Car Accident & Work Injury Doctor in Florissant, MO

After a car accident, a physician experienced in injury evaluation can assess injuries involving the neck, back, spine, muscles, joints, and nerves. At STL Injury Specialist in Florissant, Missouri, Dr. Naseem A. Shekhani is a board-certified physician with more than 30 years of experience evaluating and treating accident-related injuries. Depending on your symptoms, your evaluation may include a physical and neurological examination and, when medically appropriate, diagnostic testing such as EMG and nerve conduction studies or musculoskeletal ultrasound.

You should seek medical evaluation as soon as reasonably possible after a car accident if you are experiencing pain, stiffness, weakness, numbness, tingling, headaches, reduced mobility, or other new symptoms. Some accident injuries are immediately noticeable, while others may become more apparent over the following hours or days. Prompt evaluation can help identify injuries, establish an appropriate treatment plan, and document your condition following the collision. Severe or rapidly worsening symptoms require urgent or emergency medical attention.

Even a seemingly minor car accident can produce injuries, particularly if you develop new pain, stiffness, headaches, numbness, tingling, weakness, or reduced mobility afterward. The amount of visible vehicle damage does not by itself determine whether an occupant has been injured. If symptoms develop or persist after a collision, a medical evaluation can help determine their cause and whether treatment or additional testing is appropriate.

Often, yes. An emergency room's job is to rule out life-threatening injury — fractures, bleeding, head trauma. It isn't designed to diagnose soft tissue injury, nerve damage, or spinal injury that develops over the weeks that follow. If you're still dealing with pain, stiffness, headaches, numbness, or tingling after an ER visit, that's exactly what Dr. Shekhani evaluates.

A normal X-ray does not necessarily mean that every type of accident-related injury has been ruled out. X-rays are particularly useful for evaluating bones and certain structural abnormalities, but injuries involving muscles, ligaments, discs, nerves, and other soft tissues may require a clinical examination or different diagnostic testing. If you continue to experience neck pain, back pain, weakness, numbness, tingling, reduced movement, or other symptoms after a car accident, further medical evaluation may be appropriate.

No. Delayed and persistent symptoms are common after a collision, and they're still evaluable and treatable. Dr. Shekhani regularly sees patients months after the original injury — including patients whose pain returned after they thought it had resolved.

No. You don't need an attorney to become a patient. Dr. Shekhani treats patients who are represented and patients who are not. Whether to hire an attorney is your decision — that's a legal question, not a medical one, and this practice does not give legal advice or recommend specific firms.

Some car accident injuries and symptoms may not become noticeable until hours or days after a collision. These can include neck and back pain, whiplash-associated symptoms, muscle and soft-tissue injuries, headaches, joint pain, numbness or tingling, and symptoms associated with disc or nerve injuries. New, persistent, or worsening symptoms after an accident should be medically evaluated.

Whiplash is a neck injury associated with a rapid acceleration-deceleration movement of the head and neck, commonly occurring during rear-end motor vehicle collisions. Whiplash-associated symptoms may include neck pain, stiffness, headaches, shoulder or upper-back discomfort, reduced range of motion, and sometimes arm symptoms. Because symptoms and severity vary between patients, a medical evaluation can help determine which structures may have been affected and what treatment may be appropriate.

Neck pain after a rear-end collision may result from the rapid back-and-forth movement of the head and neck during impact, which can strain or injure muscles, ligaments, joints, discs, and other structures of the cervical spine. This type of injury is commonly associated with whiplash. Symptoms can include neck pain, stiffness, reduced range of motion, headaches, shoulder discomfort, or symptoms extending into the arms.

Yes. The forces generated during a car accident can injure the discs of the cervical or lumbar spine, potentially causing or aggravating a disc bulge or herniation. A herniated disc may cause neck or back pain and, when a nearby nerve is irritated or compressed, symptoms such as radiating arm or leg pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness. A physician can evaluate whether your symptoms suggest a disc or nerve injury and determine whether additional diagnostic testing is appropriate.

Numbness or tingling after a car accident can sometimes indicate irritation, compression, or injury involving a nerve. Trauma to the neck, back, spine, or surrounding tissues can affect nerves and produce symptoms that travel into an arm, hand, leg, or foot. A physician can perform a neurological and musculoskeletal examination, and in appropriate cases EMG and nerve conduction studies may help evaluate nerve and muscle function.

Report the injury to your employer as soon as possible and follow your employer's reporting process — workers' compensation claims generally require prompt notice. Who authorizes treatment from there depends on your employer's carrier and the specifics of your claim. Call (314) 733-5140 and the staff will walk you through what applies in your situation.

Call the office and explain where your claim stands. Authorization requirements vary by employer and carrier, so the staff will tell you what's possible in your specific case rather than guess at it over a web page.

An IME is an objective physician evaluation — usually requested by an employer, insurer, or attorney — to assess the nature and extent of an injury. It's an evaluation, not ongoing treatment, and it produces a documented medical opinion for the file. More about IMEs.

An electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction study (NCS) measure how well your nerves and muscles are actually working. If you have numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain that radiates down an arm or leg, these studies help identify whether a nerve is compressed or damaged — and where. Imaging shows structure; an EMG shows function. Dr. Shekhani performs these studies in the office. More about EMG and nerve conduction studies.

EMG and nerve conduction studies can help evaluate the function of nerves and muscles when nerve injury is suspected after a car accident. These tests may help identify certain conditions involving nerve roots or peripheral nerves and can provide objective information about nerve and muscle function. Dr. Naseem A. Shekhani performs EMG and nerve conduction testing at STL Injury Specialist when clinically appropriate based on a patient's history, examination, symptoms, and timing of the injury.

Diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound produces real-time images of tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joints — and unlike a static scan, it can show those structures while you move. That makes it useful for evaluating soft tissue injury after a collision or a workplace incident. It's performed in the office, with no radiation. More about diagnostic ultrasound.

Injections are performed under image guidance rather than by landmark alone — either live ultrasound or fluoroscopy, depending on what's being treated. That guidance is what allows the medication to be placed at the actual source of the problem. Types performed include facet joint, epidural, nerve root, peripheral nerve, and joint injections. Whether an injection is appropriate is determined after evaluation and diagnostic testing, not before. More about image-guided injections.

Dr. Shekhani is a nonsurgical specialist. The focus is on identifying the actual source of the problem and treating it without surgery where that's possible — through injury rehabilitation, image-guided injections, and coordinated care with your other providers. If a condition does warrant a surgical opinion, he refers to orthopedic surgeons in the region.

Most patients can call directly. Some insurance plans do require a referral for specialist visits, so if you're unsure, call (314) 733-5140 and the staff will check before your appointment rather than have you find out at the front desk.

Yes, with your authorization. Dr. Shekhani routinely coordinates with primary care physicians so your injury care and your general medical care stay aligned instead of running on separate tracks with neither doctor seeing the whole picture.

Yes — and it's common. Chiropractic care and physician-level injury medicine are complementary, not competing. Dr. Shekhani works alongside chiropractors throughout North County and the greater St. Louis area, adding EMG and nerve conduction studies, diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound, ultrasound- and fluoroscopy-guided injections where appropriate, and the medical documentation an injury case requires. Information for chiropractors and physical therapists.

Yes. Dr. Shekhani regularly treats patients who are represented, and the practice provides the records and reports attorneys need. Medical records requests are typically returned in under two business days. Information for attorneys · Request medical records.

A comprehensive evaluation: your history, how the injury happened, a physical examination, and a review of any imaging or records you bring. Dr. Shekhani will then discuss what he believes is driving your symptoms and what diagnostic testing or treatment makes sense. Bring photo ID, your insurance or claim information, any imaging you already have, and your attorney's name if you have one.