After a car accident, you may walk away without a broken bone but still develop neck pain, headaches, stiffness, or limited movement. That’s because auto accidents can injure more than bones. Ligaments, joints, discs, muscles, and other structures can also be affected.
At Tarpon Total Health Care, we use both traditional diagnostic methods and advanced Digital Motion X-Ray (DMX) technology to help evaluate injuries following an accident. DMX allows us to view areas of the spine while they’re actually moving, providing information that a traditional static image may not show.
What Is a Static X-Ray?
A traditional X-ray captures a still image of the body at a particular moment.
Static X-rays are valuable diagnostic tools and can help identify problems such as fractures and dislocations. After a significant accident, they can provide important information about the structure and alignment of the spine.
But a car accident doesn’t always cause an injury that is easily seen while you’re standing still.
Whiplash, for example, involves extremely rapid movement of the neck and can affect the muscles, ligaments, joints, discs, and other tissues. That’s where evaluating movement can provide additional information.
What Is a Digital Motion X-Ray?
A Digital Motion X-Ray, or DMX, is a fluoroscopic X-ray system that allows us to observe the body in motion.
Instead of taking a single still image, DMX captures X-ray images while the patient stands and actively moves. The technology used at our office captures images at a rate of 30 X-rays per second, creating what is essentially an X-ray movie.
This allows us to evaluate how the joints and spine behave during movement rather than only seeing their position while the patient remains still.
Static X-Ray vs. DMX: What’s the Difference?
The easiest way to understand the difference is to think of a photograph versus a video.
A static X-ray is the photograph. It captures one position at one moment.
DMX is more like the video. We can observe what happens as the patient moves through different positions.
This can be particularly useful following a car accident because some injuries involve ligament instability or joint dysfunction that becomes more apparent during movement. Tarpon Total Health Care uses DMX to evaluate ligament damage, soft-tissue injuries, and joint dysfunction that may not be apparent on traditional static films.
Why Can This Matter After a Car Accident?
Whiplash and other collision-related injuries can occur even when there isn’t an obvious fracture.
One injury we may evaluate with DMX is sub-failure ligament damage. In this type of injury, a ligament may become stretched or loosened without completely tearing.
According to our clinic’s DMX information, these injuries can occur with car-accident-related whiplash and may contribute to ongoing headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, or upper-back discomfort.
Identifying what’s actually happening can help us develop a treatment plan based on the patient’s specific injury instead of treating symptoms alone.
Do You Need a Digital Motion X-Ray?
Not every person involved in a car accident will need the same imaging or treatment.
At Tarpon Total Health Care, we begin by reviewing your health history and the details of your accident and performing an appropriate examination. X-rays or Digital Motion X-rays may then be used when indicated to help identify structural or functional problems.
From there, we can develop a personalized treatment plan based on what we find.
Get Checked After a Car Accident
Pain following a collision isn’t something you should automatically ignore simply because an initial X-ray didn’t show a broken bone.
If you’re experiencing neck pain, back pain, headaches, stiffness, reduced range of motion, or other symptoms following a car accident, a more comprehensive evaluation may help determine what’s causing your discomfort.
At Tarpon Total Health Care, we’ve been helping patients in the Tarpon Springs area for more than 25 years, and we offer Digital Motion X-Ray technology as part of our approach to evaluating and managing injuries.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, call us at (727) 934-0844 to schedule a complimentary consultation at Tarpon Total Health Care in Tarpon Springs, FL. We also serve patients from Palm Harbor, New Port Richey, Trinity, East Lake, Oldsmar, and surrounding North Pinellas County communities.
