Everything You Need to Know About Whiplash Resulting from Car Accidents

Car accidents can result in a wide variety of injuries. Some of them can turn out to be fatal or leave the victims disabled for life, while others heal within a few days.

Additionally, some car accident injuries can result in debilitating symptoms that subside only after prolonged treatment. Whiplash belongs to the third category.

It’s also one of the most frequently occurring auto accident injuries. A good number of car accident cases, handled by Rochester car accident attorneys, involve victims who have incurred whiplash. Read on to know more about that specific injury.

Whiplash Symptoms

Whiplash mostly occurs when a car gets involved in a rear-end collision. Such collisions tend to throw the victim’s head backward and forward forcefully causing severe injury to his/her back and neck. To be more precise, whiplash involves injury to the spinal bones, disks connecting the spinal bones, and bones, nerves, muscles, ligaments, and all other tissues forming the neck.

Your doctor is the best person to determine whether the auto accident has resulted in whiplash. However, you should also be able to do the same by identifying the symptoms of the injury.

The most common symptoms of whiplash are:

Stiffness and pain in the neck
An impaired motion of the neck
Headaches starting from the base of the cranium
Pain/tenderness in the arms, upper back, and/or shoulder
Numbness or tingling sensation in the upper or lower arms
Dizziness and fatigue

Some people may also have the following symptoms. However, these symptoms appear typically when the victim doesn’t receive proper treatment.

Irritability
Tinnitus (ringing sound generating from the inner ear)
Sleep disturbances
Blurred vision
Memory problems
Lack of focus
Depression

It would be wise on your part to get yourself checked by a doctor if you experience one or more of the above symptoms. At times, the symptoms start to appear several hours following the accident i.e., after the initial medical checkup. So, you should remain alert and get in touch with your physician whenever you experience any discomfort.

Treatment for Whiplash

If you want to get back to normal life quickly, you must take enough rest after the incurring whiplash. However, remember that you should not take complete bed rest for more than a couple of days. After that, begin moderate movements as lack of movement might slow down the recovery process. Your doctor might ask you to practice a few exercises. Stick only to exercises advised by the doctor. Other activities might end up aggravating your injury.

If you experience severe pain, your doctor might ask you to take pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. If the pain keeps coming back, he might also prescribe antidepressant drugs, which are known to offer relief from nerve pain. Some patients also need to use muscle relaxants.

Final Words

If you don’t want the symptoms to last long, follow the doctor’s instructions carefully. Visit the doctor again after 3 to 4 weeks to ensure that you are recovering well. You should do this even if you have got rid of the symptoms completely.