Wire // Filed for the people who train. West County is full of them: the early lifters in the gyms along Manchester, the runners and walkers on the trails at Queeny Park, the mountain bikers and hikers on the bluffs above the Meramec at Castlewood State Park, the parents who coach and still play in a rec league. When one of them gets hurt in a crash, the injury is only half the problem. The other half is the training habit.
Bulletin 01 // Two mistakes active people make
The first is going back too soon to prove the crash was nothing. The logic is familiar: soreness is normal, you know your body, and a workout will loosen it up. The second is the opposite: stopping everything, sitting on the couch, and waiting for the neck to decide on its own. Both skip the same step. Neither one includes a person who examined you saying what they found and what fits your routine right now.
Bulletin 02 // Crash soreness is not leg-day soreness
People who train are good at reading soreness, and that skill works against them after a crash. Pain from a crash tends to arrive late, often on the second or third day, once the adrenaline clears. The day two and day three file covers why, and the NINDS page on whiplash notes that neck pain, stiffness, headache and dizziness can take a day or more to appear. A hard session on day two stacks training soreness on top of crash soreness, and after that nobody, including you, can tell which is which. That is the practical reason to get examined before the first workout back, not after the third.
Bulletin 03 // Tell the clinician what your week actually looks like
"I work out" tells an examiner almost nothing. The plan can only fit your routine if the routine is on the table. Bring specifics:
| What you do | What it asks of the neck and back | Worth mentioning |
|---|---|---|
| Lifting | Load through the spine, bracing, overhead pressing | The lifts, the weights, how many days a week |
| Trail running or walking at Queeny | Repeated impact, uneven ground, hills | Distance, pace, whether you have tried a run since the crash |
| Mountain biking or hiking at Castlewood | Head held up to watch the trail, jolts, climbs, the chance of a fall | Any fall or near fall since the crash |
| Rec league soccer, basketball or softball | Contact, sudden turns, heading a ball, diving | Contact, heading, the next game on the calendar |
| Yoga, pilates, climbing | End-of-range neck positions, weight on the head or arms | Inversions, bridges, any pose that loads the neck |
Add two more things. What you could do the week before the crash, as a baseline. And anything you have already tried since, including the run you cut short on day four because your neck did not like it. That cut-short run is useful information, not something to hide.
Bulletin 04 // Questions to ask before you go back
- What did the exam find, in plain words?
- Which movements should I hold off on for now, and which are fine to keep?
- What would a warning sign look like during a workout, and what do I do if one shows up?
- Is there a head question here, and does it change the timeline?
- When do we check again, and what has to be true before I add weight, speed or distance?
- What would make you send me somewhere else, for imaging or a different specialty?
Write the answers down before you leave. The timeline comes from the clinician who examined you, not from this desk, a training app, a coach or a forum thread.
Bulletin 05 // If the head was in the crash
A concussion changes the whole conversation about exercise. Fog, headache, light sensitivity, dizziness or a short fuse after the crash belong at the top of your history, even if you never lost consciousness. The CDC's HEADS UP pages describe returning to activity gradually and with a healthcare provider's guidance after a concussion, not all at once. The concussion file covers the signs. The clinic's TBI and concussion lane names tools that include oculomotor rehabilitation, sensory motor integration, and exercise with oxygen, which is concentrated oxygen during light aerobic exercise.
Bulletin 06 // The clinic's sports lane
Missouri Injury Clinic publishes sports injuries as one of its three lanes, alongside auto injuries and TBI and concussion rehab. On its own site it describes its doctors as experienced in working with athletes at the highest level possible, gives a hamstring pull and an ankle sprain as examples, and frames that lane as return-to-training care. A crash injury starts in the auto injuries lane. Telling the clinician about your training is how the plan takes the rest of your life into account.
Bulletin 07 // What this file will not tell you
No return date, no sets, no stretches, no mileage. Anyone who names a day you will be back on the trail before examining you is guessing. And if chest pain, a sudden severe headache, or weakness or numbness on one side shows up during a workout, stop and go to the emergency room.
Bulletin 08 // Getting seen
From Ballwin, Manchester, Des Peres or Ellisville, the South County office is the short route by 270 south: 11144 Tesson Ferry Road, Suite 200, Saint Louis, (314) 530-5480, open Monday to Thursday 9 to 6 and Friday 9 to noon. From the Chesterfield end, the Lake St. Louis office in O'Fallon, over the Boone Bridge, may be the equal drive: 2163 West Terra Lane, (636) 280-0990, open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9 to 6, with Wednesday and Friday by appointment. Every office closes from 12 to 2 daily, so call in the morning or after 2. The offices file carries the North County office in Hazelwood as well.
Say it was a car crash, give the date, and mention that you train. Get an exam before the next workout