One of the most common injuries resulting from car accidents is whiplash, an injury to the neck. Known clinically as an “acceleration/deceleration injury,” whiplash (80% of car crash injuries), may not appear to be a serious problem at first.
A rear-end collision that occurs at low speed can deliver such a force that causes the head to jerk and be stretched beyond its normal range of motion, straining the muscles and ligaments of the neck during a whiplash injury. Whiplash can even cause fractures to the cervical spine (neck). Such injuries are painful causing time off of work and normal day to day activities.
Physicians can run a number of tests to detect whiplash. Accident victims may not believe they are injured on the day of a car accident. A adrenaline rush can cause a person to overlook bodily injury. Symptoms, can include joint dysfunction, disc herniation, and chronic pain and, difficulty functioning.
Immediate medical treatment is the best way to address whiplash symptoms.
Symptoms — Listen to your body:
- Pain areas: in the arm, back, muscles, neck, or shoulder
- Whole body: dizziness or vertigo
- Also common: difficulty focusing, headache, muscle spasms, nerve injury, sensation of pins and
- needles, stiff neck, or tenderness
Whiplash Treatments Include:
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- muscle relaxants
- trigger point injections
- epidural spinal injections
Whiplash 101 – Neck Injury
If you’ve been injured in a car accident and have developed symptoms of whiplash it is imperative that you seek medical attention from a pain specialist that specializes in treating pain and injury from an auto wreck. You may require physical therapy and rehabilitation. Choosing a doctor with experience, who understands the mechanisms of your injury and long term effects is crucial to recovery.
Injured in a New York Accident. Find A Doctor.
If you have been in a car accident and experienced pain in your neck, you have most likely had whiplash. Ask a pain specialist: 1-800-949-6100.
