These are the questions people type into a search box at this hour, usually with the brightness down. We answer them in the order they tend to come up, and we keep each answer to one paragraph so the page can be read with one eye closed. None of it is medical advice. All of it points at the same step.
My headaches started two days after my crash. Is that a coincidence?
It is a pattern common enough that this entire desk exists for it. Crash injuries to the neck surface over one to three days, and headache is one of the ways they announce themselves. The lag is ordinary soft-tissue biology, not imagination. Get examined this week and let findings replace guessing.
Is this a migraine site? Will you tell me which medication to take?
No and no. We do not diagnose headache types and we do not discuss drugs. We cover one connection, headaches that follow crashes and neck injuries, and one step, a documented exam at Missouri Injury Clinic. The desk's name is the word people type; the desk's subject is narrower.
When is a headache an emergency?
Sudden and severe, the worst of your life, worsening after a head hit, or arriving with confusion, weakness or numbness on one side, slurred speech, repeated vomiting, or a seizure. Any of those means an emergency room now, not a clinic appointment. This page will still be here after.
I never lost consciousness. Can it still be a concussion?
Yes. Most concussions happen without any loss of consciousness. Feeling dazed, slowed, or foggy after the hit, or in the days since, is enough to mention. Say the word concussion when you call; the clinic publishes concussion rehab after acute injury as a separate lane and it changes what the examiner looks at.
What can the clinic actually do for a post-crash headache?
The clinic publishes its auto-injury lane as diagnosis and a treatment plan after a crash; a documented exam with dated findings is what that produces. Where concussion is involved, the tools the clinic names on its own site include neurofeedback, oculomotor rehabilitation, vagus nerve stimulation, Alpha Stim, sensory motor integration, exercise with oxygen, and cognitive rehabilitation software, used after the acute phase. What any of it means for you comes out of the exam.
Light and screens make everything worse. How do I even manage the visit?
Say so when you call, and say it again when you arrive. Bring sunglasses. Get a ride if the drive is a problem. Say on the phone that light hurts and ask what they can do. Do not assume; ask. The exam does not require you to pretend to feel better than you do; honest symptoms make better findings.
It has been three weeks. Is it too late to be examined?
No. A later exam is still a real exam. Tell the examiner when the crash was, when you felt fine, when the headache started, and what you have tried. Being honest about the timeline is part of the record. Sooner is better because the first exam becomes the baseline, but later is far better than never.
Do I need to have decided anything about a claim first?
No. You do not need to have decided anything about a claim before you get examined. The exam is for your care. If a claim is ever part of your story, the dated record from the first exam is what everyone will ask for, and if you already have an attorney, bring their contact so records can be sent where they need to go. That is the whole of what we say about it.
What should I bring to the first visit?
Any emergency room paperwork, your headache log even if it is three lines, the crash date and a sentence about the hit, a list of what you have taken, and sunglasses if light hurts. If you have an attorney, their contact. Nothing else is required.
How much does a visit cost, and what insurance does the clinic take?
Ask the clinic directly on the phone and take the answer from them. We do not publish payment terms or coverage for a clinic we do not own, and we will not describe an arrangement we cannot verify.
I am helping someone whose headaches started after their wreck. What should I do?
Call the nearest room for them. Say auto injury, the crash date, and that headaches have followed, and give a number that reaches them. Book the earliest opening they can get to, and tell them what you told the clinic. Then step back; you are getting someone an exam, not managing their care.
Who runs Missouri Injury Clinic, and what is this desk's relationship to it?
Joseph L. Hollingsworth, DC, a chiropractor. Three rooms in the St. Louis metro, motto: putting the CARE back in healthcare. This desk is advertising. We are compensated for featuring the clinic, we are not the clinic, and we are not a law office. Details on the about page and at moinjuryclinic.com.
Educational reading, not medical advice. This desk cannot examine anyone; it exists to get you in front of someone who can.