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In the Fresno area or anywhere in California, if you are injured because another person was negligent in a traffic accident or in any other setting, you’ll have two priorities immediately imposed on you.
Obtaining medical attention at once is always the top priority when you’ve been injured.
And after you’ve been treated by a doctor or by another healthcare professional, the next priority is discussing your legal rights and options for obtaining compensation – which may include a personal injury lawsuit – with a medical malpractice attorney.
WHY DO SO MANY INJURY VICTIMS NEED LONG-TERM THERAPY?
After a serious injury, many people require some kind of additional rehabilitation or therapy beyond surgery and medication.
The muscles and nerves may – in effect – need to be “retrained” to function properly. Chronic pain can linger sometimes for years.
Injury patients must adhere to the recommendations of the medical professionals who treat them, but if you have recently been seriously injured – or if that happens in the future – you may benefit from one of the many rapidly-growing-in-popularity alternative approaches to pain relief.
WHAT ARE THE TWO INCREASINGLY POPULAR PAIN RELIEF METHODS?
What are the “Feldenkrais method” and the “Alexander technique?” According to New York Times health columnist Jane E. Brody, “I thought it was some sort of New Age gobbledygook with no scientific basis. Boy, was I wrong!”
Brody explains that “The Feldenkrais method is one of several increasingly popular movement techniques, similar to the Alexander technique, that attempt to better integrate the connections between mind and body.”
How does it work?
Brody says that “By becoming aware of how one’s body interacts with its surroundings and learning how to behave in less stressful ways, it becomes possible to relinquish habitual movement patterns that cause or contribute to chronic pain.”
HOW WAS THE FELDENKRAIS METHOD DEVELOPED?
Israeli physicist Moshe Feldenkrais developed the “method” after sustaining a severe knee injury. With his understanding of motion and gravity, he created exercises to “teach” his body to move more efficiently and less stressfully.
Learning the Feldenkrais method is relatively inexpensive. Over 7,000 instructors and practitioners work in eighteen nations and across the U.S. Persons at every age and at every strength and fitness level may benefit from the Feldenkrais method.
Feldenkrais method exercises are gentle exercises that can be individualized to provide maximum benefits. The exercises reportedly induce a calming effect that counters mental stress, nerve pain, and muscle tightness.
WHAT HAPPENS IN A FELDENKRAIS TRAINING SESSION?
In a Feldenkrais session, the instructor or practitioner teaches new patterns of movement. Repetition makes the new patterns habits, incrementally relieving pain and restoring freedom of motion.
Practitioners of the Feldenkrais method say it “repairs connections” between the body and the motor cortex, the part of the brain where nerve impulses originate that initiate voluntary muscular activity.
The idea is that by repairing neural pathways, the human body can learn to move more fluidly and with more ease. The method teaches students to stop using small muscles to accomplish tasks meant for larger muscles.
However, the precise way that the Feldenkrais method works is probably less important than the fact that it’s safe and that thousands who use the method report less pain, less difficulty moving, and significantly improved general health.
WHAT IS THE “ALEXANDER” TECHNIQUE?
The Alexander technique is another system to help you improve your balance, coordination, and freedom of movement. The technique is not simply treatments or exercises; it aims to “re-educate” the entire body and mind.
The Alexander technique actually is not new. Frederick Matthias Alexander originally developed the technique in the 1890s. Since the 1960s, however, training schools for teachers of the Alexander technique have been established in the U.S. and around the world.
Alexander believed that poor posture and stressful movement damage a person’s overall health and that “movement efficiency” can enhance both a person’s physical and mental health.
WHO – SPECIFICALLY – MAY BENEFIT FROM THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE?
The Alexander technique reportedly helps those who suffer from chronic neck pain and chronic back pain, and it may also help people cope with Parkinson’s disease.
Like so many of the alternatives currently emerging in medical and health care, research is still being conducted to determine the overall effectiveness of these techniques, but the testimonies of thousands who practice these techniques are quite compelling.
Of course, if you’re dealing with chronic pain after a serious injury, you should learn more about both techniques – one or both may be right for you.
While you may or may not benefit from the Feldenkrais method or the Alexander technique, if you’ve been injured in an accident in California because someone else was negligent, you will almost certainly benefit from consulting an experienced Fresno personal injury attorney.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS AS A VICTIM OF NEGLIGENCE IN CALIFORNIA?
If you have been injured by another person’s negligence in this state – for example, in a traffic crash, a swimming pool accident, an incident of medical malpractice, or any other accident scenario – you are entitled by California law to full compensation for your damages.
Those damages may include compensation for all of your medical expenses – including therapy and rehabilitation for as long as necessary – as well as compensation for all of your lost wages, related expenses, and your personal pain and suffering.
When someone is injured, medical bills can pile up while the victim is trying to recover and unable to work. Even with health insurance, if you’re not working, co-pays and deductible costs can be staggering.
Unless the injury occurred at work and is covered through workers’ compensation, some families can face financial hardship almost immediately. A personal injury attorney can work with a client and a client’s family to obtain the compensation they need and are entitled to by law.
HOW ELSE WILL AN INJURY LAWYER HELP YOU?
A good personal injury lawyer starts working at once. Time is critical in a personal injury investigation because evidence can deteriorate or disappear, and witnesses can forget or simply vanish. That’s why you must contact an attorney immediately after you’ve been injured.
What does it cost to learn more about your rights if you’ve been injured by negligence in California? Not a thing. Most accident attorneys in our state will review your case and provide a first legal consultation with no charge or obligation.
If you and your attorney choose to take legal action, you will pay no attorney’s fee until a settlement or a verdict is recovered on your behalf. Stand up for yourself and for your rights if you’ve been injured. It’s your right, and it’s the right thing to do.