Modern medicine is not always as modern as one may think. These days, doctors may make use of an ancient healing method, not for the squeamish.
“When you land in hospital after a motorcycle accident, you may be very surprised to find that leeches could be used to help you heal. Yes, leeches, the things you typically recoil from when you see them on a swimmer coming out of the water. Call them blood suckers if you will, but their use in modern medicine is guaranteed thanks to their unique properties,” said Stephen M. Ozcomert, an injury lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who practices personal injury, accidents and malpractice law.
Consider the case of Jamie Doe, (not his real name), who had to lay his motorcycle down to avoid hitting a car that had abruptly turned in front of him. He had nowhere else to go to avoid the collision, but his quick thinking minimized what could have been an even worse accident. As it was, he sustained several broken ribs and severe road rash on his arms, and his right foot suffered serious damage from being dragged on the asphalt.
After surgery to graft a flap onto his foot, Doe discovered doctors were using leeches to keep the blood flowing in his surgical site, while new blood vessels grew. It turns out that in many hospitals in the U.S., physicians are using leeches to not only promote healing after surgery, but to get blood flowing in amputated fingers that have been reattached and as a method of pain relief. “Leech saliva has a natural anesthetic,” Ozcomert said, “and using leeches may make the difference between tissue living or dying.”
Not too many people know that in 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved leeches as medical devices. This does not mean that they had not been used prior to this approval and their implementation seems to be escalating along with the growing use of maggots in cleaning wounds.
“While the thought of having maggots on a wound does take some courage to handle, these little critters are highly effective at keeping a wound free and clear of infection and other debris,” Ozcomert said. Maggots are used more than 50,000 times a year globally, but no one seems to be keeping statistics on how many times leeches perform their quiet medical miracles.
“If you survive a motorcycle crash and find your doctor is using leeches to help you help, it is something to be grateful for in the long run. As for your injuries, please, call my office and we can discuss your accident and how to recover compensation,” Ozcomert said.
To learn more visit http://www.ozcomert.com.