening exercises.
You Can Heal From Your Injury And Get Back To Your Life
Seeking treatment for your auto accident is the first step to feeling better. By taking the proper steps forward, you can return to a life that’s free of pain. For a complimentary, 15-minute consultation, please contact our office at 219-769-2222.
Sources
[1] https://www.bts.gov/content/tr...
[2] https://www.nsc.org/road-safet...
[3] https://www.ases-assn.org/foun...
Dr. Joseph Refkin
Merrillville Chiropractor | (219) 769-2222
267 W 80th Place
Merrillville, IN 46410
