What you need to know & how to protect yourself
High-velocity neck manipulation can result in a vertebral artery dissection, causing a stroke which can change your life and leave you permanently physically disable.
Just because it doesn’t happen often, doesn’t mean that it can’t happen to you. A high velocity manual adjustment with a quick thrust over a restricted joint during a chiropractic manipulation can cause a tear in the inner lining of the vertebral artery in the back of your neck. This is a major artery that supplies blood to the brain. If this happens, you can develop a dissection that cuts off blood flow leading to a life altering stroke and permanent injury and disability.
The American Stroke Association recently announced a public service warning to Healthcare Professionals, endorsed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, advising that Cervical Arterial Dissections are the most common cause of strokes in young and middle-aged adults. These instances account for 8% to 25% of strokes in patients that are under the age of 45. While rare, Vertebral Artery Dissection (VAD) can occur in approximately 1 in 400,000 chiropractic adjustments.
What are the symptoms and what do I need to do following a neck adjustment injury?
Typically, following a high velocity neck adjustment of the cervical spine, patients can develop nausea, vomiting, dizziness, slurred speech, sensory loss, weakness in strength, trouble swallowing and reduced motor function. Thereafter, prompt medical imaging at the Emergency Room can reveal evidence of a cerebellar infarct (stroke) in the brain caused by a VAD. Receiving life changing immediate ER attention and medication can reduce the significance of the long-term impact of this injury. However, people don’t always get to the ER fast enough. Should you experience these symptoms following a neck adjustment performed by a chiropractor then you need to get prompt medical attention at the Emergency Room. When you arrive, help the ER staff in knowing how to address these symptoms by letting them know about any recent chiropractic adjustment of your neck that might have happened just before the symptoms developed. A stoke can cause long term permanent disabling injuries that can last the rest of your life. Gathering evidence early to support your claim against the medical chiropractic provider who injured you is critical to your case. This requires immediate action. You need an injury attorney who has experience handling these claims and who will fight for you.
Contact Whalen Injury Lawyers
At Whalen Injury Lawyers, we’ve represented many personal injury clients over the years and have recovered over $25 million in settlements, judgments and verdicts. Our goal is to establish a direct, meaningful, trusted and reliable relationship and secure a settlement that is fair and equitable. Our firm exclusively represents clients against insurance companies and corporations in personal injury matters.
If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident and are seeking a compassionate, experienced, personal injury attorney with a proven track record of success, give us a call. Whalen Injury Lawyers will fight for your best interests both in and out of the courtroom. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your legal options.
You can reach us in Denver at (720) 307-2666 or in Colorado Springs at (719) 644-7000 to learn more. Our offices are located in the Denver Tech Center at 7955 East Arapahoe Court, Suite 2375, Centennial, CO 80112, and in Colorado Springs in the Alamo Corporate Center located at 102 S. Tejon Street, Suite 1100. We look forward to working with you.