Concussion After a Car Accident — Why Standard Exams Miss It | Concussion Screening Rhode Island

You did not hit your head. The airbag did not deploy. The emergency room cleared you. And yet weeks after your motor vehicle accident you are struggling with headaches, light sensitivity, difficulty concentrating, and a persistent feeling that something is not right.

What you may be experiencing is a concussion — and objective concussion screening in Rhode Island reveals findings that standard examinations consistently miss in MVA patients.

Why Standard Exams Miss Concussion After MVA:

Concussion screening in emergency and urgent care settings relies primarily on symptom presentation and gross neurological testing. These exams are designed to rule out life-threatening injury — bleeding, fracture, severe neurological deficit. They are not designed to detect the subtle visual-vestibular dysfunction that mild traumatic brain injury produces consistently and reliably.

A patient can have a completely normal CT scan, a normal neurological exam, and still have measurable, objective findings consistent with concussion — if the right technology is used to look for them.

What Objective Concussion Screening Finds:

The visual system is highly sensitive to traumatic brain injury. Smooth pursuit — the ability to track a moving object smoothly — saccadic eye movement, fixation stability, and reaction time are all disrupted by concussion in ways that are quantifiable and reproducible.

RightEye computerized vision tracking measures all of these functions in under five minutes and generates a report comparing the patient's performance against age-matched normative controls. The output is not a clinical impression — it is a percentile score. A patient whose fixation stability falls in the second percentile has an objective documented finding regardless of what the CT scan showed. Abnormal findings are referred to the appropriate specialist for diagnosis and management.

BTrackS balance assessment adds a second layer — quantifying vestibular function through force plate technology. Vestibular dysfunction is a common companion to concussion after motor vehicle trauma and is frequently overlooked in standard post-accident evaluation. When BTrackS findings suggest neurological involvement beyond chiropractic scope, specialist referral is initiated promptly.

The RPQ — Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire:

Every MVA patient with suspected concussion symptoms completes the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire at Cityside Chiropractic. This validated outcome measure scores symptom severity from 0 to 64 and establishes a documented baseline that tracks recovery over time. It is incorporated into clinical records and narrative reports.

What This Means for Your Recovery and Your Case:

Early identification of findings consistent with concussion allows early intervention and specialist referral where indicated. Delayed identification allows symptoms to progress and creates a documentation gap that insurance companies exploit. At Cityside Chiropractic every MVA patient with head trauma or concussion symptoms receives RightEye and BTrackS concussion screening in Rhode Island on the day of their first appointment.

Findings are documented in the clinical record, incorporated into narrative reports, and available for attorney review. When findings indicate specialist referral, coordination with neurologists and neurosurgeons is initiated promptly.

Se habla español. Same day appointments in Providence and Cranston. Call (401) 272-5710 — answered live.